SPRINGDALE -- Thunderstorms early Thursday morning canceled football practice for the Siloam Springs football team, but a select group of Panthers still had a job to do later that morning.
Six Siloam Springs football players and head coach Brandon Craig represented the Panthers at Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette football media day held at Arvest Ballpark.
The Panthers were among several teams from the Northwest Arkansas area to participate in the day, as coaches and players had their pictures taken and were interviewed for coverage of the start of football season. A media day for River Valley teams was held Tuesday at Hunt's Park in Fort Smith.
Attending for Siloam Springs were Craig, who's going into his fifth season as head coach, seniors Stone Stephens, Jonathon Graves and Nick Driscoll and juniors Justin Burton, Saul Urena and Jed Derwin.
"All these guys have played for us," Craig said. "They've all been on the field in varsity games for us. They all have experience and they know what to expect. And I think going into this league and how tough it is, you don't know until you get out here and these guys do know what it's about and they're leaders on our team. They can share with others about what the speed of the game is like, the players they're going to be playing against. They're the most experienced guys we have."
Media Days, from high school to college to professional, typically signal the start of the season, which was fun for the players, they said.
"I'm excited. I'm ready to play, really want to get the pads on and start playing," said Stephens, who will start at inside linebacker for the Panthers. "I'm glad to be here with these guys. It's good to be picked for that."
Stephens has heard before that senior seasons go by fast and he's already experiencing that.
"It already has gone by really fast," Stephens said. "I mean I wish it could slow down, but I just want to play really bad."
For one Panther in particular, the preseason has not gone by fast, and that would be Graves. The 6-foot-5 wide receiver broke a foot during the summer and had been in a boot the last two months and unable to practice. He hopes to be back on the field within the next two weeks.
"I'm really excited to just get back out there on the field with my teammates and my brothers," said Graves, who is the Panthers' leading returning receiver with 32 catches for 369 yards and four touchdowns. "It's been kind of tough to sit back and watch. I'm really excited to get back out on the field again.
"I'm hoping to be a big part of the offense this year and go make some plays for us and help us put some points on the board, help us win some games."
Driscoll is projected to help the Panthers on offense and defense.
In 2021, Driscoll caught 20 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns. He also played in the secondary on defense.
Driscoll is expected to do the same his senior season, but he'll also be the team's backup quarterback behind sophomore Jackson Still. Driscoll and Still both took snaps during summer competition, but Driscoll said he can help the team best at other positions.
"Still's young. He's very talented. We both don't have any experience at quarterback on the varsity, and I had some experience at other positions like receiver and DB, and I thought it would be better for me to go back where I had some experience," Driscoll said.
Burton, Urena and Derwin all saw lots of action as sophomores in 2021.
"I'm just ready to get out there and play, honestly," said Burton, who can play tackle and guard on the offensive line. "Ready to help these guys have a great senior year, hopefully get them some more wins than we did last year, and hoping I can be a key part of that."
Burton said it was tough for the team to struggle through a 1-9 season last year.
"It's still with me right now," Burton said. "Wanting to get back on that and get more wins this year and not letting that affect my mindset but help me grind to get better to do better this year."
Urena has the tough task of replacing All-State right tackle Jace Sutulovich, who signed with Air Force.
"Jace Sutulovich was a really great role model," Urena said. "Someone I could look up to. ... I'm just ready for this season. Me and my brothers worked really hard this summer. We're hungry for that win."
Derwin is the Panthers' leading returning rusher with 92 carries for 431 yards and four touchdowns.
"I'm ready to play," he said. "With me and my brothers here and everyone on the team has put the work in this summer, and I'm ready. I want to get out there and play."
Derwin is likely to get the bulk of the carries at running back, but he said he's not alone in the backfield.
"I definitely hope so," Derwin said of the increased workload. "I would love to have more (carries), but at the same time I've got some really talented sophomores that are coming up too, and I got these two other juniors that are really good running backs as well. I'm just hoping we can have a good run game this year."
The Panthers were scheduled to complete their first week of practice with a scrimmage on Saturday.
The team will practice this week and then get ready for a Arkansas Activities Association benefit game at Fort Smith Southside on Tuesday, Aug. 16.
"It's a benefit game and we know it's a glorified scrimmage," Craig said. "But for us it's going to be important for us to get as many kids on the field, get some experience, get some reps and let them see what Friday nights look like."