The Greenwood Junior High Bulldogs opened their 2023 gridiron campaign with a tough loss on the road at Farmington last Thursday night, 21-13. Making matters worse, the visitors jumped out to a 13-0 lead before giving up 21 unanswered points over the last 2½ quarters. But Farmington was far from a pushover and may be the best opponent Greenwood will face all season, according to Head Coach Luke Hales. Last season, while these same players were eighth graders, the Cardinals won that game 44-0, so Hales was pleased with his team’s improvement since then, despite the 8-point loss.
The Jr. ‘Dogs kicked off to start the game and the Jr. Cardinals got a good return to near midfield, but then fumbled at the end of the play. Greenwood’s Elijah Rillamas recovered at the home 44-yard-line. However, the Bulldogs were unable to take advantage of the early gift and had to punt four snaps later. But the visiting defense held its ground and forced the Cards to kick as well, an effort that was blocked by defensive end Jacob Berry, giving Greenwood the ball at the Farmington 15.
This time the Bulldogs didn’t whiff on their opportunity, needing four plays to take the early lead. Braxton Canada, an eighth grader, had a nice run around right end to the 2-yard-line, setting up the touchdown three snaps later on a 1-yard plunge by running back Mario Dunbar. The extra point kick by Landon Franklin was good for a 7-0 lead at the 4:10 mark.
After the visiting defense did its job again and forced another Farmington punt, the Greenwood offense took over at its own 25-yard-line, putting together an 11-play series. But when the possession ran its course at the Farmington 41, punter Braxton Canada was knocked down, drawing a flag from the officials and giving the visitors new life at the home 26.
Canada then ran to the 23 before Mario Dunbar rumbled to the 13 for a first down. After the loss of a yard, QB Brayden Brewer threw to Canada for the touchdown. But an apparent bobbled snap led to an incomplete pass attempt on the extra point try, leaving the score 13-0 with 5:45 remaining in the second quarter. Unfortunately, that would be all the scoring for Greenwood.
Down by a baker’s dozen, the Jr. Cards wasted little time in getting back into the game, scoring their first touchdown just over a minute later. A quick drive into Greenwood territory ended with a 15-yard scoring pass, but the extra point kick misfired, leaving the score 13-6 with 4:40 left in the opening half of play.
Before time expired, the visiting offense got a big play on a pass from Brewer to receiver Cooper Webb. The play covered 53 yards to the Farmington 24, but the possession ended four snaps later on an incomplete pass on fourth down at the 23, giving the ball back to the Cardinals, who were forced to punt as time expired in the half.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, though the Jr. ‘Dogs had good field position on each of their two possessions, reaching the home 34-yard-line on their second series before punting. Farmington then got a long pass play of 35 yards to the Greenwood 24, setting up their second touchdown of the contest just three snaps later, a 12-yard run. Hoping to take the lead, the Cardinals went for two points and converted for a 14-13 advantage early in the fourth quarter (7:48).
The Bulldogs’ first offensive series of the fourth stanza also crossed midfield to the Farmington 38, but a fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete, ending Greenwood’s best chance to score in the second half. After taking over on downs, the Jr. Cardinals drove 62 yards in just four plays, the last one a 42-yard pass play to a wide-open receiver for an uncontested touchdown. The extra point accounted for the final score of 21-13.
A short bounding kickoff by Farmington was fielded by Greenwood’s Ty Holt, who advanced it a short distance to the 40-yard-line with about 2:30 remaining to play. A pass interference penalty on first down then moved the ball to the home 45-yard-line, giving Greenwood a legitimate scoring chance with over two minutes left. Brayden Brewer then scrambled to the 42 before throwing incomplete on second down. A bad snap on third down resulted in no gain and another incompletion on fourth down ended the threat. The home team then ran out the remaining time.
In post-game comments a couple days later, Coach Hales remained positive about his team’s efforts and upbeat about the remainder of the season. The Jr. Bulldogs will host Prairie Grove this coming Thursday night at Smith-Robinson Stadium, with a seventh-grade game slated for 5:30 p.m. and the ninth grade at 7:00. The eighth-grade contest, normally played on Mondays, was pushed back to Tuesday due to Labor Day.
“I’m just really proud of our kids and their effort,” said the second-year head coach of his Bulldogs. “After our Fayetteville scrimmage we were a little disappointed in some aspects of our play, and our kids really went to work these past two weeks and improved quite a bit. This group went to Farmington last year and got beat 44-0 [eighth grade], so we’ve gotten better. We still have a lot of work to do and a lot of improvement to make, but we’re just proud of our boys and how hard they played.”
Asked about his team’s running game, Hales said, “That’s something we need to improve on. [Running back] Mario [Dunbar] is a great player. He works really hard and he’s going to be an awesome high school player. We’ve got to do a better job calling plays that open up holes for him. I’ve got to do a better job as a play caller.”
As for the performance of his offensive line, Coach Hales said, “They were good.” Regarding the play of quarterback Brayden Brewer, the coach was equally effusive. “He did an awesome job. He’s getting better every day. He’s got a great arm and he can really sling it around. He’s got some arm strength and can really throw it.”
As for moving forward after the loss, Hales said, “We’ve just got to do a better job and keep getting better every day and keep progressing with these kids. They’ve worked hard the past two weeks to get prepared for this game and I think they did a really good job competing.”