When you've been so successful in the past, like the Greenwood Bulldogs under head coach Rick Jones, you just naturally assume that success is going to continue. And while no one will argue that the 2009 football season wasn't a success, last Friday's loss in the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state playoffs definitely left a sour taste in the mouth of every single GHS player, coach, and fan. It's certainly not a bad position to be in, but anything less than reaching the state finals is considered a disappointment for the Bulldogs, who have played in the title game four times in the past six years, winning three state championships along the way.

But for the second consecutive season, the Pulaski Academy Bruins came to Greenwood's Smith-Robinson Stadium and escaped with a road victory and knocked the Bulldogs out of the playoffs. Last year the Bruins went on to win the state title, and based on their play last Friday night, they have a good chance to make another championship run this year. The Bruins play at unbeaten Monticello this week with the winner becoming the likely favorite to take the 5A state crown a week later in Little Rock's War Memorial Stadium.

It was indeed an amazing sight to gaze upon the halftime scoreboard last Friday to see the Bulldogs and Bruins knotted in a scoreless tie at the intermission. P.A. dominated the first half offensively, racking up more than 200 yards on the ground and through the air, but a tenacious GHS defense refused to allow the visitors to crack the end zone. The Bruins also dominated the time of possession, running 54 offensive plays to just 23 for Greenwood. Unable to find any rhythm offensively, the Bulldogs managed only 57 total yards in the first half.

The Bruins got the ball to start the game at their own 20-yard line after Greenwood's Austin Hartness booted the opening kick into the end zone. P.A. then marched to the GHS 26 before senior linebacker Josh McCutcheon sacked Bruins' quarterback Wil Nicks at the 35. More defensive pressure on the next play resulted in a pass interception by junior linebacker Marco Vota, giving the football to the Bulldogs.

But following a Greenwood punt, the Bruins were knocking on the door again, moving from their own 20 to inside the GHS 10-yard line before giving the ball up on downs. After earning a first down at the 17, the Bruins suffered a QB sack by Greenwood's Tony Sandifer and Tyler Mauch, a batted pass by defensive lineman Kyle Helms, then gained 15 yards on a pass play to the 9-yard line. Disdaining the field goal, P.A. head coach Kevin Kelley went for the first down, even after suffering a 5-yard penalty that moved the ball back to the 14. The Bulldogs then brought pressure and the pass attempt fell incomplete, averting disaster once again.

But as the game moved into the second quarter, the GHS offense continued to struggle against a big and fast Bruins' defense. Then, to make matters worse, senior quarterback Tyler Shook suffered an interception by P.A.'s Ben Fortson, who returned the ball 10 yards to the Greenwood 21-yard line. Three plays later the Bruins were threatening again at the Bulldogs' 7-yard line. But another QB sack by McCutcheon pushed the visitors back to the 12, and two plays later a fourth down pass fell incomplete. With 6:25 remaining in the first half, neither team had scored and the Bulldogs had yet to make a first down.

Going to his favorite target, Shook found senior receiver Spencer Harris for 18 yards and a first down on Greenwood's next possession. A facemask penalty later moved the ball to near the midfield stripe, before Shook passed to Harris again to reach Bruins' territory for the first time at the 44-yard line. But a QB sack ended the drive and forced a Greenwood punt that was well-covered by sophomore Blake Hasley, who kept the ball from going into the end zone, putting the Bruins in poor field position at their own 8-yard line.

Still, the visitors marched to the Greenwood 45 before Marco Vota came up with his second interception at the GHS 18-yard line. The Bulldogs managed a first down, but a QB sack and a no call on a possible pass interference penalty forced the home team to punt the ball away once again. The Bruins took over at their own 28 and moved into Greenwood territory at the 45 with just 15 seconds left in the half. After a timeout, senior defensive back Drew Hasley intercepted a deep pass at the 16-yard line and returned it to the 45 as time expired.

To begin the second half, Greenwood looked re-energized offensively. After a short kick giving them the ball at their own 47, the Bulldogs got a big play on first down, a pass completion from Shook to junior Tony Sandifer to the P.A. 29. Shook then connected with Harris for a short gain to the 25, but his next three attempts all fell incomplete, two of those in the end zone.

Taking over at their own 25, the Bruins' offense marched 75 yards in 10 plays, converting on two fourth down situations along the way. The big play was a 45-yard pass completion from Nicks to receiver Fredi Knighten that reached the 3-yard line. Nicks, who hurt the Bulldogs with his running throughout the game, kept the ball for the touchdown on the next snap. The PAT made the score 7-0 with 7:24 remaining in the third quarter.

Always unconventional, Coach Kelley ordered an onside kick after the touchdown, but Spencer Harris was there to snag the ball for Greenwood at the P.A. 49, setting up the Bulldogs' first score. Sophomore running back Justin Sunde ran twice for 10 yards and a first down at the 39. After a halfback pass failed, Tyler Shook connected with Tony Sandifer down the left side, making a perfect throw over two defenders. Sandifer went out-of-bounds at the 10-yard line. Three plays later Shook fired a bullet to junior Stephen Hogan for the touchdown, but a bobbled snap foiled the PAT and the Bruins maintained a lead at 7-6 with 6:02 left in the quarter.

P.A. then responded with its second touchdown to increase its lead to 14-6. The Bruins marched 80 yards in 10 plays and got some help from the officials on a questionable pass interference call against the Bulldogs. From the 5-yard line, Nicks scored his second TD.

After recovering another onside kick, Greenwood turned the ball over on downs at the Bruins' 44-yard line. But just when it appeared that P.A. might move in for a game-breaking touchdown, Greenwood's Spencer Harris came up with an interception at the 2-yard line, returning the pick to the 19, giving the Bulldogs some breathing room with nine minutes left to play in the game.

Still, the GHS offense sputtered and was forced to punt. But the defense responded by stopping the Bruins on downs at their own 38-yard line with seven minutes left to play. The opportunity was short-lived, however, as Shook was intercepted four plays later, giving the ball back to the visitors. When the Bruins were unable to pick up a first down, Coach Kelley called for his first punt of the game, kicking the ball to the 50-yard line with just under 4:00 left.

Three plays later Shook passed to Harris for a first down at the visitor's 40-yard line. Then, under pressure, Shook found Harris again for a big gain to the 8-yard line. Wasting no time and going to a red hot receiver, Shook passed again to Harris for the score, and then once again for the two-point conversion to tie the game at 14-all with 2:26 remaining on the scoreboard clock.

At that point, with all three timeouts remaining for the Bulldogs and just one for the Bruins, Greenwood fans were feeling pretty good. The momentum appeared to have turned in favor of the home team, but apparently no one told the kids from Pulaski Academy that they were supposed to lose. The Bruins quickly regained the momentum and the lead by driving 80 yards in less than two minutes for the winning score against a weary GHS defense.

After using their last timeout at the 1:24 mark, the Bruins made perhaps the biggest play of the game following a QB sack by Greenwood's Tony Sandifer, converting on a fourth down and 13 play from their own 42-yard line. The Bulldogs helped P.A. by being called for offsides, moving the ball to the 47. Nicks then completed a pass to Caleb Jones at the GHS 29 to keep the drive alive. Nicks then ran a quarterback draw and got a facemask call on the tackle that moved the ball to the 12-yard line. Two plays later, Nicks passed to Jones again for the touchdown with just 38 seconds left to play. The extra point was good for a 21-14 Bruins' lead.

Justin Sunde had a decent kick return to the 32-yard line, and two plays later caught a pass at the 44 for a first down with 23 seconds left to play. But three straight incomplete passes brought up fourth down and 10 with only as many seconds remaining. The game ended on the next snap when P.A.'s Dylan Little intercepted Tyler Shook's final pass attempt.

Emotions ran deep on the field in the aftermath of the loss, and head coach Rick Jones did what he could to help his players deal with the disappointment. Several Bulldogs had tears in their eyes while others hugged their grieving teammates. But Jones told his team that he was proud of their effort against P.A. and how hard and how well they had played all season, especially after the season-opening loss at Springdale Har-ber, which was followed by a 10-game winning streak. The Bulldogs went 7-0 in the 5A West and finished 10-2 on the season.

After meeting with his team, the coach spoke to the media on the field about the tough loss. "They fought hard," he said of his players. "They fought like Bulldogs. I was proud of the effort that they gave. We started off taking one on the chin up at [Springdale] Har-ber, and our guys just battled back every single week and got better and better. They worked hard and they're a great group of kids to coach. We had a great time coaching these guys and it just makes us sick that we don't have two more weeks with them."

Asked if his defense was on the field too much against the Bruins, the coach agreed. "It's true," he said. "We didn't execute very well offensively. I give [P.A.] a lot of credit. They did a good job against us. Our defense played their guts out. I don't know how you could expect any more out of those guys. That's a great offense that we played. They rang up 50 [points] last week against a very talented football team. But our guys played hard. They gave it everything they had, and they have no regrets. I can't say enough about the job the defensive guys did - Coach Poole, Coach Chick, Coach Shuck, and Coach Holcomb - they did a great job. We had a great plan and the kids executed it well.

"Offensively, we just didn't execute the way we needed to execute," said the coach. "It just boils down to blocking, catching, throwing, running, and we didn't do well enough to get a win. I thought when it was 14-all that good things were going to happen to us. We sort of scratched back and made a couple of plays there, but they made it hard on us, and I give them a lot of credit. We were playing outside of [our] comfort zone, for sure. We just weren't able to get anything consistently going. We were always searching and looking for something. But both defenses did their jobs tonight. P.A.'s coaching staff did a great job game planning and a great job executing. They tackled us really well."

Asked about his pass defense and the running ability of P.A. quarterback Wil Nicks, Coach Jones admitted that you have to pick your poison against a great team like the Bruins. "You have to put a lot of guys back [in pass coverage], because they take advantage of the seams. And when that happens, sometimes you are vulnerable to the quarterback running game. That kid did a great job. He competed hard."

Finally, summing up the game and the season, Coach Jones said, "When you end up playing your last game and you don't win, you have to ask yourself, 'Did I play as hard as I could?' And I think our kids played hard. Our guys did everything they could do. We just needed to score more points. It's not rocket science. You need to score some points. We had a good idea of what they were doing. They didn't change a lot. We didn't change a lot. It was just a matter of executing."