Phillips-led Silverdale Seahawks 8-0 after rout over rival Grace Academy

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Two things were very evident Friday night following Silverdale Baptist Academy's 42-7 homecoming victory over rival Grace Academy: Lincoln Phillips is a man among boys on the football field, and Grace might need an aspirin or six to make it through the weekend.

It wasn't so much that the Seahawks won this one going away, sandwiching a pair of 21-0 surges around Grace's lone score in the third period, as it was the way in which they did it. SBA (8-0, 2-0) threw a hat party, to put it mildly, delivering hard hit after hard hit on the Golden Eagles.

The state's stingiest defense hardly missed a beat with defensive stars Colton Rogers and Jordan Delashmitt sidelined with illness. SBA limited Grace to 46 rushing yards.

Despite continual double-teams and the Eagles trying to run a way from him, Phillips made three sacks to raise his city-leading total to 13 for the season, added a pair of vicious hits for lost yardage and batted away an attempted pass.

"Colton is my other half out there, and I felt it not having him there, but we all picked each other up like our coaches coach us to do," Lincoln said.

"He obviously doesn't like to be blocked," coach Al Rogers joked. "But I thought Ben Bower, who we moved out to end to take Colton's place, had a stellar game as well.

"We tell them if one man falls, another has to pick him up. These kids have each other's backs. It's a brotherhood. They have been together a long time. That defense has a lot of pride and they don't like to give up points."

The SBA offense was just as efficient, predictably mostly running -- 38 times for 339 yards while attempting just four passes. Josh Rogers and Matt Millard each had 100-yard games with Rogers netting 159 on 16 carries and Millard adding 116 on eight totes. Millard scored three times (on two 3-yard runs and a 46-yarder) and Rogers scored on a 36-yard bolt. Matt McCulley added a score each on offense and defense, running it in from the 3 and returning an interception for 45 yards to close out the scoring.

The Seahawks gave up their lone score after a 67-yard kickoff return by James Rowell took it to the SBA 20, but even then the Seahawks stiffened and forced a missed field goal but roughed the kicker to put the ball inside the 10. And when Grace threatened to score at the end of the game, SBA tightened up inside its 5, with Phillips twice recording lost-yardage tackles to end the game.

The Seahawks are set up for a District 5-A title showdown in two weeks against Boyd-Buchanan. Grace (2-6, 0-2) faces against Jackson County next week. Grace's Will Slack, who came into the game with 765 rushing yards, was held to 14 on 15 carries and was hit hard all night long.

"This team doesn't want to lose. I'm just so proud of their attitude and work," Coach Rogers said. "They really believe in one another and in the coaching staff. This is the first time we have ever been 8-0, and they just keep setting the bar higher and higher."

Contact James Beach at sports@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.

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