It should be no surprise to local football fans that the 2025 Greenwood Bulldogs are expected to be good once again – very good, in fact, according to Hooten’s Arkansas Football magazine and a poll of the 6A West conference coaches. The eight head coaches, including Greenwood’s Chris Young, picked the Bulldogs to win the league championship for what seems like the umpteenth time, with the Shiloh Christian Saints finishing second. The Bulldogs and Saints met twice last season, with Greenwood winning both times, including a 61-35 victory in the state title game.
The 33rd annual edition of Hooten’s Arkansas Football was published statewide shortly after July 4th offering our nation’s best coverage of high school and college football within the Natural State. In what I am sure is pure coincidence, the growing success of Hooten’s football bible has coincided with the rise of GHS football. That started in 1994 with the arrival of Head Coach Ronnie Peacock who led the Bulldogs to two state title games and their first championship at the turn of the new century (2000).
Besides a lengthy and inspiring article on former GHS star receiver Isaiah Arrington, who tragically died in a house fire last October, describing the impact of his life and untimely death on the 2024 Bulldogs, the boys at Hooten’s couldn’t bring themselves to bet against Greenwood, the two-time defending 6A champions. And who can blame them? The Bulldogs have reached the 6A state title game for five consecutive years and nine of the last ten seasons, winning 12 championships in the last 25 years.
The magazine acknowledges that GHS seniors Kane Archer and Champ Davis are among the state’s top performers at quarterback and wide receiver, respectively. Archer set a new national record for completion percentage (82%) last season, throwing for 3,880 yards and 57 touchdowns with only 56 incompletions and two interceptions. The GHS QB also rushed for 795 yards and 10 TDs on just 81 carries, or almost 10 yards per tote. It’s also true that because of Greenwood’s many mercy rule wins, Archer played in barely half of the team’s 52 quarters of football last season. What kind of stats could he produce if he played fulltime?
Catching 85 passes last season, most of them from Archer, Champ Davis had 1,269 receiving yards to lead all pass catchers in the 6A West. Knowing Archer from their days playing independent youth football, Davis and his family moved to Greenwood from Nebraska for his junior season and quickly proved his value as a speedy, surehanded receiver custom-built for Greenwood’s explosive offensive system. Davis frequently caught short passes and turned them into long gainers or even touchdowns. Barring injury, the 2025 season promises even greater exploits by these two dynamic players.
As we reported after the spring game in late May, Head Coach Chris Young is extremely high on the potential of his team’s offense. He returns eight players who mostly started last season or return with significant experience, several of them seniors like Archer, Davis, additional receivers Ben Hossley and Cooper Bland, running back Wesley Raggio, along with lineman Cody Taylor, Landon Billy, and center Akira Fujibuyashi.
Also returning are several juniors who gained experience in 2024 like lineman Hal Davis, who started six games, receiver Cooper Webb, and placekicker Landon Franklin, who kicked in the state championship game. Adding to that potent mix will be a pair of outstanding sophomores in lineman Jaxon Cepeda and receiver Braxton Canada, who will both see significant playing time in 2025.
The other newcomer of note is junior QB Cruz Coatney, son of legendary GHS quarterback Brooks Coatney (1996-98). The younger Coatney moved to Greenwood last semester to take part in spring football and is tabbed as the #2 quarterback behind Archer and the de facto starter in 2026. That move allowed Young and his staff to reassign their other two varsity quarterbacks to fill critical positions elsewhere on the roster. Senior Cooper Goodwin is now a safety in the defensive backfield while junior Brayden Brewer has moved to receiver, helping fill the vacancy left by the graduation of Grant Karnes, the newest Bulldog to become an Arkansas Razorback.
But things are slightly less rosy on the defensive side of football, with only three 2024 starters returning this fall. They are end Cody Johnson, cornerback D.J. Dobbins, and strong safety Lawyer Thornsberry, all seniors. Besides the aforementioned Cooper Goodwin, several others return with limited experience on defense such as Charlie Hudnall, Landon Parker, Brock Shepard, Jacob Berry, Deandre Stephens, Jin Sayadeth, and more.
Senior move-in Jayden Foster and sophomore standouts Bryer Hackler, Gunnar Flanary, and William Rye should also see plenty of playing time in the coming season. For the second straight year, defensive coordinator Jason Gill and his staff are tasked with remaking the GHS defense, this time with fewer seniors, relying on younger less experienced players.
Hooten’s 2025 6A West conference coaches’ poll is not much different than last season, with Greenwood at the top, followed by Shiloh Christian, Mountain Home, and Lake Hamilton. Fort Smith Southside, Van Buren, Russellville, and Siloam Springs fill out the bottom of the poll. The top three teams – Greenwood, Shiloh Christian, and Mountain Home – are the same schools that finished 1-2-3 last season with Russellville in fourth place. But all that will change next season with reclassification.
It may be hard to believe, but the ultra-successful Bulldogs will likely move down to Class 5A in 2026, based on the most recent enrollment numbers and the competitive equity factor (CEF) for private schools as determined by the Arkansas Activities Association. The outcome won’t be known for sure until after the 2025 gridiron season, depending on what happens with the state’s top private schools, Little Rock Catholic, Pulaski Academy, and Little Rock Christian. The latter two already play at the 7A level and will likely be joined by Shiloh Christian in 2026. Shiloh, PA, and LRC are all top-notch winning programs and aren’t likely to escape from their CEF prisons any time soon.
The Searcy and Jacksonville school districts have also surpassed Greenwood in enrollment, pushing the Bulldogs down to 14th in Class 6A based on student numbers. Counting Shiloh Christian, adding the four private schools into the mix will force four of the smallest 6A schools down to 5A, including Greenwood, Greenbrier, Hot Springs Lakeside, and Jacksonville. While Greenwood High has been one of the smallest 6A schools since 2012, in 2026 they will be one of the largest 5A schools in the state. As for the other sports, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will continue to play in Class 5A as they have for many years now. The AAA won’t likely determine the new conference alignments until next spring.
But lest GHS fans think playing in Class 5A will be a breeze, they might want to reconsider. Little Rock Parkview has ruled the 5A roost in recent years with three straight championships and has been one of the best teams in the state across all classifications, producing a glut of college talent under the tutelage of head coach Brad Bolding, a former GHS assistant coach under Ronnie Peacock.
The Patriots defeated the Farmington Cardinals for the 5A state title last December, and Farmington will likely be in Greenwood’s conference, a newly reconfigured 5A West. However, Brad Bolding has moved on to take over the football program at North Little Rock, the same school that fired him 10 years ago. He has since been replaced by his brother, Bobby, Parkview’s defensive coordinator and a highly successful former head coach in his own right with a 220-78-3 career record.
Farmington is picked #1 in the 5A West this season and is led by legendary head coach Tommy Tice, who made a name for himself at Harrison and Huntsville before an eight-year retirement from coaching. After dropping their first two games last season, Tice and his staff led the Cardinals to 11 consecutive victories before losing to Parkview in the state championship game.
So, Parkview and Farmington will make good rivalries for Greenwood. According to Hooten’s, other top teams in Class 5A for 2025 include Camden Fairview, Vally View, Nettleton, Joe T. Robinson, Maumelle, Pine Bluff, Wynne, Hot Springs Lakeside, Morrilton, and Greenbrier. Still, the Bulldogs will be the team to beat, wherever and whomever they play, as it should be.
In a recent interview with Arkansas Prep Sports, Coach Young was asked about his expectations for the coming season. “I’m excited; I really am. I think we’ve got an opportunity to have a great year. I think it’s going to be a lot more competitive than it was last year. You know, there’s going to be some great early games, with Bentonville-West, and Shiloh Christian is our Week 4 opening conference game. We’re going to start off with a doozy right off the bat, so our young guys are going to have to step up, and once we can get them to step up, I think we’re going to be fine, but it will take some time.”
With the approach of football season, Sports Illustrated has released its first pre-season poll of Arkansas High Schools, with Bryant and Greenwood 1-2 at the top, just as they finished last season. The Class 7A Hornets earned the #1 nod at the end of 2024 and start 2025 in the same spot, with Greenwood at #2. Others in the top five include Bentonville at #3, Little Rock Parkview at #4, with Conway #5. Fayetteville, Greenwood’s annual pre-season scrimmage partner, is picked at #6, with Pulaski Academy #7, Shiloh Christian #8, Benton #9, while Mills University Studies rounds out the top ten.
Finally, the annual FASDOGS summer workout sessions concluded last week for all Greenwood junior high and varsity football players and other area athletes, both male and female, who participated in the now famous training regimen to improve flexibility, agility, and speed. After some much-deserved rest, the Bulldogs will hit the practice field on Monday, August 4th to begin pre-season preparations for the 2025 campaign. Greenwood and Fayetteville will scrimmage at Smith-Robinson Stadium on August 19th before opening the regular season at home against Bentonville-West on the 29th.