Asked about his assessment of the season so far, head coach Don Harrison stressed that his team still had a long way to go. "We've got to stay in the lead," he said. "We've got to let everybody else chase us. The lead dog has the best view. We feel good about ourselves, but at the same time we know we've got to work. We're at the halfway point and we've got five more [games] to go."

Asked about a possible undefeated record at season's end, the coach was circumspect with his remarks. "We just talk about week-to-week. If we go 1-0 week-to-week we'll be fine," he said. "Teams get into trouble when they start looking ahead. Five-and-O at this point - that's awesome! It's a testament to the kids in this community and their parents and how people feel about this game and this town."

Thursday's contest with Ramsey began like most of Greenwood's games this season, with the Junior Bulldogs taking the lead early and building on it. The two squads traded punts, with Greenwood starting its second offensive possession at the Ramsey 44-yard line. On first down, running back Drew Morgan burst through the middle for 16 yards to the 28, then followed up with a 13-yard scamper around the left side to the 15 on the next play. Quarterback Houston Kennedy then rolled out to his right and found receiver Jansen Stein inside the 5-yard line. Stein made the catch and tip-toed into the end zone for the touchdown. Avery Sinkuler's kick was good for a 7-0 Greenwood lead with 4:10 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Bulldogs caught a major break on the ensuing kickoff. Designed as a sky kick to prevent a possible long return by Ramsey's speedy backfield, the ball fell short and bounced back toward the kicking team. When the visitor's failed to go after the ball aggressively, Greenwood's Matt Sisco fell on it at the Ramsey 42-yard line. "We weren't meaning to kick onside kicks," explained Coach Harrison after the game, "but it worked out real well. Kudos to our guys for being ready. That kick hit the ground and curved right back to us."

Two Ramsey penalties and seven snaps later, the Bulldogs were celebrating another touchdown. Morgan ran twice for 16 yards and caught a pass from Kennedy for 10 more to the 11-yard line. Three plays later, Kennedy completed a short toss to Cole McAllister for the score. This time the PAT kick was no good and the home team led 13-0 with 2:39 left in the period.

The Jr. 'Dogs were soon on the march again, as the game moved into the second quarter. From their own 13-yard line, Morgan ran twice for 18 yards to the 31, and Kennedy passed to Mason Copeland for a 12-yard gain to the 43. Morgan ran to the 49 on the final play of the opening stanza, and Kennedy threw to Sinkuler for 11 yards to open the second. From the Ramsey 38, running back Kenton Turner ran hard for eight yards. Then on fourth down and two, Kennedy kept the ball and picked up the first down at the 22. A screen pass to Turner put the ball at the 15, then Claude ran for nine yards to the Ramsey 6-yard line. Claude got the call twice more, finally scoring the touchdown from inside the 1-yard line. The Bulldogs ran a fake kick on the PAT, with Morgan taking the pitch from snapper Mason Copeland. But instead of running it in, Morgan pulled up and threw to a wide-open Cole McAllister in the end zone.

Now trailing 21-0 with 5:28 to play in the half, the Rams mounted their first scoring drive, marching 43 yards to the Greenwood 7-yard line. But a great stand by the hometown defense resulted in a loss of four yards and a near interception. Mason Copeland was responsible for the negative yardage and Drew Morgan nearly came up with the pick. Facing fourth down at the 11, Ramsey had to settle for a field goal from kicker Wes Carson, cutting the deficit to 21-3.

Greenwood's next possession was short-circuited by a pass interception, but the punt return squad came up big on fourth down when Ramsey failed to move the chains. The Rams punted from their own 31, but the kick was blocked and Jay Jackson picked up the loose football and ran it in for another Bulldogs' touchdown. The PAT was good and Greenwood led 28-3 at the half.

Ramsey drew first blood in the third quarter, scoring on its possession after forcing the Jr. 'Dogs to punt. Running back Nigel Spears scored on a 65-yard run. The extra point trimmed the Greenwood lead to 28-10, keeping the outcome in doubt, a situation that appeared to get much worse moments later when Ramsey partially blocked a Bulldogs' punt and returned it to the Greenwood 10-yard line. It was then that the defense came to the rescue.

On first down, Austin Harris made a tackle for negative yardage at the 17. On third down, defensive end Cole McAllister sacked the quarterback behind the line of scrimmage at the 25-yard line. A fumble then foiled Ramsey's fourth down play and Greenwood took over at the 30.

The Jr. 'Dogs sealed the victory early in the fourth quarter with their fifth touchdown. It came on a 51-yard scamper by Turner, who spun away from traffic up the middle and broke free for the score. Sinkuler's kick was no good, but Greenwood had increased its lead to 34-10 with 6:32 left to play. Ramsey put together a late 61-yard, 11-play drive against Greenwood's second team defense to make the final score, 34-18.

After the game, Coach Harrison was most proud of his offensive line and running backs. "We've got six of them and they're really a good unit," he said of his front line. "They communicate well and they hang out together all the time. They're the biggest offensive line we've ever had and may be the best offensive line we've ever had. I'm real proud of them. These guys know how to block everything. It's impressive."

Running backs Drew Morgan and Kenton Turner also impressed the coach. "Kenton and Drew together may have had 200 yards, and that's huge. We were just effectively running the ball, [so] why do anything else." When asked about the sudden emergence of Turner, Harrison said, "We [just] got him back. He was suspended for a couple of games, then he was injured, then he got hurt again." Unofficially, the two backs combined for 232 yards - 88 for Morgan on about a dozen carries and 144 yards for Turner on nine carries.

Defensively, Harrison praised his players for containing Ramsey's potentially explosive offense. "They've got some electric [players]," he said of the Rams, "some guys that can run the ball. They're impressive. But I was proud of our kids for stopping them."

Next Thursday the Jr. 'Dogs hit the road and will play Van Buren Butterfield Junior High at Blakemore Field on the Van Buren High School campus. Game time Thursday is at 7 p.m. "We know they're good," said Harrison. "They've scored a lot of points offensively. They're going to run that option attack and we've got to be ready defensively, and I know we'll be ready. If we can get a bunch of people out there to support us in Van Buren, that's always good."