Whatever the 2021 Greenwood Bulldogs achieve in the coming post-season, they will deserve every accolade they receive, having overcome a ridiculous number of injuries to key players to qualify for the playoffs. Unfortunately, last Friday’s 41-40 loss to the Benton Panthers likely means the best the ‘Dogs can hope for is a #3 or #4 seed next month.

Six teams will make the playoffs from the 6A West, with Benton, Lake Hamilton, Little Rock Parkview, and Greenwood virtually assured of the top four spots with two regular season games remaining. Barring some cataclysmic collapse, either Benton or Lake Hamilton will be the conference champion while the loser of next week’s head-to-head contest will finish as the #2 seed. Parkview holds the tiebreaker over Greenwood due to the Pats’ earlier victory over the injury-riddled ‘Dogs, so if the two teams remain tied with two league losses, Parkview will be the #3 seed and Greenwood #4.

But the beleaguered Bulldogs must still face Van Buren plus top-ranked Lake Hamilton over the next two weeks, though both games will be played at Greenwood’s Smith-Robinson Stadium. How the ‘Dogs perform in those last two games will reveal a lot about how far they may advance in the playoffs. It’s hard to imagine that any team from the 6A East will be happy to see the Bulldogs looming in their future. Greenwood could very well be the most dangerous #4 seed in the state across all classifications. At this point, Head Coach Chris Young’s players need all the motivation they can find.

Of course, it’s certainly not beyond the realm of possibility that Greenwood wins out to finish 7-3 on the regular season, including a victory over unbeaten Lake Hamilton, only to meet and defeat both Benton and Lake Hamilton again in the playoffs, claiming their 11th state championship since the turn of the century. If that happens, the loss of three games and the rash of injuries this season will become a distant memory. But that’s all speculation and wishful thinking at this point.

Last Friday night at Benton (7-1) the Bulldogs (5-3) had multiple chances to win their fourth consecutive conference game, three times leading by double digits, twice in the first half and again in the second half. But the Panthers rallied each time, aided by an inordinate number of flags on the Bulldogs amounting to about 100 yards in penalties. Greenwood also missed an extra point attempt and a two-point try, potentially costing them three points in a game they lost by a single point.

The Bulldogs entered the game after losing two key starters to season-ending injuries a week earlier at Russellville. Junior running back Jake Glover was an offensive sparkplug and the team’s leading rusher this season, and junior safety Storm Scherrey was a key contributor on defense. Both players will be greatly missed going forward.

The Bulldogs had earlier lost senior starting offensive lineman Corbin Webb to a season-ending knee injury and suffered through a whole series of injuries to other key players including starting quarterback Hunter Houston and his backup, Slade Dean, along with receiver Luke Brewer, defensive linemen Tyler Crossno and Landon Kilgore, and running back Javon Williamson, just to name a few. Most of the latter group have returned to action, but their absence over multiple games has contributed significantly to Greenwood’s rocky season so far.

Also, the Bulldogs lost two key players late at Benton that potentially impacted the outcome of the game. One was senior offensive lineman Jeremiah Presson, ejected from the game by the officials, taking him off the field in the fourth quarter when the Bulldogs needed him most. The second player was Javon Williamson, who was running brilliantly, but was shaken up on a kickoff return and was not available for Greenwood’s final offensive series.

Since moving up to Class 6A in 2012, the Bulldogs had played the Panthers seven times, winning six of those games. In those seven previous games, the two teams had averaged scoring a combined 70 points per contest, and Friday’s eighth meeting was no different. The halftime score was 28-21 in Greenwood’s favor, while Benton won the second half, 20-12.

The Panthers received the opening kick and went right to work offensively, marching from their own 22 for the game’s first touchdown in eight plays, the biggest of which was a 44-yard pass play on first down, reaching the GHS 34-yard-line. The final play of the drive was a seven-yard run for the score. The extra point put Benton on top, 7-0 (9:32).

Greenwood’s first offensive series was a bust, forced to punt after picking up a couple first downs. But the GHS defense clamped down on the Panthers on their next possession with a QB sack and another play for lost yardage, forcing a punt. But the snap sailed into the end zone, retrieved by the punter, who somehow escaped the defense and managed to get off a decent kick that rolled dead at the GHS 45. Six plays later the Bulldogs were in the end zone and tied the score.

QB Hunter Houston passed to Aiden Kennon to the Benton 45, then Javon Williamson ripped off a nice run to the 21. After the next three plays failed to move the ball, Houston passed to receiver Brett Wood over the middle on fourth down for the touchdown. Senior kicker Ben Moy added the extra point to knot the score at 7-all (4:04).

In fact, the Bulldogs dominated the game offensively over the next 10 minutes, scoring two additional touchdowns for a 21-7 lead just before the end of the first quarter. A pair of Benton turnovers provided Greenwood with additional opportunities to score, and the visitors took advantage.

The first takeaway came at the 2:30 mark of the opening period when Greenwood’s Sebastian Crumb grabbed a deflected pass for an interception at the Benton 28. The play was initiated by sophomore Braden Skaggs, who took over for the injured Storm Scherrey. Skaggs hit the receiver just as the ball arrived, causing it to bounce off and into the arms of Crumb.

The Bulldogs then immediately made Benton pay for the error, scoring in just one play on a 28-yards pass from Houston to Kennon, who caught the ball near the 15 before streaking into the end zone. The kick by Moy was good to up Greenwood’s early lead to 14-7 (2:24). But there was more to come.

On the Panthers’ next possession, Greenwood linebacker Colt Owenby recovered a fumble at the home 42-yard-line, setting up the Bulldogs’ next score in six plays. The first was a short pass to Kennon for five yards. Two snaps later Houston threw to Kennon again for a first down at the 30. Three plays later, Houston threw deep to sophomore receiver L.J. Robins in the end zone for the score. The kick was good, making it 21-7 with less than half-a-minute left in the first quarter.

At that point it seemed the game could go either way. The Bulldogs had the momentum and might have put the victory away with another score or two before halftime. But the Panthers weren’t done yet, despite having to punt again on their next possession, a kick that came with a fortuitous roll all the way to the GHS 3-yard-line, a 61-yard punt to pin the GHS offense deep in its own territory early in the second quarter. At the very least, it blunted Greenwood’s momentum.

Unable to dig themselves out of that hole, in part due to a holding penalty, the ‘Dogs also had to punt, a high, short kick that went out-of-bounds at the Greenwood 45, giving Benton excellent field position, which the Panthers quickly translated into points. On the first snap, running back Casey Johnson scampered all the way to the end zone around left end for the touchdown, putting the home team back in the game. The kick cut into the GHS lead at 21-14 with 9:03 left in the half.

Greenwood also could not take advantage of a nice kick return by L.J. Robins of 37 yards, putting the ball near midfield. A penalty and a QB sack spoiled the possession after reaching the Benton 25. Pushed back to the 36, Coach Young elected to punt on fourth down. Noah Jantzen’s kick was downed at the Panthers’ 12-yard-line.

The GHS defense then had another takeaway, or giveaway by the Panthers. Benton quarterback Stran Smith attempted a pass that somehow found itself jammed into the hands of Greenwood linebacker Lui Honkala, who was lucky to hang on to the ball at all, falling down near the line-of-scrimmage at the 20 with the surprising interception.

Javon Williamson then ran three times, the last one for eight yards and the score on second effort. The kick by Moy was good, making the score 28-14 with 4:43 remaining in the opening half of football. But Benton wasn’t content to let that be the halftime score. The Panthers rallied once again, driving 86 yards in 14 plays to pull back within one touchdown of the Bulldogs. The TD came on an 8-yard-yard scamper by Smith. The kick was good (1:06).

The Bulldogs hoped to get close enough for a field goal before time expired, and did reach the Benton 25, just at the edge of Moy’s range. But time ran out before a kick could be attempted, leaving the score at 28-21 at the break. The second half would be more of the same – a back-and-forth affair with the outcome largely determined by penalties and a missed PAT.

While the third quarter failed to produce any points by either team, it was not without its entertaining moments. The first incident involved a tipped pass and interception by the Panthers, which led indirectly to the next interesting play. After the GHS defense had stopped the Benton possession near midfield, Panthers’ punter Beau Wright corralled a high snap and found running room around the left side for a 21-yard gain, extending the drive that eventually died at the Bulldogs’ 28.

Unable to move the ball on offense, Greenwood punted back to the Panthers at the Benton 42 with time running out in the third stanza. The home team then marched 58 yards in nine plays, scoring on a 25-yard fourth-down run by Cameron Harris on the first play of the fourth quarter. The extra point kick tied the score at 28-all.

With a new sense of urgency, the Bulldogs went back to work on offense, scoring on their next two possessions to retake a double-digit lead midway through the final period. But in doing so the ‘Dogs sowed the seeds of their own destruction, missing both extra point attempts, leaving the door open for a late Benton rally and the win.

First, the Bulldogs drove 80 yards in 11 plays, all on the ground behind the great work of running backs Javon Williamson and Dylan Tucker, both of whom turned in spectacular runs while protecting the football. Hunter Houston carried in for the score from nine yards out on fourth down, faking the handoff to Williamson, completely fooling the defense.

But the exchange went awry on the extra point try, forcing holder Noah Jantzen to scramble with the football and attempt a pass that was picked off in the end zone. That left the score 34-28 in Greenwood’s favor with 8:49 remaining in the contest, still enough time for three more touchdowns.

Greenwood’s next score came at the 6:11 mark after the GHS defense stuffed a fourth down run at the Benton 34, giving the Bulldogs excellent field position, which they quickly capitalized on with a four-play scoring drive. Houston pitched the ball forward to Robins for a nice gain to the 23 on first down. Williamson then turned in a great run for an apparent touchdown, but the play was called back on a holding penalty. From the 30, Houston then passed to Luke Brewer for the score.

Wanting a 14-point lead, Coach Young called for a two-point play, but Houston’s pass was incomplete, leaving the score at 40-28, a 12-point cushion. However, on the scoring play an official threw a flag on Greenwood for a personal foul after the touchdown and apparently ejected lineman Jeremiah Presson from the game, a move that Coach Young protested greatly and loudly, but to no avail. If ejected, Presson also cannot play in next week’s game against Van Buren.

With time becoming a precious commodity, the Panthers needed less than a minute to score their next touchdown at the conclusion of a six-play drive with receiver Cameron Harris outjumping a Greenwood defender for the ball in the end zone on a 40-yard pass. And just to make things more interesting, the Benton kicker misfired on the extra point try and banged it off the upright, leaving the Bulldogs with a six-point lead at 40-34 with 5:19 remaining to play.

A penalty and a QB sack killed Greenwood’s next offensive possession and gave the ball back to Benton with 4:05 left after a punt to the 50-yard-line. Then on second down, Stran Smith threw deep, completing the pass at the Greenwood 5-yard-line. The Panthers’ quarterback scored later from three yards out to tie the game at 40-all. But with 2:13 remaining, the extra point was true, putting the home team on top for only the second time in the game, 41-40.

Still, with over two minutes left and two timeouts available, the Bulldogs had plenty of time to get within field goal range, if not score another touchdown. But excellent kick coverage by Benton forced the visitors to start with some of their worst field position of the game at the GHS 14. A nine-yard run by senior Cameron Krone netted a first down at the 37, moving the sticks. Facing fourth-and-three at the 44, Houston passed to Robins for the first down, keeping the drive alive.

With only a minute remaining, the Bulldogs were at midfield, but still a good 25 yards short of Moy’s kicking range. The Benton defense was making Greenwood earn every inch. Houston passed to Robins again at the Panthers’ 45, then Dylan Tucker ran to the 43 and again to the 42, bringing up fourth-and-inches with about 30 seconds left. With no more timeouts remaining, Houston faked the handoff and tried to make the first down himself, but was undercut on a great tackle, landing just short of the first down, ending the GHS possession and any hope of a late comeback win.

After the game, a disappointed Coach Young spoke first to his team assembled on the turf, then talked briefly with Dog Pound sideline reporter Richie Cagle. “That was really a hard one,” said the coach. “I thought we played well for a lot of the ballgame. We just didn’t make the plays at the end of the game to win.”

Unofficially, quarterback Hunter Houston threw for 279 yards and four touchdowns, completing 27 of 40 pass attempts with one interception on a tipped ball. Luke Brewer had 10 catches for 103 yards and a touchdown. Aiden Kennon had five catches for 53 yards, but none in the second half. L.J. Robins had seven receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown. Brett Wood had one catch for 20 yards and a touchdown. Running back Javon Williamson had 16 carries for 120 yards and a touchdown. Dylan Tucker rushed eight times for 48 yards, and Houston also had a nine-yard TD run.

The Bulldogs will host Van Buren (4-4) next Friday night at Smith-Robinson Stadium. The Pointers lost 63-33 to Lake Hamilton last Friday, but at one point only trailed by a touchdown. At 1-4 in conference play, Van Buren is one of four teams fighting for the last two playoff berths from the 6A West. The other three schools include Mountain Home (2-3), Russellville (1-4), and Siloam Springs (0-5).

Greenwood will close out its regular season the following week at home against Lake Hamilton (8-0), currently ranked #1 in Class 6A, but the Wolves host Benton in week nine to determine the conference championship. The Bulldogs will not enjoy a bye week to rest up and get healthy before starting the playoffs.

Instead, they will play in week one and will need four post-season victories to earn their 11th state crown, likely facing Benton and Lake Hamilton again in the process, not to mention one of the best teams from the east. At present, the top five teams from the 6A East are Jonesboro (6-2), El Dorado (6-2), Sylvan Hills (6-2), Searcy (4-4), and Marion (4-4).