The Greenwood Bulldogs (8-3) will be home for the holidays, or at least Thanksgiving weekend, hosting one of two semi-final games in the Class 6A football playoffs. Their opponents will be the Patriots of Little Rock Parkview (10-2), who defeated the ‘Dogs in week four of the regular season. Greenwood earned its way into the semi-finals after last Friday’s 42-0 shellacking of the Mountain Home Bombers. All three teams are members of the 6A West conference.

Friday’s win was also the Bulldogs’ third consecutive shutout. They closed out the regular season with a 42-0 win over Van Buren and a 35-0 victory over Lake Hamilton, both league foes, to earn the #2 seed from the West and a first-round bye in the playoffs. Despite its win over Greenwood, Parkview was the West’s #4 seed, defeating Searcy (E5) and Jonesboro (E1) in the first two rounds of the post-season to earn a rematch with the Bulldogs, but this time at Smith-Robinson Stadium the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Still, the Patriots are one of the most physically talented teams in the state, now with eight Division-I college recruits on their roster, including an all-SEC backfield of quarterback Jaylon White (Ole Miss) and running back James Jointer (Arkansas). The latter ran all over the Bulldogs in their first meeting this season, rushing for over 250 yards and multiple touchdowns, though Greenwood was severely undermanned due to injuries.

Among the missing were starting quarterback Hunter Houston, starting defensive linemen Tyler Crossno and Landon Kilgore, and #2 running back Javon Williamson, among others. Backup QB Slade Dean did well under difficult circumstances but played with a broken hand for much of the game, a 48-28 Parkview victory. Greenwood regrouped after the loss, got healthy and won three straight conference games before a one-point loss at Benton, followed by its current streak of three wins and 12 scoreless quarters.

The Patriots easily handled Searcy and Jonesboro in the first two rounds of the playoffs, but the trip to Greenwood promises to be much more difficult. It stacks up to be the game of the week in the state across all classifications, with the winner moving on to the state championship contest at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium at noon on Saturday, December 4th.

On the other side of the bracket is Marion (E4) at El Dorado (E2), an unlikely matchup when the postseason began. The Marion Patriots (6-6) entered the playoffs with a sub .500 record before knocking off Russellville (W5) and Benton (W1). The El Dorado Wildcats (9-2) finished second behind Jonesboro in the 6A East and mercy-ruled Marion in week seven, 36-7.

So, after a rocky start to their season, largely due to an unprecedented rash of injuries to key players, the Bulldogs have battled back to earn the right to host yet another playoff game at home on Thanksgiving weekend, something of a tradition at Greenwood over the past two decades. And as usual, free coffee and doughnuts will be available to interested fans who want to attend the Bulldogs’ 9 a.m. practice on Thanksgiving morning at Smith-Robinson Stadium, also a tradition.

A revenge victory over Parkview on Friday night will propel Greenwood into the state finals, very likely against the El Dorado Wildcats, once a conference foe of the Bulldogs, and that would make for a very interesting title game. Hootens.com has the ‘Cats favored over Marion by four points. But first things first for Greenwood, Parkview is looming just around the corner.

Last Friday’s rematch with the Mountain Home Bombers went much like expected, with the Bulldogs jumping out to a substantial lead in the first half before invoking the mercy rule in the second half. The Bombers scored only once in their earlier visit to Greenwood this season but couldn’t even do that against the Bulldogs’ improved defense. The score was 28-0 at the intermission.

The visitors kicked off to start the contest and Javon Williamson returned the ball 35 yards to midfield, giving the ‘Dogs excellent field position from which to operate. But after several positive plays, Greenwood fumbled the ball and the Bombers recovered at their own 19-yard-line. But a Mountain Home punt soon followed, and the GHS offense was back in business at the home 19 (7:40).

On first down Williamson ran to the 25 before quarterback Hunter Houston passed to L.J. Robins at the 32, moving the sticks. Three snaps later Houston found Robins again, but this time for 25 yards to the Mountain Home 39. Two more passes, one to freshman receiver Grant Karnes and another to Robins, netted 22 more yards to the 17 before Williamson ran to the 12.

But things turned sour quickly after a penalty, a 1-yard loss, and an incomplete pass left Greenwood facing fourth-and-11 from the 18-yard-line. Head Coach Chris Young called a timeout to ponder his team’s next move before the Bulldogs returned to the field, disdaining a field goal try of 35 yards. Instead, Hunter Houston took the snap and used his feet to buy time in the backfield while avoiding the Mountain Home rush, before throwing to Grant Karnes over the middle for the game’s first touchdown (5:10). The extra point kick by Ben Moy was good for a 7-0 GHS lead.

Less than three minutes later the Bulldogs returned to the end zone with the game’s second score after an 80-yard tunnel screen to receiver Luke Brewer. He went the distance on a third-and-18 play after a QB sack at the GHS 20-yard-line. Brewer made the grab and followed his blockers down the sideline for the touchdown (2:23). The kick by Moy made the score 14-0.

But the ‘Dogs weren’t done scoring as the clock ticked down toward zero in the first quarter. Mountain Home managed to cross into GHS territory on the first snap of the second period, but the incursion didn’t last long. Pushed back to their own 48, the Bombers attempted a long sideline pass that was picked off by Greenwood defensive back Colin Daggett at the Greenwood 30. The ‘Dogs lightning-fast offense then embarked on a 14-play drive that took 3:16 off the clock and yielded yet another touchdown.

Williamson ran three times to jumpstart the possession, reaching the 43 and advancing the first down marker. Houston then passed to Brewer to the Mountain Home 46 before a flag put the ball back at the GHS 49. Grant Karnes was Houston’s next target at the Bombers’ 37, earning another first down. Four snaps later, on fourth-and-10, Houston connected with Aiden Kennon on a nice gainer to the Mountain Home 14. A short pass to Brett Wood was followed by a pair of modest rushing plays reaching the 1-yard-line. Houston then leaped over the pile for the score at the 6:48 mark of the quarter. Moy’s kick made it 21-0.

The next five minutes featured two failed Mountain Home fourth down attempts against a determined Greenwood defense, and a Bombers’ pass interception of Hunter Houston. But with 1:50 left in the half after the visitors’ second fourth down play fizzled on an incomplete pass, the Bulldogs put together their fourth scoring drive of the first half, covering 65 yards in just three plays, aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty for roughing the quarterback.

On first down it was Houston who ran a successful QB draw for 14 yards to the GHS 49. A 10-yard pass to Peyton Presson grew into a 25-yard gain after the penalty, setting up the scoring play on the next snap. From the visitors’ 24, Houston dumped the ball off to Kennon, who broke a tackle at the 5-yard-line before denting the end zone (1:06). Ben Moy’s extra point made it 28-0 at the half, though Greenwood had one more possession and managed to reach the Mountain Home 37 before Houston’s “Hail Mary” pass was picked off in the end zone to end the half.

On his way to the locker room, Coach Young offered some brief comments to Dog Pound sideline reporter Richie Cagle. “The defense is playing great,” said the coach. “But the offense has been sloppy. We’ve got to finish our drives. Penalties are killing us, and the offensive line has got to play better. Our quarterback has got to play better, and I’ve got to do a better job calling plays.”

No doubt the head coach was reacting to the lack of offensive sharpness that often shows up following a bye week, especially when playing a familiar opponent that has little chance of posing a threat. Including last week’s victory, the Bulldogs have beaten the Bombers four times in the last two years by an average margin of nearly 33 points per game. Two of those wins came in the playoffs.

Needing just seven more points to supercharge the second half clock by invoking the mercy rule, the Bulldogs kicked off to the Bombers and promptly forced their fourth punt of the contest. Starting from the GHS 26, the home offense needed 10 plays to traverse the 74 yards to pay dirt in the opposing end zone. Moy’s kick made the score 35-0 at the 7:43 mark of the third quarter.

On the drive, Hunter Houston was 4-for-5 passing for 62 yards, including a 47-yard pass to Aiden Kennon and the 2-yard diving catch by Peyton Presson in the end zone for the score. Javon Williamson was shaken up during the drive and did not return for the rest of the game. Senior Cameron Krone took his place and had three carries for nine yards to set up the touchdown.

With the clock moving almost continuously, the Bulldogs scored once more for emphasis on their next possession. With many defensive reserves in the game, Greenwood allowed the Bombers to penetrate to the GHS 26 before a fourth down play fell short of the first down, giving the Bulldogs’ second team offense a chance to score, and they did.

With #2 QB Slade Dean at the controls, the ‘Dogs marched 79 yards in 16 plays, using up most of the fourth quarter in the process. Crone carried six times for 26 yards on the drive and Dean was seven of eight passing, including the nine-yard toss to Grant Karnes for the touchdown. Ben Moy completed the possession with the extra point, making the score 42-0 with just under seven minutes left to play. But the remaining time evaporated quickly, and the Bulldogs celebrated their eighth victory of the season, just two wins shy of their ultimate goal – winning the school’s 11th state championship in the last 22 years.

Unofficially, Hunter Houston ran for one score and completed 24 of 34 passes for just over 350 yards, with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Javon Williamson rushed 13 times for 60 yards and Cameron Krone ran 12 times for about 50 yards. Top receivers included Luke Brewer (4/100), Grant Karnes (7/76), L.J. Robins (7/65), Aiden Kennon (3/44), and Peyton Presson (5/38).

Following the game and immediately after addressing his players on the field, Coach Young spoke to the Dog Pound once again, saying, “The defense is playing really well. We put them in a bad situation twice, once with a turnover and once [allowing] a big kickoff return, and they stood up and kept [the Bombers] out [of the end zone]. So I’m really proud of those guys.

“We were worried coming off the bye week if we were going to [play] clean, and obviously we made some mistakes on offense,” added Young. “We turned the ball over and hadn’t done that in a long time. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the football. We need to have a great week of practice, [because] we’re getting ready to play a heck of a football team [Parkview].

The Patriots only two losses came over consecutive weeks on the road at Lake Hamilton (24-14) and Benton (30-23), both conference opponents. Parkview also had an early quality win (13-10) over Class 5A White Hall (10-2), but recently had a less than impressive conference win at Siloam Springs (26-24) in late October. Greenwood blasted Siloam Springs, 54-17, lost to Benton by a single point (41-40), and mercy-ruled former #1 ranked Lake Hamilton, 35-0. However, comparing scores is not a reliable predictor of future results.

But Greenwood is now relatively healthy minus a couple injured players lost for the season, the defense is playing great, and the offense has shown signs of regaining its traditional efficiency and potency despite a lull against Mountain Home after the bye week. Hosting the game at Smith-Robinson Stadium should also help the Bulldogs. Parkview has likely never played football at Greenwood. So, it’s a big game with the winner punching their ticket to the state championship round the first Saturday in December. For what it’s worth, Hooten’s Arkansas Football website has the Bulldogs picked as a 7-point favorite. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. on Friday.