Patriots loaded with top talent

Little Rock Parkview has been known in recent years for its success in basketball, but the Patriots' football team is one that's loaded with Division I talent.

Siloam Springs travels to Little Rock this Friday to take on the Patriots (5-1, 2-1) at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Parkview has two seniors in quarterback Landon Rogers and tight end Erin Outley that are committed to coach Sam Pittman and the Arkansas Razorbacks and several underclassmen who are considered Division I prospects.

"They're really talented in some spots," said Siloam Springs coach Brandon Craig. "They've got some really good players."

Rogers (6-4, 210 pounds) threw for 1,624 yards and 19 touchdowns last season, while Outley (6-4, 240) caught 41 passes for 651 yards.

Junior running back James Jointer (6-0, 200) was offered a scholarship by Arkansas after a big freshman season but missed most of his sophomore season with a torn ACL. Junior linebacker Montavious Goins (6-0, 230) has been offered by Texas Southern, and junior safety Trent Bennett (6-1, 200) has offers from Colorado, Boston College and Michigan State.

Sophomore running back Willie Eackles has received an offer from Memphis,

Parkview went 4-6 last season -- its third under coach Brad Bolding -- but the Patriots lost four of those six games by a touchdown or less.

This year Parkview is off to a 5-1 start with wins over Little Rock Southwest (48-0), White Hall (41-13), Pine Bluff (28-130, Van Buren (28-20) and Russellville (33-3).

The Patriots lost 30-20 at Benton on Oct. 9 in their first conference game after missing two games (Greenwood and Lake Hamilton) because of covid-19 quarantine.

"They have a lot of talent, and they do a really good job," Craig said. "Their kids are really disciplined, play extremely hard and they get a lot of mileage out of their quarterback."

Siloam Springs (3-5, 1-4), meanwhile, will try and right the ship after four straight losses following a 43-42 win over Van Buren to open conference play on Sept. 25.

The Panthers were thumped by Benton (42-0), Greenwood (49-10) and Lake Hamilton (42-19) before losing last week 28-19 to Mountain Home at home. The Bombers led 21-0 at halftime before holding off the Panthers' second half comeback.

The Panthers look to be more like the team that scored 55 points at Pea Ridge or handed Class 5A Harrison (7-1) its only loss of the season.

"As a football player, you get one game a week," Craig said. "As a football coach you get one game a week. You're judged by that one game. Unfortunately for us, we haven't played well enough to win the last few weeks. ... It's been a long few weeks. Our kids are sticking with us. They're still showing up and working hard. The thing of it is, it really just takes one win to get back on track and get feeling good about yourself."

Injuries have played a part as Siloam Springs has been missing several key players to quarantine and injuries, including wide receiver Gavin Henson and running back Zach Gunneman, who were hurt in the Benton game. Center Martin Reyes has missed a couple of games and all-state linebacker Camden Collins didn't play alst week against Mountain Home.

"We're getting some guys back this week," Craig said. "We may not get them all back, but we're getting a few back that I think can help us and give us more depth. We've had zero depth over the last few weeks, and we've played really the toughest part of our schedule on a skeleton crew. It's been tough on all of us. Looking forward to getting all of our guys back going into the Russellville game (next week) and the playoff game 100 percent, I feel like we're going to be a tough team to beat."