Head Coach Luke Hales and his staff and players must be living right this season after their fifth straight victory last Thursday night, four of those wins by a grand total of 18 points. Greenwood’s lopsided win over Alma aside, the Jr. Bulldogs have earned wins by eight, seven, two, and one point(s), their most recent conquest a 14-12 conference victory over the visiting Farmington Cardinals. They will travel to Crooked Creek next week to take on the freshmen Goblins of Harrison, always a fun trip.
Last Thursday’s game began with a bang, with Greenwood’s Ryan Ross returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. He caught the ball at the 16-yard-line behind a wall of five blockers who opened a crack in the defense, allowing him to follow the hashmarks down the left side of the field before shifting to the Greenwood sideline to avoid a tackler near the 50, finishing his touchdown gallop by cutting back to the middle at the 20 and in for the score. Kicker Grayson Cobbler made the extra point for a quick 7-0 Greenwood lead. It got tougher to score after that, but the home defense kept the game close.
First, the Greenwood defense forced a quick three-and-out by the Cardinals, who punted to the home 16. But the Bulldogs’ offense fumbled the ball away on their second snap with the visitors recovering the ball at the 15. But one play for no gain and two more for losses were followed by an incomplete pass on fourth down, turning the ball back over to Greenwood.
Another Greenwood fumble occurred moments later, losing the ball at their own 46, but again, the Jr. Cards proved unable to move the ball and kicked it away to the home 1-yard-line on a great roll. Finding themselves in a hole, the Greenwood coaching staff played it safe, protecting the ball with conservative play calls, and rightly so. But unable to pick up a first down, the Dogs kicked the ball away to their own 42, giving Farmington good field position, and they finally took advantage of it.
They needed only three snaps, all running plays of five, 13, and 24 yards for the score. But the extra point try failed, leaving the freshmen Bulldogs up by one, 7-6, with 4:33 remaining in the second quarter, just enough time for the home team to mount its second scoring drive. That possession required 13 plays.
A short kickoff was fielded by Greenwood’s Bentley Neece at the home 45-yard-line, leaving the offense 55 yards to go before a penalty moved the ball back to the 40. Ben Clark then completed two short passes to the 50. A third toss went to Aysen Dawson for 11 yards to the 39 and a first down. After a penalty moved the ball back to the 46, Ben Clark completed three consecutive passes to Ty Karnes, reaching the 20.
After an incomplete pass and another penalty to the 25, Karnes caught a short pitch pass and reached the 19 before Clark carried to the 14. Wyatt Elliott then ran to the five before Clark carried in for the touchdown. Cobbler’s kick was good again, giving the home team a 14-6 lead with 19 seconds left in the half. Nineteen eventful seconds.
A short kickoff by Greenwood gave Farmington the ball at the home 41 with 10 seconds remaining. The Cardinals’ first play reached the 27 with four seconds left. But a pass interference call on the Bulldogs put the ball at the 13-yard-line with no time left. The penalty allowed the visitors one untimed play before the half, but after a Greenwood defensive timeout, their pass attempt into the end zone failed, keeping the score at 14-6.
When play resumed in the second half, fans didn’t have to wait long for some scoring action. Starting at their own 20 after Grayson Cobbler put the opening kick in the end zone, the Cardinals needed just two snaps to score. The first play was good for 16 yards to the 36, but the next snap turned into a 64-yard touchdown gallop. Hoping to tie the score, the Cards went for two points but the play failed, keeping Greenwood on top at 14-12. Then the two defenses took over.
Greenwood’s next possession teased another touchdown after a long pass completion from Clark to Ryan Ross, but it ended with a third lost fumble at the Farmington 5-yard-line. A bad snap derailed Farmington’s next offensive series, forcing a punt out-of-bounds at the Greenwood 18. The Bulldogs picked up a couple of first downs but eventually punted the ball away to the visitors’ 19-yard-line.
With time running out in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals appeared to have taken the lead after a long scoring run of 78 yards. But the play was nullified by a holding penalty, bringing the ball back to the Farmington 11 with 3:22 remaining to play. Unable to pick up a first down, the Cards then punted the ball to the Greenwood 38 with 1:25 left.
Sealing the victory for the home team, Wyatt Elliott carried for a first down on the first snap, reaching the Farmington 49. The Bulldogs then took a knee twice to run out the clock, interrupted only by a roughing penalty on an aggressive Cardinal defender that hit the kneeling Greenwood QB. When time expired Greenwood had improved to 5-0 with the 14-12 victory.
Right after the game, Coach Hales talked about the narrow victory. “It’s another win,” he said. “I was proud of our guys. Farmington’s a physical football team. They had some good players, their quarterback and their running back. He was hard to tackle, and we’re going to see some more guys hard to tackle, so it was good to see that tonight. We got better tonight. We found our rhythm a little bit on offense. We had turnovers, but we moved the ball better. I was proud of our kids, moving them around in different spots and giving other kids some opportunities, and they responded well.”
The coach acknowledged the need to take better care of the football, but also pointed out some positives, saying, “Coach [Brian] Sims has been doing this a long time, and he said ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a quarterback get a ball batted, catch his own ball, then fumble it to the other team,’ so that might have been a first tonight. But we made plays. Wyatt Elliott, when he fumbled, he gained 25 yards on the play, so we’re proud of him. He played a lot both ways. Brasier Duvall played a lot both ways. Ben Clark played both ways. Hayden Mills played a lot both ways up front. Then we had some new guys step up.”
Asked about getting just two of their five victories at home, Hales noted that in both wins his Bulldogs have returned kickoffs for touchdowns. “We’re excited about being at home,” he added. Two of their final four contests would be at Smith-Robinson Stadium. “Maybe we can keep that streak alive,” referring to the kick returns. “It’s nice to get points on special teams. Our kicking game has been awesome. Grayson Cobbler is doing a great job. He put one out of the back of the end zone tonight, which is hard to do in ninth grade games. Coach [Easton] Barrett’s been doing a real good job with our kicking game.
“On defense we’ve got guys stepping up,” he continued. "Starter Ty Bercher is injured, so he’s out, [and] Josh Todd has stepped up in that corner role. Rayder Broberg is [also] doing a good job at corner. He covered [Farmington’s] best player all night long.” Hales also commended defensive coordinator Brandon Godfrey for his good work this season.
Up next for the freshmen Dogs is a long trip to Crooked Creek to take on the Jr. Goblins of Harrison, a destination well known for strange things happening on the football field, usually involving the officials. A couple years ago Coach Hales was ejected from the game and for a time refused to leave the field in protest over the officiating in a game Harrison eventually won by a single point, 15-14. But last season Greenwood demolished Harrison in a 51-0 rout at Smith-Robinson Stadium.
“That’s always a fun trip,” said Hales, who is just old enough to recall stories of the old days when the two schools played in the same classification and conference on the varsity level when some of the weird stuff happened. “We’re going to get the Goblins,” he said with a grin. After Thursday’s trip to Harrison, Greenwood will host Shiloh Christian on October 9th before an open date on the 16th. They will travel to Siloam Springs on the 23rd before ending their season at home against Clarksville on the 30th. The freshmen Dogs will only play nine games this season.