Bombers pick up road win

For the first time this season, Mountain Home "got off the bus" in a road game.

The Bombers jumped out to a 21-0 first-half lead and held on in the second half for their first road win against injury-riddled Siloam Springs, 28-19, at Panther Stadium.

"That was the quote of the week right there, 'Get off the bus,'" said first-year Mountain Home coach Steve Ary. "We preached it, and they did it. I'm glad they did it, finally. We got up instead of got behind, and it was good for us."

The Bombers got big nights from three senior offensive players, quarterback Bryce McKay, running back Gage Hershberger and receiver Logen Walker. Meanwhile while the Bombers' defense frustrated Siloam Springs early, allowing the Bombers to get out to the big lead.

McKay threw a 42-yard touchdown to Walker on Mountain Home's first possession for a 7-0 lead.

McKay capped a 62-yard scoring drive at the end of the first quarter with a 5-yard run to go up 14-0.

In the second quarter, after the Bombers (4-4, 2-3 6A-West) thwarted a Panthers drive at the 24, McKay broke loose for a 26-yard run to midfield. On the next play, he threw a short swing pass to Hershberger, who broke several tackles and ran for a 50-yard touchdown to go up 21-0.

"Three plays cost us," said Siloam Springs coach Brandon Craig said. "Every time we do something wrong, it turns into a big play for the opponent."

Siloam Springs (3-5, 1-4) attempted one last drive before half but fell short at the 1 as time expired.

The Panthers got on the board in the third quarter when Hunter Talley hit Christian Ledeker for a 59-yard touchdown strike to make it 21-7.

Siloam Springs got two straight stops defensively but turned it over on downs both times.

The Bombers took advantage in the fourth quarter. McKay hit Hershberger for a 31-yard gain. Three plays later McKay hit senior tight end Dawson Tabor for a 16-yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead.

The Panthers pulled within 28-13 when Jeff Phizema scored a 19-yard touchdown.

Siloam Springs recovered an onside kick which led to another score -- a 32-yard pass from Talley to Keegan Soucie to pull within 28-19. The Panthers went for the two-point conversion, but Elijah Coffey was stopped short keeping it a two-score game.

The Panthers attempted another onside kick, but this time Mountain Home recovered. The Bombers were able to run off the remaining time.

Mountain Home finished with 419 yards of offense. McKay completed 13 of 17 passes for 245 yards, while rushing 23 times for 77 yards.

"He's the kind of guy that makes us go," Ary said of his quarterback. "If we can get him throwing the ball and running the ball, he kept the defense just a little off-balance tonight because he threw just well enough to give us the edge."

Hershberger rushed for 97 yards on 28 carries and caught two passes for 81 yards. Walker caught four passes for 97 yards.

Siloam Springs, which was missing several starters on offense, finished with 369 yards, 243 of which came in the second half.

Talley completed 16 of 34 passes for 223 yards, but the Bombers shut him down on the ground as he carried for eight yards on 15 carries.

"We were really worried that (Talley) was going to be the guy that broke us down," Ary said. "So that was our focus, it really was."

Phizema broke several big runs in the second half and rushed 21 times for 138 yards, while Soucie caught seven passes for 85 yard for the Panthers, who have now lost four straight.

"Made a lot of mistakes," Craig said. "When you make mistakes you get behind. You lose in this conference when you make mistakes. We have a lot of kids playing that maybe we didn't expect to play, but they're playing and they've got to go out and play with discipline and toughness and we did not do that to start the game. Made a couple of adjustments at halftime. Felt like we had a better second half, but we still weren't very consistent."

Craig said he put the loss on his shoulders.

"We did not play to the level I expect us to play," Craig said. "We made a lot of basic simple mistakes, which shows that we're not doing a good job with fundamentals. That all comes back to me as head coach. ... I take complete blame for this loss because my guys weren't ready to play."

The Panthers will try and regroup this Friday against Little Rock Parkview at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Parkview is 5-1 overall and 2-1 in league play. The Patriots won at Russellville 33-3 on Friday.