The era of new Head Coach Jason Gill has begun at Greenwood High School, but his Bulldogs struggled early in their season opener last Friday night at Bentonville-West before succumbing late in non-conference play, losing 28-24. It was the first time in four tries that the Class 7A Wolverines have beaten the Bulldogs, now playing in Class 5A. Counting last season’s state championship game loss to Shiloh Christian, the Bulldogs have dropped two games in a row, albeit nine months apart, but still a rare occurrence in GHS football.
Bentonville-West High School is located west in Centerton near Bentonville in Northwest Arkansas, and the Wolverines entered the game as one of the state’s top ten teams in pre-season polls. The Bulldogs are also ranked in those same polls, even higher than Bentonville-West, so the game figured to be close, and it was. But what started as a low-scoring defensive struggle in the first half ended with an exciting flourish with three lead changes in the final three minutes.
Being the first game of the season for each team, both made mistakes that played into the final outcome, especially the Bulldogs, who were plagued by numerous penalties and missed opportunities to score. The Wolverines had a critical goal line defensive stand, stopping Greenwood on a fourth-and-goal play in the first half, something that loomed large given the final score.
Solid job by new QB; top receiver out
Also, GHS senior quarterback Cruz Coatney played well in his debut as the starter behind center, generating over 220 yards in total offense, but nearly all his passes were of short-to-medium range with almost nothing deep down the field. Junior Braxton Canada, Greenwood’s top returning receiver, also had a good game with over 100 yards and two touchdowns, but the Bulldogs did play the game without senior receiver Ty Holt, who suffered a recent injury and could be out for several weeks. Despite not playing football the past couple of seasons, Holt is expected to be a big part of the GHS offense.
Penalties and a missed scoring chance
The home team won the toss and elected to kick off to start the game, but the Bulldogs could muster only one first down on a 10-yard pass from Coatney to senior receiver Brayden Brewer. On fourth down Braxton Canada punted the ball away. Two more punts followed as neither team could find any offensive traction early. But after Greenwood’s second punt the Wolverines were able to score the game’s first touchdown, but only after the game’s fourth punt – the second by Bentonville-West – was mishandled by the Bulldogs.
After stopping the home team on three plays, the Bulldogs lost sight of a short punt and the ball made contact with a Greenwood player, allowing the Wolverines to cover the ball at the GHS 40, setting up the game’s first scoring drive. On first down Bentonville-West pulled off a well-executed trick play, tossing the ball to a receiver behind the line-of-scrimmage before he lofted a pass downfield that was caught, reaching the 4-yard-line. Three plays later they scored on a short 2-yard pass. The extra point made it 7-0 with 3:51 left in the opening period.
Starting at their own 20 after the kickoff, the Bulldogs answered with a long drive of 67 yards on 13 plays that ended with a 29-yard field goal by senior kicker Landon Franklin. However, after a Wolverines’ penalty the Dogs had a first down just inside the 10-yard-line and failed to punch it in for six points, mostly due to a holding penalty that moved the ball back to the 17. In the middle of the drive Coatney completed three consecutive passes to Canada for 34 yards.
The GHS defense held the Wolverines on their next possession, forcing a quick punt, giving Greenwood the ball right back at midfield. That precipitated a 16-play drive that ended with a disappointing stop at the 1-yard-line on fourth down. Along the way the Bulldogs had two procedure penalties for 10 yards and a recovered fumble that cost them three yards and a down inside the Wolverines’ 5-yard-line. Those mistakes tossed the home defense a lifeline, allowing them to make a critical stop.
Seizing on that momentum, the Wolverines marched 99 yards in seven plays, getting some help from another Greenwood penalty, 15 yards for a personal foul. The touchdown was set up by a 40-yard pass completion to the GHS 33 before a bizarre play that almost resulted in a Bentonville-West touchdown. Apparently, there was some confusion on the field regarding the officials’ failing to blow the whistle to stop the action, allowing the home running back to continue on to the end zone unmolested by the Bulldogs, who thought the play was over. After a lengthy timeout to discuss the issue, the officials got the call right, moving the ball back to the Greenwood 29. But that only delayed the inevitable, with the Wolverines scoring moments later on a 29-yard scamper by the running back. The kick made the score 14-3 with 3:14 left in the second quarter.
Bulldogs keep it close at the half
The Bulldogs needed to respond quickly, and they did. Rhett Holloway returned the kickoff to the 26 and fellow senior Mario Dunbar got three yards on first down to the 29. Cruz Coatney then ran a quarterback draw to the 36 that drew a flag for a personal foul on the Wolverines, moving the ball to the home 49-yard-line. Moments later, facing third-and-12 at the GHS 49, Coatney was flushed out of the pocket and ran to near the home 40 before a second yellow flag cost the Wolverines an additional 15 yards for yet another personal foul.
From the 23, Dunbar ran to the 19, Holloway to the 17, and Coatney to the 13 for a first down. Two snaps later Coatney found Braxton Canada on a slant pattern just inside the goal line for the touchdown. The GHS receiver made a nice diving catch on a low pass for the score. Franklin’s extra point kick was good, keeping Greenwood in the game, 14-10, with 28 seconds left in the first half. The Wolverines managed to cross midfield before time expired, but never really threatened to score.
Scoreless third quarter; Dogs rally for exciting finish
The second half began much like the first, with both teams trading punts, but Braxton Canada had two monster kicks of 44 and 42 yards that were downed or rolled out-of-bounds inside the home 5-yard-line, helping to keep the Wolverines’ offense backed up. But the home team finally broke through after a scoreless third quarter, adding another touchdown early in the fourth period at the 10:40 mark. It came at the end of an eight-play drive that included a 40-yard pass completion. The score came on a 23-yard touchdown toss and the extra point made it 21-10.
Facing the prospect of losing their season opener, the Bulldogs responded with back-to-back scoring drives to take the lead for the first time in the contest, getting a huge pass interception in between to set up the second score. Starting from their own 33 after Canada’s kick return, the Bulldogs came up short of moving the chains on an incomplete third down pass before the Wolverines were flagged for defensive holding, giving the visitors new life.
From the Greenwood 47, Rhett Holloway then had a nice run to the home 35. After a short pass completion, Mario Dunbar had consecutive runs for 16 yards before Coatney found Canada all alone in the front corner of the end zone for the touchdown pass. Franklin’s kick trimmed the GHS deficit to 21-17 with 7:45 remaining.
But the Bulldogs weren’t done. William Rye’s pass interception and return to the home 23-yard-line kept the momentum going for the visitors. Rye, a junior defensive back, jumped the route and snagged the ball at the 44 before taking it the other way 21 yards. With just over five minutes left to play, Greenwood kept the ball on the ground for four of the five plays it took them to score, wanting to eat up as much time as possible.
But facing fourth down-and-4 from the 17 at the 3:07 mark, Coatney had to go to the air after a Greenwood timeout. His pass was low, but Braxton Canada went down after it and made a great catch for a first down at the 11-yard-line, keeping the possession alive. Mario Dunbar scored on the next snap, taking advantage of a wide-open right side for the touchdown. The extra point kick by Franklin put the Bulldogs ahead for the first time in the game at 24-21. But 2:43 remained on the clock.
GHS fans were nervous, but had hope because of how the defense had played for most of the game, that is until a long kick return by the Wolverines gave them great field position at the Greenwood 33. Two plays later a long run reached the GHS 4-yard-line and two plays after that Bentonville-West quarterback Sutton Mackey ran in from two yards out. The PAT made the score 28-24 with about a minute left to play.
The Bulldogs still had timeouts left, so hope remained for a last-minute comeback, but it wasn’t in the cards. Coatney and company were able to cross midfield after Rhett Holloway returned the kick off to the GHS 33. But a procedure penalty cost Greenwood five yards and another holding penalty was declined by Bentonville-West as time dwindled away. With 20 seconds left to play the Bulldogs misfired on a fourth-and-long pass to Canada, ending their comeback hopes.
Unofficial stats; post-game summary
Unofficial stats had the Bulldogs with about 335 yards of total offense. Cruz Coatney was 25 of 36 passing for 175 yards with two touchdowns, most of that with the help of Braxton Canada, who caught 16 balls for 116 yards and both scores. Rhett Holloway caught two passes for 33 yards while Brayden Brewer had two grabs for 17 yards. Mario Dunbar, Brayden Renick, and Ty Karnes also caught passes for short gains.
On the ground, Mario Dunbar had 16 carries for 69 yards or 4.3 yards per touch. Rhett Holloway ran nine times for 43 yards or 4.7 yards per carry. Coatney had 48 yards on the ground on eight carries for an average of six yards per tote. Just based on yards per carry, the Bulldogs might have been better served running the ball more and they seemed to be making an effort to do that early in the second half. Then again, they trailed for most of the game and passing the ball is often the quickest way to catch up.
For the most part, Greenwood’s offensive line protected Coatney well, but had their hands full with a Bentonville-West defense that returned eight starters from last season. Hooten’s Arkansas Football magazine picked the Wolverines to finish second in the powerful 7A West behind their close neighbor, the Bentonville Tigers. So, Friday’s loss to Bentonville-West was not really much of an upset, considering that both the Bulldogs and Wolverines were ranked in the top ten and the game was played in Centerton rather than Greenwood. Both teams have plenty of mistakes to correct going forward.
For his part, Coach Gill didn’t have a lot to say after the loss when speaking with the media, but he tried to put a positive spin on things as good coaches do. “We’ve got to get in there this weekend and figure out how to correct all those mistakes we made,” he said. “It wasn’t just one phase of the game. It was the kicking game and blown assignments on defense and the offense not punching it in. If we can clean that up, I think we have a chance to [be] a good football team, but we’ve got to fix those things. I’m not taking anything away from Bentonville-West. They have a great football team, and our guys fought to the end like they always do.”
More tough non-conference foes await
Things don’t get much easier in the next two weeks for the Bulldogs, who must travel to Little Rock next Friday to take on the Pulaski Academy, an old nemesis from years gone by. Greenwood and P.A. were recently in the same conference. The two schools have also faced each other in the state championship game. Now the Warriors have moved up to 7A due to their on-field success and the formula used by the Arkansas Activities Association to classify private schools in the state. In two weeks the Bulldogs will host the Rogers Mounties in Greenwood’s home opener at Smith-Robinson Stadium.
Both Pulaski Academy and Rogers lost last Friday along with Greenwood. P.A. was ambushed by Melissa, Texas, 56-21, while the Mounties fell to North Little Rock, 34-28. Both the Bulldogs and Bruins are hoping to avoid an 0-2 start to their seasons. Despite playing on the road for the second straight week, Greenwood should be favored over P.A., which is ranked 16th in the state according to MaxPreps Sports. That same poll has the Bulldogs ranked fifth. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. For fans unable to make the trip to Central Arkansas, the contest will be live streamed on the Greenwood Dog Pound website and YouTube.