The Greenwood Junior High Bulldogs took to the turf at Smith-Robinson Stadium last Tuesday in their annual pre-season scrimmage with Fayetteville, a contest that ended with a 7-7 tie. Both teams had just one scoring drive with each team’s defense dominating the game. According to Head Coach Luke Hales, the strength of the Greenwood freshmen this season will be their defense.
Hales is starting his fourth season at the helm of the Junior Bulldogs, assisted by defensive coordinator Brandon Godfrey, and assistant coaches Brian Sims and Easton Barrett. Last season the GHS freshmen went 9-1, suffering a lone loss to Van Buren by a single point, 21-20. Hales is 26-4 overall as a head coach, not bad for a young man still years away from his 30th birthday.
But based on his recent interview with the Dog Pound, Hales doesn’t anticipate anything changing for his team any time soon. He expects the Jr. Bulldogs to be good again in 2025, competing for a conference championship in Greenwood’s final year in Class 6A before dropping down to 5A next year. Other current league members include Shiloh Christian, Alma, Pea Ridge, Van Buren, Farmington, Harrison, Siloam Springs, and Clarksville.
The team roster has 67 names listed. “That’s a pretty big number for us,” said Hales. “Over the past four or five years we’ve been in the 50 to 60 range, so this is a big group.” The coach then acknowledged that his defense is probably ahead of the offense so far and will likely be the strength of this year’s squad.
“Last year our biggest games were low-scoring games, and that was a credit to our defense, holding [the opposition] when we couldn’t get it done on offense, and we saw that last night in the scrimmage. We had four or five possessions in the first half and only scored one time, so we’ve got to get rolling on offense. But we’re very confident in our defense and our ability to tackle and be physical with kids like Ben Clark, Brasier Duvall, Ozzie Rogers, and Brandon Jarrels. They are tacklers. They put people on the ground, which is good to see, and we’re excited about that,” said the coach.
Offensively, it all starts with the linemen. “We’ve got about six or seven guys that rotate up front,” offered Hales. “Like our defensive line, we’re not real big up front [offensively]. Hudson Golden is our left tackle. [Left guard] Noah Breivogel is a really good player at both tackle and guard and he’s also a deep snapper. Brickston Lambe and Avery Shavalier will rotate at center while Kingston Kelly and Alex Coward will be at right guard and right tackle. But I think that will change. We have several guys that will compete for those spots and rotate with Coach [Brian] Sims getting them some minutes.”
As for the offensive backfield, Hales said, “I think our receivers will be the key to our offense. We’ve got two really talented receivers – two of the best ninth grade receivers I’ve seen since I’ve been here. One is the little brother of [current Arkansas Razorback] Grant Karnes, who is doing fantastic things for us. Ty [Karnes] is a great player – an unselfish player who blocks very well. Then we have Ryan Ross, another outside receiver who is making plays. So, we’re really excited about our outside potential.
Asked to comment further on Ty Karnes, Coach Hales did not shy away from comparing him to older brother Grant, a three-year starter and superstar receiver at Greenwood now playing for the University of Arkansas. “Grant was a ninth grader my first year coaching, so it’s kind of cool to see Ty in his ninth grade year and compare them. But Ty is a special kid in his own right. He works very hard and can make special plays. He’s a competitor and doesn’t want to miss a rep. As a team leader, that’s what you want. A guy who is fiery and a competitor. I’m sure glad we have him. He’s also one of the biggest kids on our team.” Hales estimated the younger Karnes to be around six feet, 180 pounds, likely bigger than his older brother was at the same age.
“In the backfield, Grady Garner will be our running back. He and Kim Rodgers have gotten a lot of reps in seventh and eighth grades, and they are ready to roll. Joey Young will play quarterback this year and do a good job.” Young is left-handed and the coach was asked if that was an advantage. “I’ve always liked it,” said the former GHS and UCA quarterback. “I’ve always been jealous of guys that were lefties. It’s kind of unique. We haven’t had a whole lot of them around here. But we coach them all the same way.”
For the record, Greenwood’s only lefty QB in the past 30 years was Anthony Hancock, a junior who started for the 2000 Bulldogs, helping them win the first of their 12 state championships. He then followed Coach Ronnie Peacock to Rogers, Arkansas for his senior season.
Asked if his quarterback can run, the coach said, “He is an athletic player. He’s a kid we found late as a quarterback. In seventh grade he played [several positions] and as an eighth grader we saw him throwing the ball around one day after school, and he just really developed and had a great year last year. He threw for plenty of yards and touchdowns, and a lot of that had to do with [our] receivers, Ross and Karnes, and another kid, Aysen Dawson, who’s doing really well in the slot position for us.”
Last year’s eighth grade squad, like the team ahead of them, lost just one game by a single point. “They did really, really well,” said Hales. “They showed big improvement between the seventh and eighth grades. We expect a lot out of them this year as ninth graders.”
The coach answered in the affirmative when asked if he was seeking balance in his offense. “We want to be as balanced as we can be,” he said. “But over the first couple of games we’ll feel it out and see what direction we want to go. We want to get movement and run the ball. If we can run the ball, it opens up everything else. But we’ve got to get the ball into our playmaker’s hands. That’s what we’re going to focus on the first couple of weeks.”
Asked if Young and his receivers had the ability to go deep in the passing game, Hales said, “We would love to throw it over the top and take advantage of our speed on the outside. We’ve just got to take what the defense gives us. But our kids are really smart, so we’re going to find a way to get it done. We have awesome, smart, intelligent kids. Putting in game plans and adjusting week to week is going to be so much fun, because they’re smart, they can adjust, they can learn on the fly, and that’s what it takes to be a good football player. Being constant learners and [physically] aggressive, we have a chance to be a really good football team this year,” he concluded.
The Defense
At the behest of Coach Hales, defensive coordinator Brandon Godfrey talked more about the team’s defense. “We’ve got pretty good size across the board,” he said in answer to the first question. “Our defensive linemen are a little skinnier than what we’re used to – last year we had some bigger kids. But we’re long and lanky and our linebackers are good size. We’re skinny, but at the same time we do a great job of following the ball. Our defensive backs are especially lanky, but they’ve got great potential. Right now, we’re just a little raw. Overall, they’re a really talented and smart group of guys.”
Asked about team depth and the relationship between size and speed, the coach said, “First of all, it’s an endurance advantage. I’m not having to sub guys out because it’s harder for them to run. Overall, we’re faster than we were last year. But we’re not as deep as last year. We’ve got less linemen and we’ve got a few kids out right now too, and that never helps. It’s nothing super serious. They should be back shortly. But our lack of depth up front could hurt us. At linebacker, safety, and corners we’ve got kids running out our ears. We’ve changed some kids over because of injuries and they’re developing.”
Asked about team leaders on defense, Coach Godfrey was quick to point to Ben Clark as the go-to guy up front. He’s playing the middle linebacker spot, and he does a great job. He’s like a Swiss army knife. I plug and play Ben in a lot of different places. He’s a smart kid and knows where he needs to be, and he’s a pretty big kid too. Then we have Brooks Aishman. He does a really good job communicating with the back end of our defense, making sure we’re lined up and in the right coverage.”
The coach also provided a working roster for the defensive starters and their top replacements. “Our front three right now are Traven Hamel, Tayden Mills, and Taylor Goines. Mills is our noseguard and the ends are Goins and Hamel. My three linebackers are Brandon Jarrels, Ben Clark, and Ozzie Rogers. On the back end are my three safeties, Wyatt Elliott, Brasier Duvall, and Brooks Aishman, and my two corners are Rayder Broberg and Ty Bercher.” Backing up the starters will be players like Drew Bohannan, Kingston Kelly, Trepp Nation, Ramzee Dodson, Easton Parker, Joshua Todd, and Sebastian Snipes, a couple of those with the ability to play more than one position, according to Godfrey.
As for the scrimmage against Fayetteville, the coach said, “Obviously, it was our benefit game and we weren’t always where we needed to be, but it was a good showing for us. We did have guys who came downhill and were willing to hit. We had some [problems defending] in the passing game, but it was stuff we needed to see, and it wasn’t against ourselves, because we know how we play.
“But being tested by the kind of athletes Fayetteville has is good for us,” he continued. “Our guys are not afraid to hit, but we’ve got to drop back and cover the pass too. That bit us last night with a couple costly mistakes and two deep balls. We gave up a touchdown we shouldn’t have, and it cost us. We should have held them to zero [points]. But overall, I think we are an incredibly talented and smart group. We just need to be a little more disciplined.”
Schedule
The Junior Bulldogs open their regular season this coming Thursday on the road at Shiloh Christian in Springdale at 7 p.m. Even though the Jr. Saints are members of the same conference as Greenwood, this contest will serve as the only non-conference game for both teams. They will meet again at Greenwood on October 9th in league play.
A week later, the freshmen Bulldogs will be on the road again at Alma (Sept. 4th) to open conference play before hosting their first home game on September 11th against Pea Ridge. Game four finds them on the road again at Van Buren, then home against Farmington, away at Harrison, then home against the Saints before their open date on October 16th. They close their season at Siloam Springs on the 23rd before the season finale at home against Clarksville on the 30th of October.