Greenbrier to open 5A-West football play with Siloam

By Julie Storing
UCA sportswriting

After a disappointing 1-9 finish last year, the Greenbrier Panthers have renewed determination to clinch their first 5A-West conference win against the Siloam Springs Panthers on Friday.

Greenbrier will play its homecoming game at Don Jones Stadium on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

With Greenbrier at an already improved 2-1 record for the season and Siloam Springs currently undefeated, coach Randy Tribble said this game is guaranteed to be a back-and-forth battle.

“I expect it to be a really hard-fought game,” Tribble said. “I think that it’s a game that can go either way. Either team can win this game, and I am expecting a great effort by our crew.”

Siloam Springs made it to the second round of the state playoffs last season but lost to the Helena-West Helena Cougars.

Tribble said that even though Siloam Springs has a more aggressive team, Greenbrier’s team has more depth and has been practicing hard to defeat the Panthers.

“We have a little more depth, but they have a bigger, more physical team,” Tribble said. “We have to raise our level of play to beat them. We’ve been really working hard against their offensive and defensive schemes.”

Despite the loss to Heber Springs last Friday, Tribble said that the Panthers learned a lot because Siloam Springs’ offense is similar to Heber Springs’.

“They line up in a Spread and run the ball really well,” he said. “It’s helpful to play similar offenses two weeks in a row. Defensively we are working on the things we like to do. With our offense we are trying to improve our execution.”

Greenbrier sophomore quarterback Neal Burcham has fueled the offense with 30 completed passes out of 52 attempts and eight touchdowns in the first two games of the season. Tyler Hardee has also caught eight receptions for 193 yards and five touchdowns, and junior Hunter Winston has been a team leader in rushing with 16 carries for 188 yards and two touchdowns.

Two Greenbrier players—linemen Matt Cain and Chase Lear—suffered shoulder injuries early in the game last Friday, and Tribble said he hoped they would return to play as soon as possible.

“That really hurt us last week,” Tribble said. “It’s just the part of the game that you don’t like, but hopefully we will get them back before too long. “

Winning the first conference game of the season is very important to the Panthers, Tribble said, because it would show a complete turnaround from last season.

“Starting off 2-0 felt really good, and that’s more wins than we had last year,” he said. “The first three games are important, but they aren’t near as important as the conference. It would be a great victory for us to get 1-0 in conference. We want to make the playoffs. We are a stronger, better football team, and we still have a long way to go, but there’s definite progress.”