The Greenwood Bulldogs ended their first week of football practice Saturday morning with a 10 a.m. intrasquad scrimmage at the practice field behind the high school. Despite intermittent drizzle, a crowd of several dozen people lined the adjacent street to view the full contact workout.
Excellent weather continued to bless the Bulldogs, with partly cloudy to overcast skies and temperatures in the eighties. The advantage, according to head coach Ronnie Peacock, is that the kids can workout and get in shape without worrying about the normally dangerous temperatures this time of year.
As for the practice sessions themselves, things are progressing as well as can be expected at this stage of the pre-season, especially for a team with a lot of holes to fill. The Bulldogs graduated their quarterback and 70% of their defense. As many as six or seven players may have to play on both sides of the football this year, says Peacock.
"We filled a few positions," said Peacock the week's work. "We narrowed down some of the decisions we have to make. We worked on our aggressiveness and intensity and we had some great effort out of some of our kids."
Still, the quarterback situation remains a big question mark, with senior Brian Kilpatrick, junior Trent McDaniel, and sophomores Josh Burton and Brooks Coatney vying for the position. Peacock intimated that he might shorten that list this week to at least three names. He is looking for consistency above all - a quarterback who will make the least mistakes and the fewest bad decisions.
Peacock was very pleased with the receiving corp, all returning from last year. The leader of that group is senior Kris Weible, with over 2,000 yard receiving and 34 touchdowns in the past two seasons. Also returning are Terral Meeker, Mark Wagner, and Rance Sartin. "They should be a real advantage for us," said Peacock.
One player that did look impressive was newcomer Tatum Owenby. The senior running back, formerly from Hackett, "really looked good," said his new coach. "He had some tough runs and looked good on defense too."
Usually the defense is a little ahead of the offense this early in the season, but not this year, according to Peacock. "We were able to work our offense in the summer," he explained. "Our defense may be a little bit behind right now."
But Peacock added that the defense has been somewhat hampered by restrictions placed on it by the coaches in the early practice sessions and the Saturday scrimmage. As expected, seniors Phillip Cochran, Jason Green, and Brad Thomas all looked solid on defense.
This week the coaching staff will put in more of the offensive and defensive packages, looking to make some key decisions about starters with the pre-season scrimmage at Fort Smith Northside just over a week away, Thursday, August 29.
Peacock and his staff are also looking to replace graduated kicker Zach Wells, one of the best in the state. Sophomore James Grady, a left-footed kicker, joins Travis Winfrey and Jeremy Wade as the prime candidates for the job.
All players in grades 7 through 12, along with their spirit group supporters, took part in the third annual Kick-Off celebration this past Monday night. Several hundred people turned out for the event which featured the GHS band and the introduction of the players and performances by the spirit groups.
Practice will continue each afternoon after school for both junior and senior high programs. The junior high Bulldogs, coached by Lynn McElroy, will also take part in a pre-season jamboree at Alma next Thursday. Also participating will be Russellville Gardner and Van Buren Butterfield.
Greenwood will play Butterfield and Alma and is scheduled to open the regular season at Russellville, Thursday, September 5. The senior high Bulldogs will open at home on Friday, September 6, against Tulsa McClain.