Siloam Springs football coaches knew there would be ups and downs at Saturday's inaugural Stateline Shootout.
The Panthers went 4-4 overall in eight 20-minute 7-on-7 games, including a come-from-behind victory against 6A-West conference rival Van Buren in championship bracket play before being ousted by Bentonville West.
"Our kids, we're really young at wide receiver, so it was really a good chance for them to see a lot of different coverages, different looks, and learn how to run routes and get open off of different coverages live," said head coach Brandon Craig. "That's what we were looking for. We were just looking for growth and to see our kids get a little bit better at what we're doing."
Siloam Springs went 3-3 in pool play on Saturday morning before all teams took a break for lunch and to hear Fellowship of Christian athletes guest speaker Jeb Huckeba, former Arkansas Razorback football player.
When play resumed Saturday afternoon, the Panthers rallied to beat Van Buren 20-19 in the opening round of the championship bracket. Bentonville West then eliminated Siloam Springs with a 39-15 victory in the quarterfinals.
Sapulpa, Okla., wound up winning the tournament overall with a 36-18 victory over Harrison in the championship game.
Overall, Craig said the 7-on-7 tournament was a success and he received positive feedback from other coaches.
"Every coach has told me it's been the best 7-on-7 event they've been to," Craig said. "The facilities, the fields over there at Sager Creek (Soccer Complex) were just in tremendous shape. I want to thank the city for doing that, really great props out to Jon Boles and his staff of getting that thing ready for us, and everybody loved it. From a standpoint of 7-on-7 tournaments, it turned out to be a really good one."
The football program also had more than 100 volunteers and workers, ranging from players, staff, boosters and parents to former parents of the program.
"Our coaching staff, our volunteers and our booster club did a great job of taking a plan and organizing it and running it off to the best of their ability," Craig said. "I think it went really smoothly."
Siloam Springs opened up the pool play round Saturday morning against Pryor, Okla., a team they recorded regular season victories against in the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
An interception from Tanner Kear and a Hunter Talley touchdown pass to Jed Derwin gave the Panthers an early 9-2 lead, but Pryor rallied for a 20-9 victory.
The Panthers then moved over to Panther Stadium to play Sapulpa and defeated the eventual tournament champions 27-17.
Talley threw a pair of touchdown passes to Christian Ledeker and one to Brendan Lashley, while Ledeker also had an interception that was worth three points. The Panthers' defense also had two turnover-on-downs worth two points each. Lashley wound up catching 10 passes in the win.
"He's an experienced guy," Craig said of Lashley. "He's been with us. He's seen what's going on. He's got to be a huge threat for us this year. We've got to use him wisely."
Siloam Springs made the trek back to Sager Creek Soccer Complex for a game with Farmington and were soundly defeated 31-6.
The Panthers came back and beat Kansas, Okla., in the next game with Derwin catching the game-tying touchdown and Ledeker the game-winning one-point conversion. Dax Moody opened the game with an interception and Talley hit Ledeker for an early 9-0 lead. Kansas rallied to take a 17-9 lead, but Siloam Springs' defense got a late stop to set up the game winning possession.
Siloam Springs won its next game against Springdale High 23-17. The game was tied 17-17 late after the Panthers got a defensive stop. Talley then threw a touchdown to Ledeker for the game-winning score on the next possession.
Talley also threw touchdown passes to Lashley and Ledeker earlier in the day.
Rogers High handed Siloam Springs a 23-12 loss in the final round of pool play.
Siloam Springs fell behind 8-2 against Van Buren to open up championship bracket play but tied the game when Talley hit Ledeker for a 40-yard touchdown pass.
Van Buren answered with a score and two defensive stops to go up 19-10.
Siloam Springs got a defensive stop back, including a leaping pass breakup from Ledeker. Talley threw a touchdown pass to Lashley to pull within 19-18, and the Panthers got another defensive stop for the game-winning points to take a 20-19 win.
In the Panthers' final game, Bentonville West rolled out to an early 16-0 lead. Siloam Springs cut it to 22-15 with touchdown passes for Ledeker and Mark Lopez, but the Wolverines scored 17 consecutive points to run away with the win.
Along with Lashley and Ledeker, Craig said receiver Jonathan Graves had a good day, catching several passes.
Talley threw the ball well, Craig said, even though a big part of his overall game is running the football.
"The guy's in the best physical shape I've ever seen him in," Craig said of Talley. "He's going to these camps and putting up amazing numbers. He went to Arkansas camp the other day and ran a 4.75, standing long jump 9 foot 11 inches, had a 30-something-inch vertical. He's in the best shape of his life right now.
"This (7-on-7) is shorts and T-shirt football. We're obviously going to be a physical football team and try and run the ball. He's a big component of that."
Craig said defensively linebacker Caden McHaney had a good day.
"He did a good job of playing the underneath stuff and covering some backs out of the backfield, so I thought he did a really good job there," Craig said. "It's one of those things, we're young. We've got some inexperience out there. We're just going to have to keep working and get better."
The Panthers will now wrap up their week of summer workouts today and Thursday before breaking for the Arkansas Activities Association dead period, which runs through July 11. The Panthers are scheduled to return to workouts Monday, July 12.
"We're excited to have a break," Craig said. "We want our kids to have a break, recharge the batteries and come back out after the dead period ready to go and make a long run."
