Greenwood Head Coach Rick Jones, now in his 15th season with the Bulldogs, has crafted one of the finest won-loss records in the history of high school football in this state (163-23). His 2017 squad went undefeated (13-0) and claimed the school’s eighth state title, its second in Class 6A.
Seven of those eight championships have come under Jones, who teams have also lost in the state championship game three times. No gridiron coach in the state knows more about what it takes to reach the finals and win a state crown.
I sat down with him earlier this week to get his take on the pre-season scrimmage at Fayetteville last Thursday. The GHS varsity won the first half by a lopsided margin of 37-0, taking full advantage of six Purple Dogs’ turnovers. Fayetteville won the junior varsity third quarter, 28-0, before the contest was halted due to approaching bad weather.
As one might expect, Jones pointed to Fayetteville’s multiple turnovers as the key to the first half. “That’s the funny thing about football,” he said. “[Fayetteville Head Coach] Billy [Dawson] and I have elaborate plans set up for what we’re going to do in the scrimmage.
“We have certain expectations, and then [they] go turn it over six times in a half, five times in a quarter. It just kind of throws it all up in the air,” Jones continued.
But the coach was also quick to acknowledge the role his defense played in creating some of those turnovers. “It wasn’t like they were just dropping the ball. Our kids made some unbelievable plays. They probably threw some balls they shouldn’t have thrown, or were thrown to the wrong spot, but our kids made some good plays on the ball.
“I told the kids before the game that I think Fayetteville is going to be one of the better teams we’re going to play, and in the end, I think that will turn out to be true. They just had a freak night, and our guys played well. I don’t want to take anything away from our kids. Our defensive guys were all over them.
“We were hustling, and we played really well defensively. It was a warm day. Not very pleasant, without a lot of breeze. I told our kids before we went out there that we needed to be the most excited team to be here, and I think we were.
“The score doesn’t really matter. A lot of things don’t matter. But being the most excited team to be playing does matter, and if we can do that every time we play, we’re going to be okay. That’s the challenge,” said Jones. “That’s the thing I took away from it.”
As always, the veteran coach was candid in his assessment of his team’s performance. In short, he was pleased with many aspects of the defense, except for the tackling. He also liked what he saw from both quarterback candidates, Peyton Holt and Jace Presley, and their receivers.
“Our defense played solid,” he said, “but we missed a ton of tackles,” something he attributed to the general reduction of live contact in practice. “Other than three five-minute periods, we haven’t [tackled] live to the ground. But to me, the risk-reward is not worth it.”
The Bulldogs are also revamping their entire offense this season after losing almost every key skill player to graduation last spring. Senior Peyton Holt was the top receiver in the state last season, but is being strongly considered at quarterback in 2018. He performed well at Fayetteville, but so did his chief competitor, junior Jace Presley.
“Offensively we executed pretty well,” said the coach. “We don’t have a lot of explosiveness offensively, but I do think we have some guys that can execute. I thought our receivers blocked awesome on the edge. They were physical and tough.
“The offensive line was disappointing to a certain extent,” admitted Jones. “There were [flashes] of what I expected of them, but we’ve got three [starters] back, and I just expect those guys to go out there and dominate and maul people, and that might be unrealistic. But we didn’t run the ball worth a flip. It was horrible.”
Jones also agreed that the defensive secondary could be a strength of this team. “They can be,” he said. “The safeties especially are going to be run-stoppers for us as well. But it’s a work in progress. We missed a lot of tackles.
“Up front there are six different guys playing linebacker and that might last for a long time,” he added. “I thought the [defensive line] did okay. We’re not real heavy up there. We don’t have a 305-pound nose guard like we did last year, but I think those guys are going to be okay.
“Overall it was a good start – a good practice – and hopefully we learned a lesson about taking care of the football. If you turn it over, then anyone can make things look ugly.”
Jones also agreed that senior linebacker Travis Cox had an excellent scrimmage, picking up a fumble and two interceptions. “He’s got a great motor,” said Jones of Cox. “He’s physical and he’s going to make things happen. He’s not going to back down. He does a lot of good things.”
But while Cox is entrenched in his spot, some of the other linebacker positions are still unsettled. “But we’ve got candidates,” said Jones.
“I think we’ve got three corners that can play,” he continued. “We think we have three safeties that can play two positions. We don’t have a whole lot of depth up front in the defensive line. We’ve got guys with potential, but they are young. We’ve got quite a few sophomores that are going to have to step up and do some things on defense, and obviously at wide receiver.”
Talking in greater detail about his two QBs, Jones said, “They did really well. [Peyton] scored on the second series, and Jace scored on the first two series he was in. [Jace] did a really nice job. He made a really good throw on a triple slant route. He read it perfectly and delivered a great ball. I thought both quarterbacks played well. I was happy with how they played.
“Peyton gives up a lot of options in terms of his mobility,” explained Jones, while also saying that he didn’t plan on calling too many designed runs for the quarterback this season.
“[Peyton’s] throwing the ball well,” said the coach. “Going into [pre-season] he was ahead, but Jace accounted for himself very well, and that was encouraging. He stood in the pocket well, and that’s what he’s got to do. He’s not going to be real elusive. He’s got to throw it on time to the right guy for the right reasons. But I was tickled to death with Jace.”
As for making a choice about the starter before the first game against Fort Smith Northside, Jones was non-committal. “We’re going to see what happens,” he said. “Practice is one thing, but under the lights it’s different,” seeming to indicate that both quarterbacks could see live action early in the season.
As for his crop of new receivers, Jones was cautiously optimistic. “They are just young, but they really did well [in the scrimmage]. A couple of those guys probably ought to be JV guys, but that’s not going to happen, so they’ve got to grow up fast. I thought they did well. They haven’t been out there in the fire, so that was fun to watch. They did okay.”
On the O-line, Jones said there are still a couple of vacancies to be filled. “The three guys we have coming back are solid. They’ve got to get better at certain things, but we’re still shuffling some guys in and out at those two spots.
“Our rushing statistics were horrible,” he reiterated with clear frustration. “We’ve got to get better. We’ve got three returning [linemen] up there, but part of it is on the [running] backs. We’ve got to be able to get a yard.”
On the injury front, the Bulldogs have been fortunate so far, with the one notable exception being the loss of senior receiver Josh Barlow, who was the heir apparent to Holt, should he be moved to quarterback. Barlow injured the ACL in one of his knees and believed his season to be over.
But with the passage of time the knee feels much better. He hopes to get a second medical opinion to see if it’s possible to avoid season-ending surgery and still play with a heavy brace. It’s a long shot.
“There’s a small percentage of guys – I’ve heard anywhere from five to 20% - that function pretty well without an ACL,” said Jones. “[Running back] Thurman Thomas didn’t have an ACL and he made the NFL Hall of Fame.
“Ethan Escalante played four games at corner for us last year without an ACL, so there’s a possibility. We’ll have to see how it works out. I think he wants to take four or five weeks off, then brace it up and see if he can go.” The coach said the final decision will be up to Josh, his parents, and their doctor.
Regarding the scrimmage, it’s clear that on any ordinary night, Greenwood is not 37 points better than Fayetteville, traditionally one of the top 7A schools in the state. The Purple Dogs just didn’t show up in the first half and were mauled by a pretty good GHS defense and victimized by six turnovers.
But if anyone thought the 2018 Bulldogs were not going to be competitive or not challenge for the conference crown or even make another run at the 6A state title, last week’s scrimmage results should have opened their eyes. It should be another fun football season in Greenwood.