It’s been a mild summer so far, with adequate rainfall and seasonal temperatures, but the extreme heat finally showed up as the calendar flipped to August. That must mean pre-season football practice has started (August 5th), and the highly regarded Greenwood Bulldogs couldn’t be happier with the 100-degree temps. Not only have they been working hard during the three weeks of FASDOGS in July, the annual conditioning program designed to improve flexibility, agility and speed, but they are excited about the start of the season and the prospect of winning another 6A state crown.
The two-time defending champs are hoping to make their fifth consecutive appearance in the state title game in December, all under Head Coach Chris Young. Historically, the Bulldogs have won 11 state titles since the year 2000 – one under head coach Ronnie Peacock, eight under Rick Jones, and the last two under Young. In other words, the Bulldogs have won 46% of the state titles awarded in their classification over the past 24 years. That’s dominance, especially when considering they’ve won 10 of those titles and played in five additional championship games since 2004. That’s a 50% winning clip and a 75% rate of appearing in the state title game, 15 times in 20 years. Whoa!
What’s more, virtually every football pundit in the state expects the boys in blue-and-white to return to War Memorial Stadium a week after Thanksgiving this coming fall. The Bulldogs are loaded offensively with plenty of experience and talent returning from last season, getting additional unexpected help with some capable move-ins in the spring, a couple of which may crack the starting lineup.
The ‘Dogs have a big, talented, experienced offensive line, one of the best junior quarterbacks in the nation, and four receivers being actively recruited by several Division-I colleges. They need to find a running back, but have plenty of candidates to choose from, and the same is true for a defense being reconstructed by defensive coordinator Jason Gill. But the Bulldogs won’t have to be great on defense, just good enough because the GHS offense will score plenty of points.
Later this month the Dog Pound will publish a more detailed article about this year’s team just prior to the first game on August 30th. The remainder of this article will focus on the 2024 football schedule starting with the annual scrimmage against the Fayetteville Bulldogs, the defending 7A state champs. The regular season starts with three non-conference games against Class 7A opponents from Bentonville, Fort Smith, and Springdale. Greenwood will be favored in all three contests.
When it comes to conference play, the 6A West has a couple new members this season with the departure of Pulaski Academy and Little Rock Christian, both of which have move up to Class 7A. Fort Smith Southside and Shiloh Christian have joined the league, and the Saints are expected to provide the greatest challenge for the Bulldogs during the regular season and perhaps in the playoffs as well.
The Greenwood Bulldogs took advantage of several early turnovers and dominated the Fayetteville Bulldogs in last year’s scrimmage, yet both teams went on to post unbeaten records and claim their respective conference and state championships. The Purple Dogs are expected to be very good again, with 13 returning starters. According to Hooten’s Arkansas Football magazine, league coaches pick Fayetteville to finish second in the 7A West. Though the contest won’t count toward the regular season record, the matchup has proven to be a solid test for both squads in the past and should be again this year. The pre-season scrimmage will be held at Fayetteville next Tuesday, August 20th.
The season opener for the Bulldogs will also be on the road at Bentonville-West, picked third in the 7A West coaches poll, according to Hooten’s. Like Fayetteville, the Wolverines have 13 returning starters after finishing 7-4 last season with a first-round playoff loss to Conway. They have several talented, experienced skill players returning on offense, but need help on the defensive line and at linebacker. It will be a good test for the Bulldogs, but they should come away with the win on the last Friday night in August.
Up next will be a familiar foe in Fort Smith’s Northside Grizzlies on September 6th, the first home game at Greenwood’s Smith-Robinson Stadium. Bulldogs’ fans certainly recall the unbelievable game against Northside two years ago with Greenwood winning an offensive shootout, 56-53, on a Hail Mary pass from freshman quarterback Kane Archer to sophomore receiver Grant Karnes.
The Bulldogs scored 18 points in the last three-plus minutes to steal the remarkable victory. Both Archer, a junior, and Karnes, a senior, return this season, bigger, stronger, and more experienced, and will likely play major roles in another GHS victory over their fellow Sebastian County foes. The Grizzlies lost big to Greenwood last season, 49-0. They last beat the ‘Dogs in 2021.
Greenwood’s final non-conference game will be on the road at Springdale Har-Ber on September 13th. The Wildcats are picked fifth in the 7A West coaches poll and could qualify for a playoff spot if they meet expectations. They return 11 starters and have a strong offensive line but lack overall depth, according to the preview article in Hooten’s. The Bulldogs should close out their non-league schedule with a third consecutive win to open the season. It will also precede their scheduled open date on September 20th before starting league play against their toughest conference foe, the Shiloh Christian Saints, on the 27th.
Hooten’s picks the Saints as the third best team in its Class 6A preview behind #1 Greenwood and #2 Benton. Shiloh is also picked second in the 6A West coaches poll behind the Bulldogs. The two teams have played some high-scoring games in the past, but this is the first time they’ve been in the same conference. The Saints were promoted from 5A to 6A this season after reaching the 5A state title last December. They lost to Little Rock Parkview, 55-12, but returns a dozen starters, six on each side of the ball. Shiloh will also have an open week to prepare for the Bulldogs.
Head Coach Tucker Barnard arrived late from Oklahoma last summer following an unexpected coaching change but has now had time to fully implement his program. The Saints averaged about 50 points per game last season and will be the home team against Greenwood, so an offensive shootout is a clear possibility. Shiloh sports a strong offensive line and a solid linebacker corps. But the Bulldogs should have the edge in skill players and overall team depth. The outcome of this game will likely determine the conference champion in the league opener for both teams.
After battling the Saints, the Bulldogs should roll through the remainder of their schedule, starting with the 2024 homecoming game against Russellville on the first Friday in October. The Cyclones are picked sixth by the league coaches and return 11 starters off a squad that finished 4-6 last season. But while Russellville has talent, speed, and playmakers on defense, their offensive skill players are inexperienced and unproven. This should be an easy win for Greenwood unless the ‘Dogs have a mental and emotional letdown after their clash with the Saints, but that seems unlikely, especially on homecoming.
On October 11th the Bulldogs will travel north to Siloam Springs to take on the lowly Panthers who’ve won only 14 games over the past five seasons under head coach Brandon Craig. His 2023 team was winless and finished last in the 6A West, including a 55-14 loss to Greenwood. Now Craig is out, and new head coach Doug Loughridge takes over with 13 returning starters. His track record at both Alma and Charleston is excellent, including a pair of state titles with the Tigers, so he should produce better results with the Panthers, though it will take time.
Siloam Springs does have experience at key spots and should benefit with the arrival of a few talented newcomers, according to Hooten’s. But a lack of winning tradition in recent years and the time required to change the culture with the arrival of a new coach are also factors. The Panthers also lack overall depth, so chalk this one up to another easy Bulldogs’ win.
Up next for Greenwood will be the Lake Hamilton Wolves at Smith-Robinson Stadium on Friday, October 18th. The Wolves have been very good for a long time, qualifying for the playoffs for 17 consecutive years from 2006 to 2022. But they ended 2023 on a five-game losing streak and missed the postseason for the first time since 2005. That included a 42-0 loss to Greenwood. But the Wolves do return 16 starters this season and are picked to rebound and finish third in the 6A West.
Lake Hamilton returns a veteran senior quarterback and has a lot of depth at running back but is young and inexperienced on defense. The Wolves’ Wing-T offense can be tricky to defend against, but the Bulldogs have handled it well since the two teams have been members of the same conference. Lake Hamilton has never beaten Greenwood and that won’t change this season, so expect another GHS victory on the road to War Memorial Stadium in December.
Surprisingly, league coaches were not very kind to the Van Buren Pointers despite some encouraging results in 2023. The Pointers are picked to finish next-to-last in the conference after making the playoffs last season and winning a postseason game for the first time since 2020. Van Buren also returns 16 starters from that team that finished 5-7 overall.
One reason why the Pointers may have been picked so low in the league standings is uncertainty at quarterback with two players battling for the starting nod. But Van Buren does have some talented skill players on offense and some difference-makers on defense, according to Hooten’s Arkansas Football. But in their quest for another state title, the Bulldogs won’t be derailed by the Pointers, so expect another lopsided GHS win. Van Buren lost to Greenwood last year, 55-14, and will host the Bulldogs on the last Friday in October.
As the calendar flips to November, the Bulldogs will travel to the River City to take on the Fort Smith Southside Mavericks. The ‘Dogs and Mavs have a long history of non-conference play, a history dominated by Greenwood over the past decade, so much so that Southside discontinued the series, only to be demoted from Class 7A and forced to join Greenwood in the 6A West. But the Mavericks are picked fourth overall in Class 6A and fifth in the 6A West, according to Hooten’s, which is something of a contradiction. Southside is picked behind Greenwood, Shiloh Christian, Lake Hamilton, and Mountain Home in the 6A West.
The Mavs finished 7-5 last season with a six-point second-round playoff loss to eventual 7A champion Fayetteville. But they return only five starters in 2024 and have uncertainty at a lot of positions, especially on offense, starting at quarterback. Overall, the Southside offense is extremely young and inexperienced. They do have playmakers on defense, especially in the secondary and at linebacker, so say the writers at Hooten’s. Greenwood defeated Southside 56-20 last season and should do so again this season by a similar margin.
Finally, the Bulldogs will host Mountain Home on Friday, November 8th, on senior night at Smith-Robinson Stadium. The Bombers finished 6-6 last season, including a pair of playoff games, the last of which was a rematch with the Bulldogs. After losing their regular season contest, 55-7, Mountain Home lost 56-14 to Greenwood in the second round of the playoffs. The Bombers return 14 starters, including almost its entire starting defense, and are picked to finish fourth by league coaches.
But the Mountain Home coaching staff, led by Kam Dameron, must rebuild an offense that graduated almost every skill player last spring, including at quarterback and the team’s top three running backs and three of its top four receivers. The Bombers will have to depend on their veteran defense early this fall until the offense finds its footing. But if Mountain Home needs a win in its regular season finale at Greenwood to qualify for the playoffs, the Bombers will be out of luck. Expect another lopsided Bulldogs’ victory to close out the 2024 schedule.
Around the state, the Bulldogs will be favored over all comers in the playoffs. According to Hooten’s, Benton, Marion, Jonesboro, and El Dorado will headline the 6A East, with the top six teams from both the East and the West qualifying for the postseason, and the top two teams in each conference receiving a first-round bye. Of the other 15 6A teams in the state, only Shiloh Christian and Benton likely pose a real threat to Greenwood’s inevitable march to yet another state title. Go Bulldogs!