The win over Alma was also the second shutout this year by the Greenwood defense, and the second victory over the Jr. Airedales. The two teams met in the season opener in non-conference action with the Jr. Bulldogs winning 36-26. In fact, Alma's 26 points in that game turned out to be the most points surrendered by the Greenwood defense this season. No other team scored more than 18 points (Ramsey) and only two others (both Van Buren schools) reached double figures. The Wells defense gave up just 9.9 points per game, and many of those points came against the second team defense late in games.

Thursday's contest started with a bang for the Bulldogs. After the opening kick was returned to near the 30-yard line, the offense needed just one play to go the distance and score the game's first touchdown. QB Houston Kennedy gave the ball to running back Kenton Turner, who ran off right tackle, found a seam, and burst through the line. Turner slipped one tackle and then outran the defensive pursuit as he broke to the sideline on his way to the end zone. The extra point was good by kicker Avery Sinkuler for a 7-0 Greenwood lead.

According to Coach Harrison, that specific play had been suggested earlier in the week during practice by assistant coach John Herbert. "He called that play," said Harrison. "He told me Monday afternoon he thought that was going to be big, so we put it on the script for the first play. He made sure that everybody knew what to do. He was even talking to the offensive line right before we went out about how to execute that play, and it worked perfectly."

Harrison said the plan was to spread out the Alma defense, but admitted that "we didn't dream that play was going to bust" for a touchdown. "Logan Gregory made the key block. He took the defensive end. Mason Copeland came all the way in and blocked the linebacker, and Drew Morgan hit the outside linebacker," said the coach, explaining the development of the play. "Kenton made one move, got his shoulders square, and just outran everybody. Cole McAllister [blocked] the corner, and all [Turner] had to do was make the safety miss him, and he did. It was just great execution. They knew from Tuesday afternoon what the first play was going to be, and I thought they were real excited. That's fireworks right there. It was unbelievable. I caught myself chasing him down the sideline, and he was gone. It was beautiful."

Leading 7-0, the Junior 'Dogs went to work on defense. Alma started its first possession in good field position at its own 40-yard line after the kick return. But Greenwood got a quarterback sack by Austin Harris on first down, forced a pair of incomplete passes, and the Airedales had to punt, giving the ball back to the home team at the 26-yard line.

Drew Morgan ran for eight yards on first down, then galloped for 18 more to the Alma 48 on the next play. Kennedy passed to Cole McAllister for short yardage to the 42, and then gave to Morgan who reached the 40. Zach Claude picked up the first down at the 34, then Morgan continued his quick start with a 16-yard gain to the 18. After a 5-yard penalty, Kennedy threw to McAllister to reach the four, but another penalty moved the ball back to the nine. Claude ran again to the five, but the defense threw Morgan for a loss back to the nine, setting up third down and goal. Kennedy then rolled to his right and found Mason Copeland, who made the catch near the 5-yard line. The Greenwood receiver turned toward the goal line near the right pylon, and dove into the end zone for the score. The PAT failed, however, and the score remained at 13-0 with 2:37 left in the opening quarter.

Both squads moved the ball on their next possession, picking up first downs, but neither team threatened to score. Greenwood got a nice defensive play from Jay Jackson, who sacked the Alma quarterback and forced the Jr. Airedales to punt. A penalty and a broken play prevented the Jr. 'Dogs from doing any further damage, and the half ended with Greenwood up 13-0.

The visitors received the opening kick of the second half, but the possession yielded only three yards to the 30 against Greenwood's tough defense. Needing a spark to jump start the offense, the Alma coaching staff called for a fake punt, and the risk paid off when Alex Elam ran to the midfield stripe for a first down, catching the Jr. 'Dogs unawares. But the successful play only delayed the inevitable, as the defense once again shut down the Alma offense. The Airedales then tried and failed on a fourth down pass at the Greenwood 44-yard line.

Running back Kenton Turner got the call on first down as Greenwood began its final scoring drive of the game. Turner reached the Alma 46, and two plays later Kennedy completed a pass to Mason Copeland for 10 yards to the 36. Kennedy connected again with Cole McAllister, who made a fine leaping catch, advancing the ball to the 15-yard line. Drew Morgan then carried the ball, dancing along and behind the left side of the offensive line before finding an opening and dashing in for the score. Coach Harrison called for a two-point try, but Kennedy's pass was incomplete, leaving the score at 19-0 near the midway point of the third quarter.

Now desperate to score, the visitors made their deepest penetration into Greenwood territory on their next possession, reaching the 15-yard line. But two successive plays for lost yardage took the wind out of their sails. The second play was a quarterback sack by Zach Claude that pushed the Airedales all the way back to the 29-yard line. They completed a pair of short passes, but a fourth down pass fell incomplete when the Jr. 'Dogs pressured Alma QB Gage Jensen.

Following a Greenwood punt, Jensen felt the wrath of the defense once again when Cole McAllister sacked him on first down near midfield. Two plays later, Drew Morgan intercepted a pass near the Greenwood 25-yard line. With time running out, the Bulldogs kept the ball on the ground, with Morgan doing most of the work. Alma got the ball back on downs at the 50-yard line, but only 1:16 remained on the game clock, and could run only three plays.

Following the game, Coach Harrison shared his thoughts and feelings after an unbeaten season. "It's just unbelievable. It's almost like a dream," he said. "We talked about it all week. It starts in January lifting weights, then to Fast Dogs, two-a-days, and actual practice, and then we'll scrimmage all the way through all nine games to that point. And to beat [Alma], to shut them out, and then to have that trophy delivered tonight, that was just icing on the cake. It was wonderful, and that's just the kids. Everything they do, and all the hard work they put in. There's no secret. There's nothing special that we do. It's just the boys working hard and listening to us as coaches, and going out and performing every Thursday night."

Regarding the shutout, Harrison gave high marks to his defense and especially to his defensive coordinator. "Coach Cothran tweaked the game plan a little bit and we did a couple of new coverages that we hadn't done [before], and I thought that hurt [Alma]. They were yelling at each other because they couldn't figure out what we were doing. And that's a heck of a ball team. They had one loss in conference to Chaffin, and for Coach Cothran to completely shut them down was huge. He really confused them, but at the same time, he didn't confuse our kids. We had a great game plan as coaches, but our kids executed it perfectly," said the coach.

Harrison also praised the pressure put on the Alma quarterback by Greenwood's defense. "Tyler Thompson, Logan Gregory, and Cole McAllister all night long. I would never want to be trying to throw the ball with Tyler Thompson chasing me down. I mean, he's relentless. Kolten Schibbelhut got in there a couple of times and got after him. Zach Claude got in there. We had six or seven guys and they all went full speed. It was awesome. Those front guys did a great job."

Concerning the play of his offense: "We had a good feeling what [Alma was] going to do. We thought they were going to load the box, and I told Cole McAllister I thought this might be his big week. And I don't care who you are or what you've got, if you cover Cole McAllister one-on-one, we're going to take that match up. He caught two big slants tonight and got 20 to 25 yards a pop. He did an awesome job." The coach also praised the work of his running backs, Drew Morgan, Kenton Turner, and Zach Claude, plus the work of the offensive line. "[Alma] was showing some different stuff," he said. "They were really mixing it up, but it didn't phase our offensive line. They picked up everything and did a great job. They gave our QB time when he needed time. They gave us lanes to run. It was awesome. It was the perfect game. That was a perfect win. To shutout Alma, to go 10-0, and to win conference outright, it doesn't get any better than that. If you had told me in August that we would have had to go 10-0 to win this conference, I'd have said you were crazy. Every night was our night this year. It was unbelievable."

Harrison also lauded his players for their consistent teamwork and the leadership of his starting quarterback. "These boys were a complete team," he said. "This was our best overall team. There were no weak spots. I think every [receiver] had more than 13 catches this year, and we've never had every guy with more than six catches. We've never had more than two running backs with over 200 yards, but [this year] we've got three running backs with over 400 yards [each]. That's unbelievable. It's a total team effort. Offensively, for Houston Kennedy to start every game and finish every game, that was incredibly huge, and I was just so proud of him. He did a great job this year. I have to coach him personally every day, and that's probably not fun, and I understand that. He had to put up with me every day, saying the same things to him over and over, and going through reads. That kid played a great game tonight. No interceptions. He didn't make one bad throw, and kept us in the ballgame. He made big throws when we needed [them]. He played a great game," said Harrison.

The coach also addressed the immediate future of his players. "We have a study hall program," he said. "Coach Cothran will tutor some of the kids for math. Coach Kincade is in there for math and Spanish. Coach Herbert is a science guy. And if they're having trouble, we help them with their grades. Because we let them know, Coach [Rick] Jones says 'no pass, no play.' You've got to [keep] your grades up. But right now, these guys are the new sophomores. Rick is going to have them come over in January and they're going to start the off-season program, and then they are high school football players."