Before Siloam Springs' football team went to team camp at Farmington, head football coach Brandon Craig stressed he wanted the team competing hard the moment they got off the bus.
That's just exactly what the Panthers did Wednesday, he said.
Siloam Springs, along with Gentry, Rogers High, Rogers Heritage and Farmington all competed in the camp at Farmington's football stadium.
"Our kids got off (the bus) and they were ready to get after it," Craig said. "Right from the jump we played really well, got after it defensively. I was really excited about our intensity and how we flew around on defense.
"Offensively it's always a struggle because you're trying to figure out what you're going to see from four or five different teams, so it takes a few cycles through to get a feel for that, but the kids did a good job."
Craig said the day started off with what is called "camp format" when a team's defense goes up against several different offenses for multiple plays in a row.
"We got nine reps of defense, right off the bat," he said.
That comprised most of the first hour of the day before moving to a competition format, where teams got seven consecutive offensive plays from the 40-yard line.
The Panthers had several players shine, Craig said.
Senior defensive end Tyler Johnson continued his strong offseason, his coach said.
"Tyler Johnson had an outstanding day," Craig said. "Just playing with tremendous intensity, doing a great job for us."
Senior linebacker Caden McHaney also played well, he said.
"Caden McHaney, another guy that had a really good day as a linebacker, making his fits, making tackles doing things for us," Craig said.
Offensively, senior quarterback Hunter Talley had several strong runs, Craig said.
"Hunter Talley again, he's just changed himself," Craig said. "He's running the ball real well. He had a huge run yesterday that he probably wouldn't have made last year, but he's a lot faster."
The Panthers had other players play well on offense.
"I thoguht there were some offensive linemen that took some good strides," Craig said. "Of course Jace (Sutulovich) played well. Zach Jones stepped up and played pretty well. Alexis Miranda had a pretty good day."
Craig said sophomore running back Jed Derwin also had a nice outing.
"Jed Derwin, a young guy he jumped in and had some good runs," Craig said. "He toted the load for us, did a really good job."
Senior Christian Ledeker made a couple of touchdown catches at wide receiver and played well on defense, Craig said. The Panthers are making an emphasis at keeping players on one side of the ball, but Ledeker will be needed on both offense and defense.
"He's a guy we're going to spot play on offense," Craig said. "We took him and brought him in for a couple of key plays. He was able to do good stuff for us. He'll be a guy as the season goes on he'll pick up his reps, but he's going to spot play for us early on."
After not having any team camps last summer because of the covid-19 pandemic, Craig said Wednesday's team camp was beneficial, not only for the day itself but the film they collected from it.
"It's a teaching setting," he said. "You're going in and you have an opportunity to see other teams and you have an opportunity to teach your kids, coach your kids, and then you get to come home and continue to teach your kids and hopefully improve them as football players mentally and physically."
"You can only go against yourself for so long, and we spent a lot of time this spring working on fundamentals, working on technique, going against ourselves competitively, so it was really nice to see someone else."
Two of the teams at the camp the Panthers will see during the 2021 season -- Rogers Heritage in a benefit game on Aug. 20 and Rogers High for the season opener on Aug. 27 in Rogers.
"They're both looked pretty quality yesterday, both well coached," Craig said. "Anytime we play guys in 7A it's going ot be a challenge."
The Panthers will resume their offseason workouts this week through Thursday before the start of the AAA dead period on Sunday.
"It's nice to get that break in there," Craig said. "I think it's time for them to get away and go on vacation and have some family time and be a kid. For us (as coaches) it's a chance for us to recharge our batteries and get ready to make a big run from now until December. It's one of those things where it's good for all of us. We're excited to see it coming."
The Panthers hosted the first State Line 7 on 7 Shootout on Saturday. Results were not available at presstime.
