Arkansas high school football Class 5A state final: Parkview looking for repeat win over Shiloh Christian
Little Rock Parkview is hoping to join select company by winning its second consecutive Class 5A state championship over Shiloh Christian.
The Saints, who have won eight state championships, are hoping to earn a measure of revenge after last year’s 31-21 loss and win their first state title since 2020.
That’s the story of Saturday night’s state championship set for 6:30 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium, which is where Parkview plays its home games.
“The big thing for us is keep doing what we’ve been doing all year and try to get better,” said Parkview head coach Brad Bolding. “It’s tough to go 13-0 and it’s tough to win a state championship.”
First-year Shiloh Christian head coach Tucker Barnard said, “They’ve got a great football team. They’ve obviously well coached and very dominant, not just this year, but in recent years. We’re excited about the matchup. It will be a lot of fun. We’re looking forward to the challenge."
Parkview QB Eric McGehee (Photo by Jimmy Jones)
The Patriots have been the dominant team in 5A and perhaps the state. The Patriots (13-0) are riding a 24-game winning streak. This year, they have outscored the opposition 599-128 and have topped 50 points five times and 60 points once. They ended Bryant’s 54-game winning streak against in-state competition with a 28-27 victory on Sept. 8. They beat Alma 35-0, Mills 35-6 and Camden Fairview 42-13 in the playoffs.
Many of the Patriots games have ended under the Arkansas Activities Association’s sportsmanship rule with the starters spending the second half on the sideline.
Shiloh Christian (11-2) had to to take a different route to get back to its 14th state championship game. The Saints lost 20-14 to Lincoln Christian (Okla.) before winning six in a row in the 5A-West before a 29-28 loss to Farmington Week 8 its 40-game winning streak against conference opponents. After beating Hot Springs 58-22 in the first round, the Saints had to go on the road to beat 5A-East champion Valley View 42-30 and 5A-South champion Pine Blue 49-41.
“It’s been a different path,” said Barnard. “We got ourselves in that situation with Farmington loss. We had to fight through that. We say God is good when we win and God is good when we lose. We had adversity and drew on that. Sometimes you have to find out who you are and when you’re tested. I don’t think we would have wanted to draw it up like that. We would have liked to roll to a bunch of victories at home. We have to do the best we can and learn from the mistakes we’ve made. We’ve come together, find some things about ourselves.”
Shiloh Christian's Evan Baker (Photo by Tommy Land)
Senior quarterback Eric McGehee, who was MVP of last year’s state championship game, has thrown for 1,616 yards with 16 touchdowns and 4 interceptions and added 257 yards rushing and 8 touchdowns. The Patriot rushing attack is balanced with three backs going over 700 yards on the season led by junior Cameron Settles (823 yards and 19 touchdowns), junior Monterrio Elston (808 yards and 10 touchdowns) and senior Jaden Ashford (788 yards and 11 touchdowns).
“A lot of the games we’ve played, the starters have played about two quarters. If some of them played all four quarters, they would have put up monster stats,” said Bolding. “The big thing I teach to them is it’s nice to go someplace and be the man, but when you go to college, you’re going to have to learn how to compete for playing time and we have that type of atmosphere here. Also, it allows us to have fresh legs in the game which allows our backs to compliment each other.”
Elston also leads the team in receiving with 54 catches for 745 yards and 9 touchdowns. Junior Omarion Robinson 14 receptions for 372 yards and 2 touchdowns and averages 38.7 yards per kick and punt return (14 returns for 542 yards and 4 touchdowns). Sophomore Kyrick Fulks caught 15 passes for 269 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Defensively, linebacker Jakore Smith had 59 tackles and 2 sacks, Linebacker Kevin Ellis has 48 tackles. Defensive linemen Andre Williams and Jeremy Edwards have five sacks.
Shiloh Christian is led by running back Bo Williams, who rushed for 1,875 yards and 37 touchdowns on the season, including 350 yards and 5 touchdowns against Pine Bluff. He had 400 yards and 6 touchdowns in a 43-22 win over Little Rock Christian Academy, which is playing in the Class 6A state championship.
“Bo is a special player, a great leader with an incredible work ethic,” said Barnard. “He’s one of most competitive kids on the team. Had a great start with 400 yards vs. Little Rock Christian. He had another exceptional game vs. Pine Bluff. He spent a lot of the season dealing with a twisted ankle. We all know how that recovery can drag along. We had a couple games where maybe we shouldn’t have played him and it lingered along. He’s been getting better last few weeks. He looked very healthy last week. I feel good about that.”
However, Shiloh’s offense is not limited to Williams. Freshman quarterback Cole Creighton will start despite missing six games with an injury. He has thrown for 1,011 yards with 13 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Evan Baker will also see action. He has thrown for 1,404 yards with 15 touchdowns and has rushed for 978 yards and 8 touchdowns. Carter Holman has caught 52 passes for 481 yards and 7 touchdowns. Dalton Carnes has 30 catches for 320 yards and 3 touchdowns.
“The big thing about them is they’re going to get yards,” said Bolding. “The main thing is we need to gang tackle and get a lot of people to the ball. We have to limit their big-play potential. Bo is one of those players if one player tries to make the tackle, he’ll end up with a broken arm.
“The things about our defense is our scheme is built on guys doing their jobs. You might not be the guy who is making the tackle, but your job is to put the guy in position to make the tackle. We’ve got to be sound in how we play defense.”
Barnard said it no secret his team wants to control the ball. “It’s pretty cliché, but it’s true, we have to run the football and we have to sustain drives. We can’t get into situations where we rely on big play over and over again. We need to stay out of that situation, stay out of third and long. We need to devise a way to to recognize what are the easiest yards out there.”
On defense, Carter Henley leads the Saints with 101 tackles with 5 for losses. Griffin Mason has 96 with 6 for losses. Sid Scott has 74 with 6 for losses. Mason Howell has 4 of the team’s 17 interceptions.
Barnard said while stopping the run is important, not giving up big plays is going to be the ultimate task. “They’re really versatile offensively. They have a true dual-threat quarterback who does both well. They’ve got great skill players and a great offensive line. We’ve got to stop the run and not let them throw the ball over our heads. I don’t think Parkview relies on deep ball as much, but they’re very balanced. We’ll work hard to give them different looks and keep them from getting comfortable.”
While both teams met in the state title game a year ago, neither team is putting much stock on what happened a year ago.
“I don’t think you can take a lot from what happened a year ago,” said Bolding. “Shiloh is a different team and we’re a better team than last year. Shiloh’s running game is a better and their offensive line is very good.”
Barnard said, “I don’t put too much stock from last year. It was a good football game from a fan perspective. Toward the end of the game, Shiloh had a touchdown called back with four minutes. It was a completive game. Parkview is big, fast and physical. They’re really good at what they do.”
-- Jeff Halpern
