Nearly two years ago, Siloam Springs and Texarkana met on the football field in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs in what was the last high school football game played at Glenn W. Black Stadium.
On Friday, the two schools will meet again in a game of great importance to both teams -- only this time it'll be along the Arkansas-Texas border in Texarkana.
Week 9
Siloam Springs at Texarkana
Where^Razorback Stadium, Texarkana
Records^Siloam Springs, 1-7, 1-4
^Texarkana, 2-6, 1-4
6A-West Conference football standings
^Conf.^Overall
Team^W-L^W-L
Greenwood^5-0^8-0
Russellville^4-1^7-1
Lake Hamilton^4-1^5-3
Benton^3-2^5-3
El Dorado^2-3^4-4
Siloam Springs^1-4^1-7
Texarkana^1-4^2-6
Sheridan^0-5^1-7
Last week’s results
El Dorado 49, Siloam Springs 23
Greenwood 41, Benton 25
Russellville 45, Texarkana 24
Lake Hamilton 14, Sheridan 7
This week’s games
Siloam Springs at Texarkana
Greenwood at Sheridan
Lake Hamilton at Benton
Russellville at El Dorado
Both Siloam Springs and Texarkana are tied for sixth place in the 6A-West Conference with 1-4 conference records, and the victor on Friday will be that much closer to clinching a 6A playoff berth.
"Every conference game is important and you get down close to the end of the year and you really see what has to take place," said Siloam Springs head coach Bryan Ross.
The Panthers (1-7, 1-4) have lost four in a row since beating Sheridan 24-21 to open conference play on Sept. 23. Texarkana's only conference win also came at the expense of the Yellowjackets, as the Razorbacks (2-6, 1-4) won at Sheridan 42-7 on Oct. 14.
The Razorbacks' other win came in Week 3 -- a 28-20 win over Camden Fairview.
Ross said this year's Texarkana team will look similar scheme-wise to the one Siloam Springs saw in 2014 when the Panthers defeated the Razorbacks 26-13 on a chilly night in mid-November.
But this Razorbacks team is loaded with young talent, Ross said.
"They've got an outstanding sophomore class," Ross said. "You'll see quite a few sophomores out there, which bodes well for them in the future for sure. Otherwise I think they're pretty similar. I don't see a whole lot of differences scheme-wise. They look pretty similar to what they did two years ago. I think it's just going to be a matter of playing good, fundamental sound football and executing and tackling."
Texarkana sophomore quarterback Drake Browning is an offensive threat, Ross said, along with sophomore running back Dejordan Mask, sophomore wideout Irijah Price and senior Michael Caldwell.
The Razorbacks will spread the field with four and five wide receivers, but they'll also line up with a tight end and fullback and try to play power football.
"Texarkana, they've got two or three home run hitters that if they get a step on you, it's a touchdown," Ross said.
Siloam Springs senior quarterback Luke Lampton leads the Panthers with 486 rushing yards on 85 carries (5.7 yards per carry) and has scored eight touchdowns. Lampton's also completed 82 of 187 passes for 1,033 yards, seven touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Senior J.D. Horn had his third 100-yard receiving game of the season last Friday in a 49-23 loss to El Dorado, hauling in eight passes for 149 yards. On the season he has 39 catches for 563 yards and four touchdowns.
The Panthers will leave for the 250-mile trip to Texarkana on Friday morning.
"It'll be a long trip," Ross said. "We've just got to go down and play good football. We've showed signs here or there but haven't been able to do it consistently enough. We need some breaks. It's possible. There's no doubt about that."
Sports on 10/26/2016