Siloam Springs has had victory in its sights the last two weeks only to be disappointed in the end as Harrison and Van Buren rallied for victories in the second half.
The Panthers (0-3) are hoping to end that trend this week when they open 6A-West Conference play against Sheridan on Friday for Homecoming at Panther Stadium.
6A-West Conference football standings
^Conf.^Overall
Team^W-L^W-L
Greenwood^0-0^3-0
Russellville^0-0^3-0
Benton^0-0^2-1
El Dorado^0-0^2-1
Lake Hamilton^0-0^1-2
Sheridan^0-0^1-2
Texarkana^0-0^1-2
Siloam Springs^0-0^0-3
Last week’s results
Van Buren 25, Siloam Springs 18
Greenwood 35, Alma 12
Bryant 24, Lake Hamilton 21
Benton 58, Greenbrier 21
El Dorado 31, Magnolia 10
Russellville 24, Springdale 17
Texarkana 28, Camden Fairview 20
White Hall 34, Sheridan 7
This week’s games
Sheridan at Siloam Springs
Benton at Russellville
El Dorado at Lake Hamilton
Texarkana at Greenwood
Week 3
Sheridan at Siloam Springs
Where^Panther Stadium, Siloam Springs
Records^Sheridan, 1-2
^Siloam Springs, 0-3
"We just have to find a way to finish," said Siloam Springs head coach Bryan Ross. "We're sitting here at 0-3 and honestly we should be 2-1. We just have to play a complete ballgame. I don't think we've done that yet. We've had spurts. We've played good in some stretches during games, but I don't think we've put a complete game together yet. To me, that's the goal is to play a complete game, offense, defense and the kicking game. I think if we do that we'll be in good shape, but we've got to prove we can do that."
Siloam Springs led Harrison 19-9 at halftime of its home opener on Sept. 9 only to watch the Goblins go on a 30-0 second half surge to win 39-19.
Last week, the Panthers led Van Buren 18-10 in the fourth quarter, but Van Buren scored twice to rally for a 25-18 victory.
In each of those games, the Panthers did some good things on both the offensive and defensive sides of the football, but haven't been consistent enough for an entire 48 minutes.
In the Harrison game, Siloam Springs trailed 9-0 after a sloppy start but scored three straight touchdowns and had several stops on defense before the Goblins rallied.
In the Van Buren game, the Panthers forced three straight three-and-outs on defense in the third quarter before giving up two straight scoring drives.
Ross said there is nothing in particular that jumps out from film review about why the Panthers haven't been consistent.
"I don't know that I have the answer," he said. "It's just a matter of being more consistent with what we're doing. I think offensively we've got to get where we're running the football a little better, and we were a little better last Friday than we were the first two weeks."
The Panthers will be facing a Sheridan (1-2) team that won its first game of the season 35-0 against Class 2A McCrory but has since lost back-to-back games to Arkadelphia 38-28 and White Hall 34-7.
The Yellowjackets will be very similar on offense and defense to Van Buren.
Offensively, Sheridan runs the triple option, led by fullback McKinley Williams, who has rushed for 434 yards on 61 carries and scored four touchdowns.
Junior quarterback Justin Pruitt has carried 39 times for 231 yards and completed 4 of 14 passes for 126 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Defensively Sheridan runs a 4-3 scheme which is also very similar to Van Buren.
"Last week, even though we didn't get the win, hopefully it will help us prepare for this Friday," Ross said.
Siloam Springs, meanwhile is looking for better production out of its offense, which is averaging around 265 yards per game. The Panthers were held to just 233 yards last week against Van Buren.
Senior quarterback Luke Lampton has completed 42 of 87 passes (48 percent) for 479 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions. Lampton is also the Panthers' leading rusher with 40 carries for 140 yards on the year.
Sophomore Kaiden Thrailkill has 15 carries for 64 yards but sat out last week with an ankle injury. Junior Kevin Canales ran for 57 yards on 12 carries in getting the start at running back against Van Buren.
Senior receiver J.D. Horn leads the team with 11 catches for 186 yards but was held to just one catch for nine yards last week against Van Buren. Senior Montana Burke caught five passes for 90 yards and has nine receptions for 143 yards on the year.
"We really need to be able to run the football better, and that will open up everything else we want to do," Ross said. "Defensively, I thought we played really well for most of the game and couldn't finish there at the end once we got the lead."
The Panthers have shown resilience after each of their first losses this season and he's hoping that will be the case again this week with the start of conference play.
"I hope the kids understand the importance of it," he said. "We talked the other night about nonconference is over and really it's a new season starting this week. Certainly we would have liked to have won in the nonconference, but really that doesn't matter now for what happens down the road. I think our kids will be ready. I thought they were ready Friday night (against Van Buren). I thought they played hard. We just have to be more consistent and put a complete game together."
Sports on 09/21/2016