The 2017 Greenwood Bulldogs have achieved all their pre-season goals so far, including an undefeated regular season after last Friday’s 45-17 victory at Lake Hamilton. Besides the perfect 10-0 record, the ‘Dogs also finished 7-0 in the 6A West, earning a #1 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming state playoffs. Greenwood will host a second-round game on Friday, November 17th.
The Bulldogs kicked to the Wolves (5-5, 3-4) to open the game and Grant Ennis booted the ball into the end zone for a touchback. But the Lake Hamilton offense made a statement early, driving 80 yards in just six plays to take the lead, something no other team has done to Greenwood all season. The drive was aided by a pass interference penalty. The touchdown came on a 54-yard pass play.
Trailing 7-0 for the first time this year, the Bulldogs sputtered offensively on their first possession, failing to make a first down, and had to kick the ball away. But Kade Orlicek’s punt was a good one, downed at the Wolves’ three-yard-line. That eventually translated into good field position for the GHS offense that got the ball back a couple of minutes later at the Bulldogs’ 43.
On first down, quarterback Connor Noland passed left to Peyton Holt for 13 yards to the Wolves’ 44. A similar play went to the right on the next snap, reaching the 36. Kenny Wood then got his first two carries of the game for four yards to the 33. After an incomplete pass, Noland found Holt over the middle for a first down at the 21.
Wood then bounced outside around left end to the 12 before a penalty moved the ball to the six-yard-line. Wood then found open field around left end, outrunning the defense to the pylon for the touchdown. Ennis added the extra point to tie the score at 7-7 (2:54).
The GHS defense clamped down once again, forcing a quick punt by the Wolves on their next possession, giving Greenwood the ball at its own 36. The resulting 11-play drive did not end with six points as hoped, but Grant Ennis gave the visitors a 10-7 lead with a 33-yard field goal.
The biggest play of the drive was a 20-yard run by Wood, who broke several tackles while navigating the Greenwood sideline to the Wolves’ 39. Noland also completed four passes for 24 yards as the possession carried over into the second quarter.
But when a third down pass attempt failed from the Lake Hamilton 15, Head Coach Rick Jones begrudgingly sent in the kicking unit for the field goal try. The snap from Nathan Nethers was good, as was the hold by Kade Orlicek, and the kick was right down the middle with plenty of distance.
The teams then traded punts on successive possessions, before swapping turnovers. Greenwood’s Ethan Escalante intercepted a Wolves’ pass at the GHS 24, but the Bulldogs gave it right back three plays later on a questionable pass reception and fumble at the Greenwood 37.
With time running out, Lake Hamilton ran four plays to the 13 before kicking a tying field goal of 30 yards on the last play of the half. As the teams departed the field. Coach Jones was clearly not happy with his team’s play over the first two quarters, especially the offense.
“We’re tied 10-10 and we have to play better football,” said Jones. “Lake Hamilton is doing a nice job. They’re running a little bit of spread [offense] mixed in with the Wing-T, and they’re keeping us off balance. Offensively, we’re not taking care of our business up front. So, 10-10. We’re lucky to be there. We’ve got to get better.”
But whatever Jones and his staff said and did at halftime worked wonders, as the Bulldogs emerged from the locker room a completely different team. Greenwood scored 35 unanswered points to invoke the mercy rule with a 45-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter before a late Wolves’ touchdown made the final score 45-17.
Travis Cox returned the second half kickoff 11 yards to the GHS 38. A pass to Peyton Holt was good for a short gain on first down. Noland then passed to Kade Orlicek for 20 yards down the Greenwood sideline to the Lake Hamilton 40. A pair of short tosses moved the ball to the 33, before Kenny Wood rumbled to the 23, moving the sticks.
Wood ran again for 10 yards to the 13, but a loss pushed the ball back to the 15. A pass to Orlicek then reached the eight-yard-line, before Noland connected with Zane Harmon at the four. The senior receiver spun away from a tackler and lunged forward and into the end zone for the score. The kick by Ennis was good, putting Greenwood on top to stay, leading 17-10.
The defense did its job on Lake Hamilton’s first series of the half, forcing a punt that was partially blocked by Greenwood senior Jackson Webb, though the ball took a favorable bounce and roll for the Wolves to the Bulldogs’ 47-yard-line. A reverse to Peyton Holt on first down reached the Lake Hamilton 42 for a fresh set of downs, and a short pass to Holt reached the 35.
Wood then fought his way to the 30, and caught a swing pass to the 18. Jackson Webb re-entered the game and carried to the 14, and Wood was wrestled down at the seven-yard-line for a first down. He then scored on the next play with 5:57 left in the quarter. Ennis added the PAT for a 24-10 GHS lead.
The teams traded turnovers once again as the clock ticked down in the third quarter. Greenwood’s Aaron Ohl had a diving interception at the Wolves’ 43, but the subsequent drive by the Bulldogs was foiled by a lost fumble at the Lake Hamilton one-yard-line. But that’s when Aaron Ohl came up big again.
The junior defensive back stepped in front of a Wolves’ sideline pass at the five-yard-line and continued into the end zone for a pick-six. Ennis added the extra point and Greenwood led 31-10 with 3:15 left in the third stanza. But the GHS offense was finished.
After the defense made a stop and forced another punt, the Bulldogs had the ball at their own 41, and needed just 10 seconds to score again. On the first snap, Connor Noland tossed a quick sideline pass to Peyton Holt at the line of scrimmage near the Lake Hamilton sideline.
The slippery junior receiver turned on the speed, slipped a tackle at the 50, and was gone for a 59-yard touchdown, putting him over 1,000 receiving yards this season. The extra point pushed the score to 38-10 with 46 seconds left in the quarter.
After another defensive hold by Greenwood, the ‘Dogs got the football next at their own 35 early in the fourth quarter. A 10-play drive followed, keyed by Connor Noland’s near perfect passing. The senior QB reached 13 straight second half completions before misfiring on a surprising pass to senior lineman and eligible receiver Jon Womack in the end zone. Noland scored on the next play from two yards out.
The extra point by Ennis was good, making the score 45-10. With the mercy rule in play, the remaining 8:51 expired quickly. Greenwood pulled most of its defensive starters, giving Lake Hamilton a chance to score one final time on a 92-yard, seven-play drive, aided by a 15-yard face mask penalty on the Bulldogs. The touchdown came on a five-yard run, and the PAT was good.
After meeting with his players on the sideline after the game, Coach Jones talked about his team’s second half comeback. “I was proud of the way our kids responded,” he said. “We’ve just not been challenged. We haven’t been behind a whole lot, and we haven’t gone to halftime tied. But I don’t think we prepared the way we needed to prepare. I don’t think we were mentally ready to go. I think we took a bit of a nonchalant attitude, and I think the guys figured it out at halftime.
“It was a really great performance,” he continued. “Our defense just stuffed them in the second half. [Lake Hamilton] ran a little bit of the Wing-T and a little bit of the spread, and we were having trouble adjusting [in the first half]. But I was proud of the way our defense played.” The GHS starting defense held the Wolves to less than 10 yards of offense in the second half.
For the Greenwood offense, it was like night and day. “We didn’t execute very well in the first half,” admitted Jones. “We had [receivers] open, but we didn’t hold our blocks. But other than that turnover in the second half that was quickly remedied, it was a good half of football. More than anything, we just played the way we are supposed to play – maybe just a little bit better. We let some guys loose.”
Statistically, the Bulldogs had 169 yards rushing and 238 yards passing. Kenny Wood carried 19 times for 128 yards and Connor Noland completed 25 of 34 passes. Peyton Holt was the team’s leading receiver with nine catches for 114 yards. Josh Barlow had eight receptions for 54 yards and Kade Orlicek had four catches for 42 yards.
On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs were paced by defensive backs Aaron Ohl (11) and Dylan Vota (10), who both reached double digits in tackles. Both players had four solo stops. Linebackers Nick Vota (9) and Camden Beshears (8) were also high on the tackle chart.
With the victory, Greenwood earned a top seed and an opening round bye in the playoffs. In two weeks the ‘Dogs will host the first-round winner between Texarkana and Marion. Texarkana (5-5, 3-4) is the five-seed from the West and lost to Greenwood earlier this year, 38-17. Marion (5-5, 4-3) is the four-seed from the East. Lake Hamilton earned the six-seed from the West and will travel to Searcy (8-2, 5-2), the three-seed from the East, to open post-season play this coming Friday.