9-10-04 By: Brian Vaughn
Poteau- Pirate flags lined the highway as Greenwood rolled into Poteau Friday night--A warning sign to the Bulldogs.
Greenwood (1-1) knew going into the game that it would be a different game than they experienced a week earlier with a 36-0 win over Shiloh Christian.
Poteau (2-0) would not air it out like Shiloh, but would rather pound it right at you on the ground.
That's exactly what Poteau did taking the opening kick-off and pounding over ten minutes of the first quarter off the clock on a 20-play drive that ended with Poteau's Garrett Groom's 25-yard goal with only 1:04 to go in the quarter.
Greenwood who knew they'd have to take advantage of each of their possessions with the way Poteau wanted to control the ball went three and out on their first possession of the game.
Greenwood who at times looked out of sync in all aspects of the game managed to find the end zone with 7:02 to go in the first half on a 5-yard touchdown run by Jacob Mills to give the Bulldogs a 7-3 lead after Mason Knox PAT was good.
It was the only time the Bulldogs would find the end zone even though they found themselves in scoring position several times.
Poteau's Brandon Choice gave Poteau the lead back with :59 seconds left before the half on a 5-yard run to go ahead 10-7.
Greenwood tried to take the lead back before the half with Bulldog quarterback Daniel Stegall throwing consecutive deep passes to Lucas Miller, but the Pirates defended the pass plays well and denied the score before the half.
Midway through the 3rd quarter the Bulldogs were once again knocking on the goal line inside the 10-yard line when a pass by Stegall was intercepted and returned to the Pirate 20-yard line.
Greenwood would have one more chance late in the 4th quarter as Bulldog quarterback Micah Fritsche led the Bulldogs on a 80-yard drive before stalling out on the Pirate 5-yard line, to the dissappointment of the huge Greenwood student section just behind the end zone.
Coach Jones elected to kick the field goal to tie the game on 4th and 3, but Mason Knox who went 3 for 3 against Shiloh in field goals sailed this on just right of the upright.
"There are a lot of opportunities we had to win that game," said Greenwood head coach Rick Jones. "There were a lot of things we can point to as coaches that if we do differently we win the game."
Greenwood continued the two quarterback attack with Micah Fritsche going 7 for 11 passing for 55-yards and rushing for 12-yards.
Daniel disappointment went 7 for 11 passing for 78-yards with one interception and was held to minus -2 yards rushing.
Eric Melton lead the Bulldog rushing game with 44-yards on 7 carries. Lucas Miller was again the go to receiver with 5 catches for 65-yards.
Greenwood finished the night with 229-yards of total offense to Poteau's 246-yards.
It was time of possession that told the tale of the night with Poteau controlling the ball for over 30 minutes of the 48.
Poteau gave Greenwood a look at exactly what Vilonia will try to do in the conference opener in two weeks, but the Bulldogs have a game to play yet before then.
"I knew we'd have a battle tonight," said Jones. "I'm really disappointed we did not get the job done, but I'm glad to be a Bulldog, I'm proud of our kids-they gave good effort. We need to execute better and we will next week."
Greenwood returns home on Friday to face AAAAA Bentonville in their final nonconference game at Smith-Robinson Stadium at 7:30.
"Only choice we have right now is to use it as a learning opportunity," said Jones. "We have to rally the troops and get ready for Bentonville next Friday night."
