SILOAM SPRINGS -- The Lake Hamilton Wolves believe, and they showed it in the second half against Siloam Springs.
The Wolves scored 21 second-half points and held the Panthers scoreless over the final 24 minutes to remain undefeated with a 28-17 victory at Panther Stadium.
Lake Hamilton (7-0, 4-0 6A West) trailed 17-7 at halftime and had been gashed by Siloam Springs for 249 yards in the first half. The Wolves held the Panthers to just 80 yards in the second half while piling up 227 of their own.
"We're going 7-0 probably for the first time in a long time for Lake Hamilton," said Lake Hamilton coach Tommy Gilleran. "These kids believe."
The downward spiral started for Siloam Springs (2-5, 1-3) after Jackson Norberg recovered a fumble for the Panthers and ran it back to the 42.
The Panthers ran for 8 yards on first down to the 34 and were facing second-and-2, but a bad snap led to big loss and the Panthers were forced to punt. The Panthers shanked a punt, and Lake Hamilton took over at the 41.
The Wolves generated a nine-play, 59-yard drive to pull within 17-14 and scored on a 1-yard run by Layne Warrick with 3:13 remaining in the third.
After a Lake Hamilton defensive stop, the Wolves put together another scoring drive with sophomore Owen Miller scoring on a 62-yard run with 7:44 remaining, capping a 98-yard drive and giving Lake Hamilton a 21-17 lead.
Siloam Springs drove close to midfield and had fourth-and-1, but a false start made it fourth-and-6. Taylor Pool's pass to Gavin Henson was complete, but Henson was stopped short by one yard to get the ball back to Lake Hamilton with 4:26 left.
The Wolves -- with strong runs from Miller, Warrick and sophomore Tevin Woodley -- drove inside the 5, and Warrick scored from 3 yards out with 1:15 left to put the game away.
"We just weren't consistent enough," said Siloam Springs coach Brandon Craig. "It goes back to players have to make plays in key times if you want to win big games. We didn't make those plays. We've just got to keep working to try to get better. I'm not going to quit. I don't think the kids are going to quit. We're going to keep battling. We've got three games left that are all games that we feel like we can go win and get ourselves in a playoff position to where maybe we can upset someone."
Lake Hamilton's Wing T offense finished with 395 yards, including 372 on the ground. Miller had 110 of his 138 yards in the second half, while Warrick led with 139 yards and three touchdowns, including a 77-yard touchdown run in the first quarter to give Lake Hamilton a 7-3 lead.
Siloam Springs finished with 329 yards including 249 in the first half. Pool completed 10 of 18 passes for 162 yards and rushed for 78 yards. He scored both of Siloam Springs' touchdowns. Jackson Norberg had 64 yards on the ground, while Tate Criner had 77 yards on three receptions.
Sports on 10/19/2019