PREP FOOTBALL: Panthers rally to win 6A-West opener

SILOAM SPRINGS -- Siloam Springs didn't hit the panic button after a pair of special teams blunders put the Panthers in a 14-0 hole against Sheridan on Friday night.

The Panthers turned to their defense, which limited the Yellowjackets to 97 total yards, and the offense eventually came around to rally for a 24-14 win to open 6A-West Conference play on a rainy night at Panther Stadium.

Siloam Springs 24, Sheridan 14

Sheridan 14 0 0 0 — 14

Siloam Springs 0 14 0 10 — 24

First Quarter

Sheridan — Korte 3 run (Gonzalez kick), 8:13.

Sheridan — Lucas 15 run (Gonzalez kick), 5:19.

Second Quarter

Siloam — Thrailkill 1 run (Losh kick), 5:11.

Siloam — Agbehi 30 pass from Ellis (Losh kick), 1:54.

Fourth Quarter

Siloam — Thrailkill 1 run (Losh kick), 11:09.

Siloam — FG Losh 32, 1:45.

It's the second straight week the Panthers (3-1, 1-0) rallied from 14-0 down to win after doing the same last week at Van Buren before coming back and winning 35-32.

"Just disappointed with how we started the game," said first-year Siloam Springs coach Brandon Craig. "We worked really hard on special teams and various aspects of the game. To come out and boot the ball around and do what we did to start the game, it's just disappointing. Really proud of how we responded. Again, we were down 14-0, we could have tucked our tails and called it a night, but we kept fighting."

Siloam Springs muffed a punt return and Sheridan recovered at the two on the game's opening possession.

The Yellowjackets cashed in for a 7-0 lead when Montana Korte scored from three yards out.

On the Panthers' next offensive possession, a bad snap on a punt resulted in a 22-yard loss and great field position for Sheridan (1-3, 0-1). Alden Lucas scored from 15 yards out with 5 minutes, 19 seconds left in the first quarter to give the Yellowjackets a 14-0 lead.

Siloam Springs had to punt twice more in the first half before its offense got in gear. Quarterback Landon Ellis hit passes of 16 and 25 yards to Gage Weaver down to the 8. After Ellis ran to the 1, Kaiden Thrailkill scored to cut the lead to 14-7.

Siloam Springs' Chase Chandler recovered a Sheridan fumble on the next possession. The Panthers then tied the game 14-14 on a 30-yard pass from Ellis to Primo Agbehi with 1:54 left in the half.

Siloam Springs finally got its running game going at the end of the third quarter after three empty possessions to start the second half.

After Taylor Pool forced a fumble and Cam Collins recovered for Siloam Springs, Thrailkill carried 12 times for 69 yards and scored on fourth-and-1 to give Siloam Springs a 21-14 lead. Thrailkill had his fourth-straight 100-yard game, finishing with 36 carries for 165 yards. The Panthers had 273 yards of total offense.

The Panthers got another stop on defense and increased the lead to 24-14 on a 32-yard field goal by Harrison Losh with 1:45 remaining.

Collins intercepted a Sheridan pass to seal the victory for the Panthers.

"We played hard," said Sheridan coach Lance Parker. "We did a really good job on special teams. In a wet ball game, that's really what ends up being the game. We struggled a little bit offensively. I thought our defense played really well. They were big and physical inside and I thought they whipped us pretty good. But those two fumbles on our part, we knew going into the game we really had to take care of the football to have a chance. We had our chances."

Sports on 09/22/2018

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