SPRINGDALE (KFSM)-- The fate of the 2017 Shiloh Christian football season may have changed on one kick.
"I was down on the line," remembers senior Reagan Neal. "I saw that go over my head, like a foot above my head, and I was like, oh lord that’s gonna be short."
Pea Ridge, the top team in the 4A-1, had a chance to tie the Saints with 20 seconds left on Friday night. When their kick was low, pandemonium ensued at Champions Stadium.
"It was insane," says quarterback Landon Brown. "I mean, I’ve always dreamed about it my whole life."
Neal offered some perspective.
"It meant everything and it meant nothing. Coming off the Gravette loss we were down, and we knew that if we won it wouldn’t effect our seeding, but going into the playoffs, going in on that high not, knowing you can beat anybody, including the number two team in the state, it just gives you that condidence going into the playoffs."
Perhaps more important than the W itself was the way the Saints adapted when their usually pass happy offensive strategy was shut down. The 140 yards passing was Brown's lowest output of the year.
"For our guys to find different ways to move the football was so important," says head coach Jeff Conaway, " and one of the guys who really stepped up and bought into the game pan was Landon Brown, and just his ability to run when he needed to."
This adjustment wasn't exactly one that Brown wanted to have to make.
"I’m not gonna lie, I like to throw the ball a lot more than I like to run it," admits Brown. "Going into the game we thought we were gonna throw the ball a lot more, but we got in the game and it’s just one of those things where running was working."
Shiloh will travel to Stuttgart in week one of the playoffs, and Conaway is looking at this as a clean slate.
"We start all over this week, it’s a new season, you know, we’re zero and zero."
But his players won't soon forget last Friday night.
"Coming off the win, we just have this confidence that we can beat anybody."