It just wasn’t meant to be. That’s the best assessment of what happened last Saturday night at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium, traditionally the home-away-from-home for the Greenwood Bulldogs. But the same can also be said of Saturday’s opponents, the Shiloh Christian Saints, whose 70-50 victory earned the private school from Springdale its ninth state title, third only to Pulaski Academy’s 11 and Greenwood’s 12 previous championships. It was also Shiloh’s seventh straight appearance in a state title game, the sixth in a row for Greenwood since 2020.
It also marked the last time the two schools will face one another as fellow members of Class 6A and the 6A West Conference. Due to the Arkansas Activities Association’s competitive balance rules affecting the state’s most successful private schools, Shiloh Christian is moving up to Class 7A in football next season, joining fellow private schools Pulaski Academy and Little Rock Christian. On the other hand, the very same rule promoting Shiloh is forcing Greenwood down to Class 5A. Perhaps the two teams will agree to meet in non-conference play to keep the rivalry going in the future.
But let’s be frank. After beating the Saints three consecutive times over the past two seasons, including in the 2024 state title game, the odds were catching up to the Bulldogs. Ask any coach, it’s hard to keep beating a good team time after time. Sooner or later the pendulum swings the other way, and that’s what happened Saturday night. Greenwood gained almost 500 total yards, scored seven touchdowns, and put 50 points on the scoreboard, normally enough to win almost any game. But the Saints would not be denied, outplaying the Bulldogs in almost every aspect of the contest. In fact, they were almost perfect.
In private, this writer predicted as much prior to the game, believing the only way for the Saints to win was to be nearly flawless in their play and take advantage of Greenwood mistakes, specifically turnovers, and that’s exactly what happened. Two pass interceptions and an untimely fumble cost the Bulldogs dearly, erasing three GHS possessions and leading to three Shiloh touchdowns, enough to make all the difference on the scoreboard.
Yet that wasn’t the whole story. Shiloh Christian clearly controlled the game in the trenches, rushing for nearly 400 yards while its defense put constant pressure on Greenwood quarterback Kane Archer, who was seldom able to remain in the pocket. The two-time Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year did all he could to keep his team in the game, running for over 100 yards while passing for nearly 300. Archer threw for four scores and ran for two others. He also got a lot of help from fellow seniors Champ Davis, Cooper Bland, and Benton Hossley, who accounted for five touchdowns between them. But in the end, it clearly wasn’t enough. So, congratulations to a talented, well-coached Shiloh Christian (11-2) team.
As for the Bulldogs, their season ended with a still impressive 12-1 record. Also of note, the loss ended their remarkable 38-game winning streak dating back to their last loss in the 2022 state title game. This year’s senior class had hoped to be the first in school history to go unbeaten in their varsity careers, but they came up one game short. Still, there’s no reason for them to hang their heads, despite the momentary heartache of their loss to Shiloh. They all enjoyed incredible careers, and those memories and life lessons will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Thanks, fellas, for all the thrills.
As for the game itself, it was an incredible offensive affair with over 1,100 combined yards and 120 points on the scoreboard, a state championship game record. An announced crowd of 6,141 people braved the chilly conditions at War Memorial Stadium with a temperature of 44 degrees at kickoff. But there was no rain and the wind wasn’t really a factor in the contest. Shiloh won the coin toss and elected to kick to Greenwood to start the festivities, and right from the start things began to go awry for the Bulldogs, who failed to pick up a first down and had to punt on their first possession.
Starting from their own 23, the Saints then marched 77 yards in nine plays, the last one a 3-yard plunge by running back Griffin Mason. But the biggest play of the drive was a 51-yard gain on a screen pass from quarterback Cole Creighton to running back Charlie Kroell. Those three athletes – Mason, Creighton, and Kroell – were key players helping the Saints win another state title. After the touchdown, the extra point kick was good for a 7-0 Shiloh Christian lead.
Greenwood’s next possession was even more frustrating than its first. Starting from the GHS 34, Kane Archer and company marched 65 yards in seven plays, two of them bordering on the spectacular. The first was a miraculous sideline pass from Archer to sophomore receiver Braxton Canada. The GHS quarterback released the ball just before he went out-of-bounds, firing a bullet past a defender and into the outstretched arms of Canada, who dove for the ball and was parallel to the ground with his feet touching inbounds as he made the incredible catch.
It was ruled a catch on the field and that ruling was upheld after a lengthy officials’ review. The second great play was a 31-yard gain on a pass from Archer to Champ Davis over the middle. Davis sidestepped three would-be tacklers and did all he could to elude a fourth defender, losing his balance inside the five before his knee touched the ground at the 1-yard-line, something that quickly came back to haunt Davis and his teammates.
On the next snap, Kane Archer carried the ball on a keeper to the right side, looking for an opening to the end zone. But the play was well defended by the Saints, who swarmed the Greenwood quarterback before the ball popped out of the crook of his right arm and was plucked out of the air by Shiloh’s Zack Rowe, who returned it a short distance to the 12-yard-line. Making matters worse, the Bulldogs were also flagged for a facemask penalty on the play, moving the ball to the Saints’ 27.
Wasting no time, Shiloh went deep on first down, completing a long pass to the Greenwood 30. Three plays later, the Saints scored their second touchdown on an 18-yard pass from Cole Creighton to Chandler Kemp. The extra point try was good by kicker Aiden Eastwood, and suddenly the pregame favorites found themselves in a 14-0 hole. Not insurmountable, but certainly not what the Bulldogs and their coaches wanted less than eight minutes (4:43) into the game.
But there was still no panic on the GHS sideline, since Greenwood has trailed early in other championship games in which they rallied to win. So, Archer and company returned to the field and very quickly responded to Shiloh’s early lead. Champ Davis returned the kickoff 16 yards to the Greenwood 31 before a quick strike scoring pass from Archer to Cooper Bland. The senior receiver caught the ball near the left sideline behind the line-of-scrimmage and got a key block from teammate Brayden Renick before Bland sprinted downfield just ahead of a trio of defenders. One of them finally tripped him up near the five, but Bland had enough momentum to reach the end zone. The extra point kick by Landon Franklin was good to cut the Shiloh lead to 14-7 (4:25).
A defensive stop by the Bulldogs would have been just what the doctor ordered, but the Saints refused to cooperate on their next possession. Great coverage on the kickoff and a tackle by Greenwood sophomore Drew Dickinson put the ball at the Shiloh 15. Again, on first down, Creighton completed a long pass to the 49, the first of 10 plays that led to Shiloh’s third touchdown on a 4-yard run by Griffin Mason. The PAT was good with 47 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Trailing 21-7, the Bulldogs began their next offensive series at their own 31 after Champ Davis returned the Shiloh kickoff. A pass to Braxton Canada was good to the 45 just before the quarter ended with a loss to the 43. On the first snap of the second period, Archer threw to Davis, reaching the Saints’ 36. Archer then scrambled to the 31, then later rumbled to the 22. On the next play he fired a bullet to Cooper Bland over the middle at the 12 before he streaked untouched for the touchdown. Franklin’s kick was good again, trimming the GHS deficit to 21-14 (11:10).
But the Saints just kept coming, forcing the Bulldogs to play from behind throughout the contest. Good special teams’ defense by the Bulldogs forced the Saints to start their next possession at their own 14. But it made little difference. Shiloh put together a methodical 14-play drive, the longest gain of which was 15 yards, evenly divided between run and pass. The touchdown came on a 3-yard dash by Griffin Mason, his third touchdown of the first half. With 7:53 left on the clock the extra point kick increased the Shiloh lead to 28-14, restoring their two-score advantage.
Needing to close the scoring gap before the intermission, the Bulldogs went back to work on offense with time dwindling away in the half. They got an immediate boost with a strong kick return of 30 yards from Champ Davis, reaching the GHS 44. Davis then caught a second down pass from Kane Archer at the Shiloh 47. Next, Archer ran to the 44, moving the sticks before another patented extraordinary run by the GHs quarterback, eluding no less than eight defenders before being forced out-of-bounds at the 17-yard-line. Archer then carried twice more, first to the 8-yard-line then again up the middle for the touchdown after a nice ball fake to Davis in the backfield. Franklin’s kick once again pulled the Dogs to within seven points at 28-21 (6:04), keeping hope alive for a GHS come-from-behind victory.
But there would be two more scores before the break, and it only took 3:04 off the clock. First, the Saints responded with another offensive surge in just over two minutes, scoring at the end of a 69-yard, eight play drive. They took advantage of a 15-yard late hit penalty on Greenwood and overcame a holding penalty along the way. The touchdown came on an 18-yard pass from Creighton to Chandler Kemp. The extra point pushed the Shiloh lead back to 14 points at 35-21 (4:01).
The GHS hopes for a comeback victory then took another big hit when Kane Archer threw an interception on the Bulldogs’ next series. The pick occurred at the Shiloh 47-yard-line with Shiloh’s Colton Miller taking it all the way back for six points. The extra point boosted the Saints’ lead to 42-21 (3:13), doubling the Bulldogs’ score, putting added pressure on Greenwood. But Champ Davis had a quick answer with an 82-yard kick return for a touchdown, catching the ball near the right sideline before angling across the field and picking up blockers, hardly touched by a Saints’ defender. Franklin’s kick made it 42-28 at the half.
With the odds stacked against them, the Bulldogs returned to the field to start the third quarter by kicking off to the Saints, desperately needing a defensive stop to get the football back, and they got it. Not only that, but the Shiloh punt went out-of-bounds at the Saints’ 49, giving Greenwood excellent field position for its first possession of the half, and they succeeded in taking advantage by scoring their fifth touchdown of the game.
After a holding penalty pushed the ball back to the Greenwood 41, Champ Davis carried to the 50 before Archer reached the 45. A pass to Cooper Bland then netted a first down at the 35. Six consecutive rushing plays followed, three each by Archer and Davis, reaching the 12-yard-line. After an incomplete pass and a Greenwood timeout, Archer ran again to the 6-yard-line, bringing up fourth-down-and-three. After a defensive timeout by the Saints, the GHS QB rolled to his right and found Cooper Bland right in front of him in the end zone for a sliding catch before going out-of-bounds near the front pylon.
It was Bland’s third touchdown of the game. Landon Franklin’s kick was good, but a penalty gave Greenwood the chance to go for two points. From the 1½-yard-line, Kane Archer took a couple steps forward before leaping onto the pile and into the end zone for the two-point conversion, making the score 42-36 with 5:58 left in the third quarter. Finally, it seemed that the momentum had flipped in Greenwood’s favor, but that feeling didn’t last long.
Three unanswered Shiloh touchdowns soon followed, the first coming after a possession of 78 yards in nine plays with the Saints increasingly relying on their powerful running game. With Griffin Mason temporarily out due to a first half injury, they turned to Charlie Kroell and Max Eldridge to carry the load, and they didn’t flinch, shredding the GHS defense on play after play. Eldridge scored the Saints’ next touchdown from eight yards out (3:36) and the PAT made the score 49-36.
Shiloh’s next score came just over a minute later after another pass interception by the Saints’ defense, halting a GHS drive into enemy territory. Zack Rowe made the leaping two-handed pick at the 35 before falling to the turf. Eldridge and Kroell then carried twice going the other way, Eldridge getting 17 yards before Kroell streaked 48 yards for the touchdown. The kick increased the Shiloh lead to 56-36 with 2:25 left in the third quarter.
But the Saints weren’t done. Perhaps the final straw that sealed Greenwood’s fate was a defensive stop by the Shiloh defense after a rarely called penalty wiped out a GHS first down. After catching a pass for the first down, Cooper Bland leaped over a would-be tackler and was flagged for hurdling, pushing the ball back to the GHS 33, bringing up fourth-and-four for the Bulldogs. Archer’s next pass was deflected at the line-of-scrimmage and fell incomplete, giving the ball back to the Saints. Ironically, it was the second hurdling penalty called in the game, the other one against Shiloh in the first half.
Shiloh then moved in for the kill, needing just five plays to score again, overcoming a procedure penalty, but also taking advantage of a pass interference call on the Bulldogs. Back in the game, Griffin Mason ran three times from the 20, the last time scoring from one yard out with 9:15 left in the fourth quarter. The Saints then went for two points with Mason bouncing outside and diving into the end zone for the conversion. That made the score 63-36 as the light dimmed on Greenwood’s season.
But one thing we all know about the Bulldogs – there’s no quit in them – and Kane Archer rallied his teammates for two more scores in less than seven minutes sandwiched around one final touchdown by the Saints. Greenwood’s next six points came after a brief six-play drive starting at the Dogs’ 33-yard-line. A short pass to Davis was followed by a 23-yard pass completion to Benton Hossley, reaching the Shiloh 41. Senior Wesley Raggio then carried twice to the 27 before Archer ran a QB keeper, zig-zagging his way from the right sideline back to the middle of the field and into the end zone. Franklin’s kick made the score 63-42 with 7:45 remaining.
Needing more than one miracle to get back into the game, the Bulldogs executed an onside kick attempt, but the Saints fully expected it and covered the ball at the GHS 49. Five snaps later they were in the end zone again after a 33-yard pass from Creighton to Kemp, his third TD catch. The extra point pushed the Shiloh advantage to 70-42 with time running out for the Bulldogs.
Greenwood’s final score was the result of a 68-yard, five-play possession that began with a pair of Kane Archer scrambles to the GHS 46. He then completed a 24-yard pass to Braxton Canada at the Shiloh 30. But the Saints’ defense got to Archer on the next play for a big loss back to the 42 before he retaliated with a touchdown strike to Benton Hossley at the 2:30 mark. Archer then completed a two-point conversion pass to Champ Davis, making the final score 70-50.
Asked by the media about playing Greenwood, Shiloh Head Coach Tucker Barnard said, “How many wins in a row and all those things? We knew they weren’t going to just shut it down because they were behind a couple of touchdowns. We knew we were going to have to score a lot of points and keep going. There was never any talk of slowing down at any moment. We knew we needed to keep the foot on the gas, [and] it worked out well for us. We showed we could run the ball early and showed that we could throw the ball over the top. 70 points was a lot of fun.” Barnard is one of only a handful of current coaches who own two victories over the Bulldogs, earning one a few years ago while coaching in Oklahoma.
Obviously disappointed, Greenwood Head Coach Chris Young took the blame for the loss, as any good coach would. “We weren’t prepared very well, and that’s on me,” said Young, who took over the GHS program in 2020 and has been to the championship game every year since. “We never came close to stopping [Shiloh]. They did what they wanted offensively, then we had three big turnovers on offense, and we hadn’t done that all year.”
Greenwood finished with 471 yards of offense. Archer completed 15 of 24 passes for 296 yards and four touchdowns with two interceptions, while also rushing for 127 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Archer, Champ Davis, Cooper Bland, and Benton Hossley accounted for almost all of Greenwood’s offense. Running backs Mario Dunbar and Wesley Raggio had only a handful of rushing attempts and Dunbar had a short pass reception.
Davis had about 300 yards in total offense, including over 200 yards in kick returns and a touchdown. He also had four pass receptions for 64 yards and four rushes for 24 yards. Bland had five catches for 119 yards and three touchdowns while Hossley had two grabs for 65 yards and one score. Braxton Canada, who will return next season as Greenwood’s #1 receiver, had three receptions for 48 yards.
For the Saints, Cole Creighton completed 19 of 26 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns, all to Chandler Kemp. Overall, the Saints earned 688 yards of offense, including 397 yards rushing, which was a major key to winning the game. Despite missing several minutes due to an injury, Griffin Mason carried 27 times for 182 yards and earned the game’s Most Valuable Player award. Charlie Kroell had 104 yards, and Max Eldridge had 68 yards. The Saints also held the football nearly eight minutes longer than Greenwood on 79 snaps. Greenwood ran just 58 plays.
Looking ahead to next season, the Bulldogs return a significant portion of this year’s team, including several members of the offensive line, on the defensive line, at linebacker, and in the secondary. Besides Braxton Canada, the Bulldogs will also return Brayden Renick and Brayden Brewer at receiver along with some others who saw limited varsity time this season to go along with Cruz Coatney at quarterback, taking over for Kane Archer. Coatney was Archer’s backup this season after transferring to Greenwood where his dad was a three-year starter in the late 1990s, throwing for over 10,000 yards.
So, while losing last Saturday and missing out on a three-peat championship was a disappointment, it doesn’t tarnish the future outlook of the program. Moving down to Class 5A next season, the Bulldogs will certainly be favored to return to Little Rock for their seventh consecutive state title game against the likes of Little Rock Parkview or this year’s 5A champions, the Joe T. Robinson Senators of Little Rock, who defeated Hot Springs Lakeside. It will be a new year, a new classification, and a new conference, but we can expect the same exciting and excellent play from our Bulldogs in 2026 and beyond.