Finishing strong

Keegan Soucie saw his senior football season flash before his eyes in the second half of Siloam Springs' home game against Greenwood on Oct. 9.

Late in the game, Soucie suffered an injury to the head and neck area and had to be carted off the field on a stretcher by emergency medical personnel.

As Soucie remembers the play, he was engaged with his opponent during a punt play.

"I stood up and made contact with my guy," Soucie said. "He held on to me a little too long, and I looked away for a split second, and I was knocked down. I got back up and I got hit again and then I went to get up myself and I felt something pop and I couldn't move."

Soucie said he never lost consciousness, but medical personnel, out of precaution, had to cut off his No. 24 jersey and his shoulder pads to stabilize him.

"At the time they didn't know the severity of the injury and they ended up stabilizing his whole body," said Siloam Springs coach Brandon Craig. "It was one of those things in the moment we had to take every precaution we could."

Thankfully for Soucie, the injury was not as severe as feared and he was released from the hospital that same night.

Soucie wound up not playing the next week at Lake Hamilton. He did return for the Panthers' final home game against Mountain Home on Oct. 23 -- wearing a new jersey, No. 20.

"I feel like God's given me a lot of grace and He's helped me out a lot and helped me get to the point where I want to be at," Soucie said.

Against the Bombers, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Soucie wound up catching a career-high seven passes for 85 yards and a touchdown -- his best game as a wide receiver. Until that game, Soucie had been used sparingly on offense but injuries to the Panthers' offense forced him to play more wideout.

Last Friday in the Panthers' 50-47 win at Russellville, Soucie caught three passes for 79 yards and a touchdown as he and his teammates rallied from a 28-7 deficit.

"Since he's been back he's had a major impact," Craig said. "He's not only helped us on defense but had some great numbers offensively and has been pretty much our No. 1 go-to receiver."

On the season, Soucie's caught 13 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns. He's also a starter defensively at free safety and plays on special teams.

"Keegan has really come on here the last half of the season on both sides of the ball," said Cole Harriman, who coaches secondary and is the team's defensive coordinator. "He is an optimist -- always wears a smile on his face. Great person to be around and has found a knack for making big plays."

Soucie is very confident in his abilities on both sides of the ball.

"I play with a lot of confidence," he said. "Not just myself but this team too. No matter the outcome at the end of the game, playing along with these guys is awesome. Seeing that every guy on that field is going to fight for me helps motivate me to fight for them too."

The Panthers (4-6) will look to Soucie on Friday as they travel to El Dorado (4-4) for the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

"Keegan's a great athlete," Craig said. "He's had moments where he's really shined for us, and he's had times where he has not. The bottom line is I think he's starting to peak as a senior at the right time going into the playoffs. He's a threat for us. People are going to have to respect him and he gives us a threat offensively."

Soucie also is a star athlete for the Siloam Springs track team and a decathlete.

As a sophomore he finished 20th in the decathlon and was looking to improve that mark as a junior before the spring season was canceled by covid-19.

"He's the kind of kid who I think has the ability to do anything he wants," Craig said. "I mean he can do about anything he sets his mind to. It's just a matter of setting his mind to it and going out there and doing it."

His favorite events are the jumps -- high, long and triple -- and he's looking forward to doing it this spring.

"This is my final year," he said, "and I want to get out there and do my best."