The Siloam Springs football team looked sharp Monday in its first two games in 7-on-7 action at Panther Stadium.
By the end of the night, though, fatigue set in as did a long layoff from the Arkansas Activities Association dead period, and the Panthers finished with two wins, one loss and one tie in four games at Panther Stadium.
"I think we got gassed," said Siloam Springs head coach Bryan Ross. "We've had two-and-a-half weeks off. For the most part it wasn't bad. We didn't have very many (coverage) busts. We've just got to keep working. We'll do what we do and get better at it. But it wasn't bad for the first day out."
The 7-on-7 night was the first day back from the dead period, which prohibits teams from having any practices or competition.
Siloam Springs hosted Gentry and Washington County schools Greenland, West Fork and Prairie Grove. The same five teams will return for 7-on-7 the next two Mondays, July 18 and July 25, at Panther Stadium. Games begin each night at 6 p.m. and all teams get in one game against the other four teams.
For Siloam Springs, the competition is used to work on throwing and catching on offense and coverages on defense.
Because lineman are not involved, there is no running game.
Ross said the Panthers don't game plan specifically to win 7-on-7 games, but rather they take the time to work on their playbook.
"It's good for what it is," Ross said. "It helps you work on your routes and it helps you work on your coverages. But it's not real football. You've got to use it for what it's good for. We're not going to treat it any differently than Friday night. We're going to do what we do."
The Panthers opened the night with a 21-0 victory over West Fork and survived a scare in the process.
Senior wide receiver Dawson Armstrong went down with a left knee injury after hauling in an 18-yard reception. He was carted off to the locker room. He didn't return to action but he was putting weight on the knee, which was a good sign.
"Pretty scary there," Ross said. "Hopefully just a sprain. (Athletic trainer) Tiffany (Evans) didn't think it was too bad."
The game against West Fork continued and Luke Lampton threw his first touchdown pass of the night from 11 yards out to Chance Junkermann.
Lampton would go on to complete 9 of 12 passes for 130 yards and three touchdowns against West Fork. Seniors J.D. Horn and Cade Miller each caught touchdown passes, including a one-handed grab for Miller that went for 40 yards.
The Panthers' defense held West Fork to 7 of 16 passing and one interception from Miller.
Siloam Springs played Greenland next and Lampton hit 4 of 6 passes on the opening drive, including a five-yard strike to Montana Burke for a touchdown.
After both offenses failed to move the ball, Greenland tied the game on a 13-yard touchdown pass.
Siloam Springs went up 14-7 on a six-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback L.T. Ellis to Luke Gumm.
Greenland tied the game at 14 after a four-yard touchdown pass on the Pirates' next possession.
Siloam Springs went ahead for good on a 26-yard touchdown pass from Ellis to Burke. An interception from Horn on Greenland's last offensive possession sealed the win for the Panthers.
Against Greenland, Lampton completed 4 of 6 passes for 40 yards, while Ellis was 6 of 12 for 89 yards. Gumm caught four passes for 46 yards, while Burke caught two passes -- both for touchdowns -- for 31 yards and Horn two catches for 19.
Defensively, the Panthers allowed Greenland to complete 7 of 14 passes for 96 yards.
The Panthers played their third game in a row against Benton County neighbor Gentry.
Both teams failed to score on their opening possession, but the Pioneers got on the board 7-0 on a two-yard touchdown pass, which was set up by a 38-yard strike the play before.
Siloam Springs stumbled on offense and Gentry struck again for a 14-0 lead with time running out.
Lampton fired a 40-yard touchdown pass to Gumm to cut the Gentry lead in half, 14-7, and Tristan Moose intercepted his second pass of the game to get the ball back for the offense.
Lampton hit Gumm for 15 yards and Burke for 21 before finding Gumm for the tying score as time expired.
Defensively, the Panthers allowed Gentry to complete 8 of 14 passes for 105 yards.
Lampton hit 6 of 15 passes for 120 yards, including four to Gumm for 89 yards and two touchdowns and two to Burke for 31.
Siloam Springs finished the evening against 4A perennial power Prairie Grove and both teams came up empty of each of their first possessions, including a third interception for Moose.
The Tigers found the end zone, however, on their second possession to take a 7-0 lead.
Siloam Springs finally cashed in on its fourth possession when Lampton hit Horn for a 40-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7.
But the Tigers answered with a score to go up 14-7, and Siloam Springs failed to convert on its final possession as the Tigers won the game.
Prairie Grove completed 9 of 15 passes for 107 yards against the Panthers' defense.
Lampton went 5 of 18 for 73 yards, with Horn leading the receivers with the 40-yard touchdown catch.
Overall in four games, Lampton completed 24 of 51 passes for 363 yards and seven touchdowns, while Ellis was 7 of 15 for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Total passing for Siloam Springs was 31 of 66 for 456 yards.
Gumm caught 11 passes for 172 yards and three touchdowns, while Burke caught six passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns, Horn five passes for 74 yards and two touchdowns, Miller three passes for 62 yards and one touchdown, Kevin Castaneda two passes for five yards, Dalton Ferguson one pass for 19 yards, Armstrong one pass for 18 yards, Seth Hufford one pass for 14 yards and Junkermann one pass for 11 yards, which went for an 11-yard touchdown.
"Honestly I would rather do it like this than having (7-on-7) tournaments because in the tournaments everybody's trying to win it," Ross said. "You're doing things that you're not going to do on Friday nights a lot of the time. To me I would rather have it a little more laid back and get better for what you do."
The Panthers' junior varsity players are scheduled to attend a team camp today at Springdale Har-Ber and another junior varsity team camp at Rogers next Wednesday.
The varsity will attend a team camp at Rogers Heritage on Monday for its final team camp of the summer.
Sports on 07/13/2016