GENTRY -- In a 4A Conference mismatch, Shiloh Christian (6-1, 4-0) handed 4A-1 Conference foe, Gentry (6-1, 3-1), its first loss of the season, pulling away, 48-20, Friday in Pioneer Stadium.
The victory stretched the Saints' league win streak to 26 games, dating back to 2017, rolling up 459 yards of offense and forcing three Pioneer turnovers. The Saints' only loss this season was a 40-33 non-conference loss to the visiting Page Sandites of Sand Springs, Okla., on Sept. 17.
The Pioneers matched the Saints' first-quarter touchdown with a touchdown and extra point of their own and kept pace with their opponents into the second quarter when the Saints scored again.
When Shiloh Christian made it a 14-7 game, running up the middle and getting past defenders for a touchdown, the Pioneers responded with a 9-play, 68-yard drive, capped by a Zach Gunneman 5-yard run for a score to make it 14-13 with 5:29 left in the second quarter. The point-after kick was missed, keeping the Saints up by a point.
Gentry's other touchdowns in the game were scored on a pass to Ty Hays and a Will Pyburn run.
With its huge roster of players drawn from school districts across northwest Arkansas, the Saints began to wear down the Pioneers and were up 21-13 at the 4:24 mark in the second quarter and made it 28-13 by the halftime break.
Junior quarterback Eli Wisdom accounted for five of the Saints' seven touchdowns, completing three touchdown passes in the second half. Wisdom ran for 128 yards and two scores while completing 11 of 16 for 242 yards with three touchdown passes. His connection with senior receiver Cooper Hutchinson was on display in the third quarter. On the third play, Wisdom found Hutchinson in stride 43 yards for a score. In the next Shiloh Christian possession, the duo linked up again for a 21-yard stride into the end zone.
Saints Coach Jeff Conaway commended his team's ability to control the last four minutes of the first half and the way they came out firing again after the break.
The Pioneers had 167 rushing yards in the game and another 161 yards through the air, with Hays receiving five Chris Bell passes for 66 yards. Bell was 12 for 19 through the air. Hays also returned kickoffs three times for 109 yards. William Pyburn ran for 112 yards on 26 carries with one touchdown.
On the defensive side, Jonah Summers had three tackles and an assist; Dawson Rayburn and Pyburn each had three tackles; Bryson Walker had four tackles; and Jonathon Corter had four tackles and five assists, including a tackle for a loss.
Diego Seldana was two for three in PATs.
The Pioneers were the first conference team this season to score three touchdowns against the Saints.
Ethan Westerman contributed to this report.
Shiloh 7 21 14 6 -- 48
Gentry 7 6 0 7 -- 20
