Saints pull off comeback win against Elkins

ELKINS -- Shiloh Christian turned to its ground game with explosive results Friday after its passing game struggled on a cold, blustery night.

Sophomore quarterback Eli Wisdom scored on touchdown runs of 48 and 55 yards in the third quarter to spark the Saints to a 49-28 comeback victory over Elkins at John Bunch Stadium. Cam Wiedemann added touchdown runs of 25, 7 and 42 yards in the second half for the Saints, who trailed 21-7 at halftime.

Shiloh Christian (7-1, 5-0) outscored Elkins 42-7 in the second half after being badly outplayed in the first half by the Elks on their homecoming night.

"I was very proud of our guys after we had a lot of negatives, and not a lot of positives, in that first half," Shiloh Christian coach Jeff Conaway said. "They hung in there, and they kept swinging against a really good Elkins team. We came out in the second half and put the pedal to the metal."

Kain Johnson had three touchdown runs for Elkins (6-1, 3-1) before Shiloh Christian finally scored on a 16-yard pass from Wisdom to Cooper Hutchinson with five seconds left before halftime. Hutchinson outjumped a defender for the pass, and that play appeared to spark the Saints, who exploded for three quick touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 28-21 lead.

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"Great throw, great catch," Conaway said. "Our quarterback trusted (Hutchinson) to make a play, and he went on and high-balled the football. That was a huge swing of momentum right there."

Quarterback Kain Johnson ran for three touchdowns to lead Elkins to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter. Shiloh Christian roared back and took the lead in the third quarter on two long touchdown runs by Wisdom and his touchdown pass of 19 yards to Hutchinson.

Wisdom appeared trapped in the backfield on his 55-yard run, but he broke free from a tackle attempt and raced down the visitors sideline for the touchdown. Wisdom and Wiedemann each had over 150 yards rushing for Shiloh Christian.

"The way (Wisdom) ran in the second half was incredible," Conaway said. "When you give him some space, he's dangerous."

Elkins dominated the first half and led 21-7 after three short touchdown runs by Johnson. Johnson also found a frequent target in Josh Allan, who got open consistently in the middle of the Saints' defense to extend drives.

But Shiloh Christian took control in the second half and showed why the Saints are ranked No. 1 in Class 4A in Arkansas.

FOUR DOWNS

• Senior Brooklyn Haney was crowned homecoming queen Friday at Elkins.

• Kain Johnson rushed 13 times for 81 yards and 3 touchdowns and threw for 149 yards with one score for the Elks.

• Drew Dudley intercepted a pass in the end zone for Shiloh Christian in the first half.

• Shiloh Christian will host Gravette and Elkins will play at Gentry this week in scheduled Class 4A-1 Conference games.