The Raymond E. Wells Junior High Bulldogs hosted the Harrison Junior Goblins last Thursday night in a rare football doubleheader featuring both the eighth and ninth grade teams. In the eighth grade opener, played at 5:00 p.m. at Smith-Robinson Stadium, Greenwood rallied from an early first half deficit to notch a come-from-behind 34-24 victory. In the ninth grade contest that followed, the Junior Bulldogs dominated Harrison and won easily, 35-8. Both Greenwood teams remain unbeaten on the season.

The Junior Goblins stunned the Greenwood eighth graders by taking a 16-0 early in the first half, but the home team had trimmed that margin to 16-14 at the half. The Jr. 'Dogs continued their scoring binge in the second half, building a 34-16 lead before Harrison added a late touchdown to make the final 34-24.

"We came out a little flat and got down 16-0," said head coach Don Harrison of the eighth grade game. "We fought back and made it 16-14 by half. We came back and scored on the first possession of the second half and made it 22-16, and we just took the game over at that point. We played a lot better in the second half. We made some big plays and they made some bad plays and we capitalized on them with some turnovers. Our kids played hard. They came out and played fast, and I was proud of them."

In the nightcap, the Bulldogs scored four times in the first half en route to a 28-0 lead. The visitors began the game with an onside kick, but Greenwood's Brandon Proctor recovered the ball at the 48-yard line. On first down, quarterback Houston Kennedy threw to receiver Cole McAllister for a 21-yard gain to the Harrison 31. Three snaps later, Kennedy found McAllister again, this time over the middle near the 15-yard line. A nice block by Jansen Stein then sprung McAllister free as he outran the pursuit into the end zone. The extra point try by kicker Avery Sinkuler was good for a 7-0 Greenwood lead barely a minute into the game.

The defense did its job on Harrison's first offensive possession, holding the Goblins to just five yards and a punt, which rolled dead at the Greenwood 25-yard line. From there the Bulldogs engineered a 12-play drive for their second TD inside the final minute of the opening quarter.

On second down, Kennedy hit Cole McAllister for 11 yards to the 37. Three plays later, Kennedy connected with Stein, but the receiver coughed up the ball near midfield. Fortunately, McAllister was able to recover the loose football for the home team. Three plays later, Kennedy dumped a screen pass to running back Drew Morgan, who scampered 27 yards to the Harrison 22-yard line. From there the Bulldogs kept the ball on the ground with Kennedy keeping twice for 14 yards. Zach Claude finished off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run. The PAT made it 14-0.

Harrison's offense sputtered again on its next possession, and fumbled the ball on its third snap. Greenwood's Ethan Clark made the recovery at the Goblins' 34, setting up a short scoring drive that required only five plays. On first down, Kennedy passed to Stein down the left sideline to the 9-yard line. The Greenwood receiver was well covered but made a great catch and still managed to keep a foot in bounds. Following an incompletion in the end zone, Claude ran to the 4 and Kenton Turner was stopped just short of the goal line inside the one. Claude then got the call again for the score. Sinkuler's kick made it 21-0 at the 6:07 mark of the second quarter.

The Junior Goblins finally managed a first down on their next possession, keeping the ball for about three minutes before turning it over again. The Jr. Bulldogs recovered at the Harrison 45-yard line, and promptly converted the gift into another touchdown. Big plays included a 13-yard run by Drew Morgan and the 32-yard scoring pass from Kennedy to Mason Copeland, who broke free over the middle for the touchdown. The PAT pushed the score to 28-0 at the break.

Harrison took the opening kick of the second half and moved across midfield, but once again fumbled the ball away. Zach Claude made the recovery at the Harrison 42. Eight rushing plays later the Bulldogs were in the end zone again. The biggest runs were Kenton Turner, eight yards, and Taylor Lovejoy, 13 yards. Kennedy executed a nice fake at the 9-yard line, then cut outside of left tackle for the TD run. The extra point was good for a 35-0 lead late in the third quarter.

The Junior Goblins finally got on the scoreboard early in the fourth quarter, after a seven-play drive. Quarterback Dalton Lovell completed a scoring pass to Logan Patton for 26 yards before Colton Spears ran for a successful two-point conversion, making the final 35-8.

Greenwood reserves played most of the final six minutes, but a fumble prevented the offense from adding to the score. However, Bulldogs' defensive back Alex Richards had a pass interception. Starting QB Houston Kennedy was nine of 15 passing for 168 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

After the game, Coach Harrison had words of high praise for his unbeaten Bulldogs. "I really feel, this year, that no matter the 11 guys we have on the field, we're doing an excellent job. Everybody knows what their responsibilities are. Everybody understands what's going on. Everybody understands the system. We're just firing on all cylinders - special teams, defense, offense - there's not a lot of plays where we don't know what's going on. We're going out there and executing. People are having to earn yards against us. We're not giving up a lot of first downs. Turnovers galore. That's what we want and what we push for. But really, all 42 of those kids understand what's going on and they're doing a great job."

The coach was also complimentary toward his stingy defense. "They did great. I think they had three or four turnovers, and that's huge. And offensively, it's great to have a good defense like that, because it always seems like we're in good field position. One of our goals offensively is to get 250 yards a game, but sometimes that's almost impossible to do because our defense gives us the ball at midfield all the time. They're getting a turnover or pinning [the opposition] deep and they're having to punt. That's a tribute to our defense and how well they are playing."

Individually, Harrison singled out the play of Austin Harris and Tyler Thompson on defense, along with McAllister, Kennedy, and Claude on offense. "Austin had a good game tonight. I don't know if he had a lot of tackles, but there were a lot of times when he was creating a problem for [Harrison] by making everything go inside of him. Tyler Thompson was hurting them tonight. They couldn't run the ball up the middle because he was plugging it up. He did a great job. Offensively, I thought Cole McAllister had a great game. Looking at their film, we felt like we needed to attack their secondary early, and we did that. I know Cole scored a touchdown early. And our quarterback, Houston Kennedy, does a great job. He knows what the defense is going to do, so when the ball is snapped, he looks the opposite way. He puts them in an even worse position. I thought Zach Claude ran hard," continued the coach. "He's our guy when we get inside the red zone. Inside the 20, inside the 10, he's going to carry the ball. Also, the six offensive linemen we have, they played lights out again. I don't think Kennedy got touched one time and that's a tribute to those six guys and how they play up front, and how smart they are and how they communicate. I could mention so many guys, but it's a team effort. It's everybody. It's all 42 of them."

Up next for the Jr. 'Dogs is Fort Smith Kimmons, with the game set for Mayo-Thompson Stadium at Northside High School next Thursday at 7 p.m. The Raiders are 3-4 overall and 3-3 in the River Valley Conference. But Coach Harrison is taking nothing for granted. "They're a dangerous team," he said. "Kimmons has a lot of speed. They played a great game against Butterfield and beat them late, 28-27. They've [also] got a great coach in Coach Vitale. He's coached here, and he took over in Paris when they hadn't won a game in three years, and he got [them] to the playoffs. He's a good football coach, and he's going to have those kids ready."