Nearly four weeks of spring football practice will come to a close on Friday when the Siloam Springs football program holds its annual Maroon and White Senior Bowl at Panther Stadium.
Spring practice started on April 26 with new rules in place by the Arkansas Activities Association that would not allow practice in full pads on back-to-back days.
Teams were still allotted the same amount of practices -- 10 -- that they had gotten in previous years.
The Panthers held their ninth practice of the spring on Monday at Panther Stadium and Friday's spring game will be the 10th.
"I think it's been pretty good," said Siloam Springs head coach Bryan Ross. "We've got some younger kids, some reps and you know there's always a few things here and there that you wish you could have done better, but for the most part I'm pretty pleased."
The spring game was originally scheduled for 6 p.m., however the time was pushed back to 7:30 p.m. on Friday to accommodate the Siloam Springs soccer teams playing the Class 6A girls and boys soccer finals at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively.
The Panthers haven't had their full roster available for much of the spring with several players involved in spring sports.
Some of those players are back now but haven't been with the team very long.
"We knew that we were going to have kids in other places," Ross said. "It's almost impossible to have everybody all together all the time in the spring. You just hope that the kids that are doing other things, you want them to go do well in that. Then when they're done go back to football and see what we can get out of it."
Prior to the start of spring practice, Ross said two areas of focus this spring would be the offensive line and the defensive secondary. He said they have made some progress in both areas.
"I feel decent about our O-line," Ross said. "We've still got a ways to go there, but I think we've made progress about who we think can get the job done there.
"In the secondary, we're still looking for depth. Cade (Miller) and J.D. (Horn) and Dawson (Armstrong), Luke Gumm, they've been involved in spring sports, so they haven't gotten a whole lot of reps at times."
Ross said rising sophomore running back Kaiden Thrailkill fractured his ulna during a scrimmage on Friday and won't be available to play in the spring game but should be fine for the fall. Rising sophomore Matt Avery also has been out because of a concussion suffered during basketball.
Ross is hoping to see solid execution and effort on Friday in the spring game.
"I want to see people that act like they know what they're doing, and I'd like to see us execute what we've done offensively," Ross said. "And then defensively you'd like to see people flying to the football, which is what our defense is predicated on, and play physical.
"There will be some quick whistles in there I'm sure. We don't want to tee off on each other too much. You're not looking for anything extraordinary. You're just looking to see kids go out and do what they're coached to do and have fun doing it."
• • •
Admission to the spring game is $5 per person, which includes a "meal deal" choice of hamburger or hot dog, chips and a drink. Admission without a meal is $3.
All money raised from the spring game is used for team meals, transportation and equipment for the entire football program, according to Siloam Springs Football Booster Club president Allen Broyles.
"From a Football Booster Club standpoint it is one of our important fundraisers to help support the football program for the year," Broyles said.
Broyles said the Booster Barn will be open with new Siloam Springs Panthers football merchandise for the upcoming season. And, also the club will be kick-starting its membership drive for the 2016 season with plenty of benefits to those who become members and support the entire football program.
The rising eighth- and ninth-grade football teams will be performing at halftime.
Sports on 05/18/2016