SSHS visits Lake Hamilton

n The Panthers have been outscored 105-0 in their last two games combined.

Bud Sullins/Special to the Herald-Leader Siloam Springs senior Kormah Dorko, right, makes a tackle on Greenwood’s Josh Barlow during last week’s game at Panther Stadium. Siloam Springs plays at Lake Hamilton on Friday.
Bud Sullins/Special to the Herald-Leader Siloam Springs senior Kormah Dorko, right, makes a tackle on Greenwood’s Josh Barlow during last week’s game at Panther Stadium. Siloam Springs plays at Lake Hamilton on Friday.

The Siloam Springs football team will get a look at a new opponent this week when it travels to Pearcy to take on Lake Hamilton in a 6A-West Conference football game.

History indicates it's the first meeting between the Panthers and the Wolves, and the game will be an important one for both teams as their fight to get into the Class 6A playoffs continues.

Week 7

Siloam Springs at Lake Hamilton

Where^Wolf Stadium, Pearcy

Radio^www.siloamspr…

Records^Siloam Springs, 1-5, 1-2

^Lake Hamilton, 3-3, 2-1

6A-West Conference football standings

^Conf.^Overall

Team^W-L^W-L

Greenwood^3-0^6-0

Russellville^3-0^6-0

Benton^2-1^4-2

Lake Hamilton^2-1^3-3

El Dorado^1-2^3-3

Siloam Springs^1-2^1-5

Sheridan^0-3^1-5

Texarkana^0-3^1-5

Last week’s results

Greenwood 42, Siloam Springs 0

Benton 56, Texarkana 7

Russellville 47, Lake Hamilton 23

El Dorado 15, Sheridan 14

This week’s games

Siloam Springs at Lake Hamilton

El Dorado at Benton

Russellville at Greenwood

Texarkana at Sheridan

Lake Hamilton comes into the game with a 3-3 record overall and 2-1 mark in conference play, sitting tied for third place with Benton (4-2, 2-1) behind conference co-leaders Greenwood (6-0, 3-0) and Russellville (6-0, 3-0).

The Wolves, led by first-year coach Jeremy Reed, went 1-2 in their nonconference schedule, winning at Hot Springs 28-17 in Week 1 and then losing to Malvern 35-33 and Bryant 24-21.

The Wolves opened 6A-West Conference play with a 27-21 win at home against El Dorado and then won at Texarkana 34-17 in Week 5. Last week, Russellville defeated Lake Hamilton 47-24.

"They'll be decent," said Siloam Springs head coach Bryan Ross. "There's no doubt about that. They've got a new coach. They've switched offenses. They're in the flexbone, double slot, which is what Van Buren and Sheridan run. This will be the third time this year that we've played against it."

"Their quarterback (Fay Haywood) is a good athlete, and they're pretty physical up front, which you would expect."

The Wolves' defensive alignment is a bit of a question, Ross said, because it morphs from a 3-4 personnel to a 4-2-5, but if a team spreads the field they'll go back to a 3-4.

"They're very aggressive defensively," Ross said. "They blitz a lot."

Siloam Springs (1-5, 1-2) comes into the game having lost its last two games by a combined 105-0 after back-to-back shutout losses to Benton (63-0) and Greenwood (42-0).

The Panthers have struggled offensively and defensively in both losses. They've only generated 145 yards of offense in the last two weeks combined while giving up 938.

The offensive woes have been magnified in the lack of running game, which has only generated four total yards on 37 carries in the last two weeks.

"We've just got to find a way to run the football better and execute," said Ross.

Siloam Springs lost its starting quarterback Luke Lampton in the first half of the loss to Greenwood after Lampton went down with a head injury.

As of Monday, Lampton had told Ross he felt fine though he was supposed to undergo further evaluation. Sophomore quarterback Landon Ellis played the rest of the first half and the entire second half against Greenwood. He'll be the starter if Lampton can't go on Friday.

"If Luke's able to go then obviously he's the guy," Ross said.

The Panthers are likely without junior running back Kevin Canales, who suffered a sprained MCL against Benton and did not play last week.

Defensively, the Panthers will likely be without All-Conference safety Cade Miller, who suffered a concussion in the second half against Greenwood. Miller -- who was a projected two-way starter on offense and defense -- missed the first two games of the season with a torn ligament in his thumb.

"You feel for him," Ross said. "You also feel for the whole team because he's an important part of what we do. We've not had him for one snap on offense all year."

Defensive lineman Caleb Miller suffered a concussion against Benton and missed the Greenwood game. The Panthers are hopeful to get him back this week.

The Panthers have the Benton and Greenwood games in their rearview mirrors and hope to rebound this week against the Wolves.

"Hopefully we can match up a lot better against Lake Hamilton," Ross said. "They still are a pretty good football team. Numbers-wise and hopefully talent-wise it's a pretty good matchup for us."

Sports on 10/12/2016