What was expected to be an early River Valley Conference showdown became an unexpected beat down last Thursday night at Smith-Robinson Stadium as the Greenwood Junior Bulldogs dominated the Chaffin Junior High Cougars, 40-7. The Jr. ‘Dogs (4-0, 2-0) are tied for first in the conference with Harrison and Van Buren.
Both teams entered the game unbeaten on the season, Chaffin at 4-0, Greenwood at 3-0. Unfortunately for the Cougars, they played without their normal starting quarterback, injured a week earlier, though it’s doubtful his presence would have been enough to offset Greenwood’s 33-point margin of victory.
Chaffin’s missing QB and Greenwood’s oppressive defense proved fatal for the Cougars, especially in the first half. The Fort Smith school ran a total of 14 offensive plays for negative yardage over the first two quarters of play. Throw in a lost fumble, and it’s easy to see why Greenwood led 27-0 at the half.
The home team received the opening kick and drove deep into Chaffin territory, but failed to convert on a fourth down play at the 18-yard-line, giving up the football. But the defense responded with two plays for lost yardage to the 15, then a bad snap on third down forced a Chaffin punt from its own end zone.
Taking over at the Cougars’ 41 after a penalty on the return, Greenwood threatened to score, reaching the 5-yard-line. However, a holding penalty and a quarterback sack pushed the ball all the way back to the 40.
Then on fourth down, Greenwood’s punt was bobbled by a Chaffin player near the goal line, and Jr. Bulldog Tyler Moose recovered the ball in mid-air and appeared to score a touchdown, which is not allowed under the rules, so the ball was placed down at the 4-yard-line.
Hunter Wilkinson then ran it in for six points on the next snap, but the extra point kick was no good, leaving the score 6-0 in favor of Greenwood with 2:05 left in the opening quarter.
Another quick three-and-out by Chaffin gave Greenwood the ball at its own 27 after the punt. Wilkinson got 10 yards on first down, then four more to the 41 at the first quarter ended.
Quarterback L.D. Richmond completed a pair of passes on the drive, the second of which went to receiver Tatum Sadler, who made a great catch in coverage for a 24-yard gain to the Chaffin 25-yard-line.
Richmond and running back Caden Franks accounted for the remaining yards on the ground behind the good work of the offensive line. Franks rushed for 17 yards and Richmond ran for 14, including the 1-yard touchdown run. A pair of penalties pushed the ball back to the 16 for the extra point kick, which failed.
Trailing 12-0, the Cougars’ coughed up the football on their next possession at their own 28-yard-line, with Jr. Bulldog Hunter Sivage recovering the fumble. That put the Greenwood offense right back out on the field, and it didn’t take long for them to score again.
Wilkinson ran for 15 yards on first down to the 13. After a pair of lost yardage plays, Richmond threw to receiver Jace Strozier to the 5-yard-line, setting up a fourth-and-two situation. Wilkinson got the first down on his next carry to the 2, then ran twice more before crossing the goal line. Richmond rolled right on the two-point try and connected with Strozier again for the conversion, making the score 20-0 with 3:20 left in the first half.
The Jr. ‘Dogs would score once more before adjourning to the locker room at the break. After Chaffin failed to convert a first down at the Cougars’ 40, the hometown offense took over with 2:05 remaining. On first down, Richmond dumped a screen pass off to Wilkinson for nine yards to the 31.
Moments later a personal foul penalty on Chaffin moved the ball inside the 15, and two snaps after that Caden Franks found blocking help and space around the left side for the 14-yard touchdown. The point after kick was good by Luis Morales, making the halftime score 27-0.
Things only got worse for the visitors early in the third quarter when Chaffin made costly turnovers on their first two offensive possessions. Both fumbles were converted into quick scores by Greenwood, which led 40-0 with 3:38 remaining in the period, putting the mercy rule in effect for the remainder of the game.
Jackson Freeman recovered the first fumble deep in Cougars’ territory at the 12-yard-line. Two plays later Hunter Wilkinson scored from eight yards out. The two-point conversion pass failed.
Almost exactly two minutes later, Greenwood’s Connor Marvin recovered the second loose ball at the Jr. ‘Dogs’ 39-yard-line. It took seven plays to score, including Marvin catching a pass for seven yards and rushing for another 10, before Richmond lofted a deep pass from 25 yards out that was caught by Jace Strozier for a touchdown. The kick by Morales was good, making the score 40-0 and helping to shorten the game.
Chaffin also fumbled its third possession of the half on the last play of the third quarter, with Corbin Stone recovering for Greenwood. But Head Coach Shannon Rhea pulled the first team offense and allowed the second team to finish the game. With the clock running almost non-stop, they took less than 10 snaps the rest of the way.
Chaffin finally got on the scoreboard with a long touchdown run of 70 yards with just under two minutes left. The extra point was good, making the final, 40-7.
After the win, Coach Rhea talked about his team’s performance. “We played pretty well,” he said. “Our offensive line executed well. [Chaffin] made some turnovers. I know they were a little bit shorthanded. Their starting quarterback was out tonight. He’s a difference-maker for them, I know that. But we played really well too. It would have taken a really good team to beat us tonight. I thought our offensive line play was the difference in the game.”
The coach also talked about the problems in the kicking game. “We’ve got to get better at kicking, because that extra point is big,” he said. “But Luis Morales hit a couple of good kicks for us, so we’ll keep working at it.
Rhea also talked about his top two offensive players, quarterback L.D. Richmond and running back Hunter Wilkinson. “[Richmond] has been getting better and is becoming a leader for us. He was a pretty cool customer tonight.”
As for Wilkinson, the coach said, “It’s nice to have him, and Franks, and Marvin. Those guys run downhill and they run hard. Coach Holloway has done a good job of rotating them and keeping them fresh, because they play both ways for us. It’s hard right now to rest them on defense, so we give them a blow on offense.”
One injury of note in the game was receiver Jayden Jasna in the first quarter, who left with shoulder discomfort and later appeared on the sideline wearing a sling. The extent of the injury was unknown at the time, but Jasna’s loss would be a blow to Greenwood’s receiving corps.
This week the Jr. ‘Dogs return to River Valley Conference play at Fort Smith Northside against the Kimmons Junior High Raiders. Game time Thursday night at Mayo-Thompson Stadium is set for 7 p.m.