Despite an unpredictable and disruptive early season schedule, the Greenwood Bulldogs continue to win, even when three of their four opponents so far have been Class 7A schools. They have beaten Fort Smith Southside (42-3), Springdale Har-Ber (33-0), Choctaw, Oklahoma (23-12), and most recently, Bentonville-West (35-28).
But only the Southside and Choctaw games were on the original 2020 schedule. The Har-Ber and Bentonville-West games were last minute replacements for Fort Smith Northside and Little Rock Parkview, both of which bowed out due to Covid-19 concerns at their schools.
The Parkview game was to be Greenwood’s first 6A West conference game, but its cancellation now means that all 16 Class 6A teams in the state will qualify for the post-season. In a normal season only 12 of the 16 teams qualify with the top four seeds earning a first-round bye. For more information, the revised rules for the 2020 playoffs are posted on the website of the Arkansas Activities Association (AAA).
“We tried all [last] Tuesday morning to find somebody to play,” said Head Coach Chris Young, explaining what happened after Parkview notified Greenwood of the cancellation, bringing about a “no contest” without a possibility of the game being made up at a later date.
“We talked to several teams and nothing worked out,” continued Young. “But I have a relationship with Coach [Bryan] Pratt [of Bentonville-West] and talked to Coach [Casey] Dick at Fayetteville, and I knew they were probably going to cancel their game, so I reached out to Bryan.” After Fayetteville cancelled its game with Bentonville-West, the Wolverines needed another opponent and Coach Pratt agreed to play at Greenwood on just three days’ notice.
“Normally we probably wouldn’t take an opponent like Bentonville-West on a Tuesday night, but we want to get as many games for our kids as we can,” said Young. “If we have the opportunity to play, we’re going to play. Certainly, at Greenwood we’re not afraid to play anybody, and we’re not worried about what classification they’re in. We just want to play. So it was a good game for us to pick up and a really good performance for our kids. It was a dominating performance, but there are some areas we need to clean up.”
It’s a testament to the dedication of both the coaching staff and the players that they have been able to maintain their focus and intensity through all the uncertainty of this strange season. Add in a myriad of early injuries and its truly amazing the Bulldogs are unbeaten at 4-0, one of only nine remaining undefeated teams in the state’s top three classifications.
Reflecting on last Friday’s game against the Wolverines, Coach Young praised his player’s execution on both sides of the football. The Bulldogs produced more than 500 yards of offense with the return of senior starting quarterback L.D. Richmond, who sat out the previous week’s game against Choctaw (OK). The GHS defense was equally impressive, despite giving up 28 points, half of which the Wolverines scored in the final four minutes of the game, mostly against Greenwood’s second team defenders.
“We had over [500] yards of offense,” said Young, “and we certainly put the brakes on last night,” referring to his desire not to run up the score against the Wolverines, who twice trailed by 21 points. “We were very pleased with [offensive coordinator] Coach [Zach] Watson and the offense.
“L.D. Richmond was 30 of 37 for 360 yards,” added Young. “I don’t know that we’ve ever had a kid with that kind of stat line, and three of those [incompletions] were drops. That’s as impressive a quarterback performance as I can remember against a good football team. I give a ton of credit to L.D., the offensive line, the receivers, and Coach Watson the way he prepared those guys.
“The guy made play after play,” said Young of Richmond. “He essentially did what he wanted. I thought he spread the ball around to all the different receivers [and] he made plays with his feet. I [also] thought he made great decisions throwing the ball. I was really proud of [him].”
Among the GHS receivers, senior Caden Brown led the way with nine catches for 153 yards. Fellow senior Peyton Carter had four grabs for 63 yards and junior Luke Brewer had five receptions for 55 yards. Senior Jase Strozier had six catches for 39 yards, sophomore Aiden Kennon had three grabs for 30 yards, and senior Camden Carter had two receptions for 14 yards. Senior running back Hunter Wilkinson had one catch for six yards.
Of special note, Kennon saw his first significant action this season for the Bulldogs after having a great freshman year for the junior high last fall. Coach Young spoke highly of the tenth grader and expects big things from him as he matures and gains varsity experience.
“Aiden Kennon has a tremendous future,” said his head coach. “He has great hands, and he’s a big, strong, powerful guy who can block on the edge.” Besides what he may contribute throughout the rest of this season, Kennon is being groomed to replace one of the many senior receivers the Bulldogs will lose to graduation next spring.
Coach Young also spoke highly of one of those seniors, Jase Strozier, whose possession-type receptions were instrumental in keeping offensive drives alive. “Jase is a great route runner and a very intelligent football player. He’s a guy we trust in short yardage situations,” said Young.
Greenwood’s new head coach was also happy with the play of Hunter Wilkinson. “He had 24 carries for 104 yards and two touchdowns, and was really banged up,” said Young. “[Hunter] was about 80%, but the doctors were confident that he couldn’t hurt himself any more, so it was good to see the old Hunter back. He’ll be [healthier] this week than he has been, but we look forward to getting him back 100%.
“I thought he ran extremely hard,” continued Young, “and I thought the offensive line did a great job up front. Coach [Austin] Moreton had those guys really dialed in this week. We’ve not run the football well the last couple of weeks, and Coach Moreton challenged those guys to not only run the ball, but you throw it [30-plus] times and don’t give up a sack, those guys had a great night. They were physical and opened up some holes for us. Offensively, I was very pleased with our performance.” Senior Ty Moose also ran 10 times for 20 yards, while Richmond had 29 yards on 10 carries.
What little criticism Young offered was about his own decision not to press forward offensively after the Bulldogs went up by 21 points in the first half, and again in the third quarter. “It was a head coaching mistake. I tried to show great sportsmanship and pump the brakes and didn’t want to run up [the score] on them, but [Bentonville-West] had other plans. It’s something we’ll learn from and we’ll be a little more aggressive a little bit longer the next time.
“They scored on our second defense,” he added. “Going into the middle of the fourth quarter they only had [about] 120 yards of offense, so the [starting] defense played really well. Obviously those last two drives made [the game] look closer than it really was. We’ve got some kids that need to get some reps, [and] they’ve got to play better, but the only way they are going to get better is to get reps. We just need to make sure we get the game put away.”
As for the starting defense, the strength of this team all season, Young continued to heap praise. “They really got after it. [Bentonville-West] was a pretty good football team. But we had a couple of big injuries early. We lost Beau [Asher] and [Jayden] Jasna was [already] banged up, then we lost [Ty] Cowan. But I thought our defensive guys did a great job.”
Junior linebacker Colt Owenby led the team with 10 total tackles, four solo stops and six assists. Senior linebacker Jordan Hanna was right behind with three solo tackles and five assists, while senior defensive back Tatum Sadler adding six total tackles, two of them solo stops. Senior linebacker Connor Marvin also had six total tackles, five of them assists, and Ty Cowen had five total tackles before leaving the game. Junior linebacker Parker Gill had three solo stops.
Regarding the injuries to Asher and Cowan, both starters on the defensive line, Young was cautious with his remarks. “We don’t know anything right now,” he said on Saturday. “Those guys came in and got treatment this morning. Hopefully, they will be good to go.” Fortunately, the D-line is one of the deepest units on the team with quality backups available.
Asked about conference games that are cancelled, Young said those games will not be made up, per AAA rule. “We’re not worried about that right now,” he added. “That stuff will all play out. Once any team had a “no contest”, everybody qualifies for the playoffs. So everybody will be in, and we just have to take it one game at a time. Teams can opt out of the playoffs and not participate, but everybody is going to qualify for the playoffs this year.
“Some teams may have a bye,” he continued. “It just depends on how many teams are in each division. There is a printout on the AAA website that has playoff procedures. I’m sure it’s pretty confusing. There are just so many scenarios they have to account for.”
Asked about next Friday’s contest at Mountain Home, a game that’s now become the conference opener for the Bulldogs, Coach Young said, “I’ve heard good things about them and the new head coach they have. They won two of their first three ball games. They beat Batesville, which is normally a very good program. They beat Nettleton soundly and played with Harrison, a great program, and played Lake Hamilton close last night, [and they] have a great football team.
“Those guys have obviously turned things around,” he said of the Bombers. “I’ve heard they’ve got a great quarterback. Offensively, they are doing some good things. I haven’t gotten deep into [the video] yet, but I have heard they are vastly improved.
“It’s a challenge for our team,” added Young. “We’re going to have to load up and take a long drive to Mountain Home to play a team that will be excited to play us for the first time. So we’re going to have to match their excitement and have a great week of preparation and come out Friday and play well.”