The West Memphis Blue Devils came to Greenwood last Friday sporting a fine 10-1 record, falling only to conference foe Pine Bluff late last month. But after their 45-14 loss to the Bulldogs at Smith-Robinson Stadium, they had a long, five-hour bus ride home to think about their season. They had a great year, but it ended rather quickly and decisively after they entered the Dog Pound.
Greenwood’s Bulldogs were clearly the better team and were playing inspired football, knowing that a win in the semi-finals would earn them a return trip to War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock with the 6A state championship on the line. Having lost in the title game each of the last two seasons, the Bulldogs are determined to win it all this year.
Their opponent will be a familiar one. The Pine Bluff Zebras also won their semi-final game last Friday over Searcy, 34-14, and will face the Bulldogs for the fifth time since Greenwood moved up to Class 6A in 2012. It will be their third meeting in the title game. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. this coming Friday night.
The Blue Devils kicked off to start the game and Greenwood senior Jackson Webb responded with a nice return of 20 yards to the Bulldogs’ 33. A lucky 13 plays later the home team struck for the first of six touchdowns in the game. A defensive holding penalty on the visitors helped keep the possession alive.
Senior quarterback Connor Noland shouldered much of the burden for the drive, running three times for short yardage and completing three of six passes for 40 yards. Another pass attempt drew the penalty flag, giving Greenwood an easy third-and-one conversion on the next play from the Blue Devils’ 26.
Noland’s final effort was a 20-yard TD toss in the right front corner of the end zone, lofted perfectly over the defensive back and deftly gathered in by senior running back Kenny Wood for the score. Junior kicker Grant Ennis added the extra point for a 7-0 GHS lead with 9:05 showing on the clock.
But West Memphis responded in kind, even outdoing the ‘Dogs offensively, needing just seven plays to march 80 yards to tie the game at 7-all. In truth, 61 of those yards came on one play, a short pass reception and long run by Mason Kearney to the GHS 3-yard-line. The touchdown came two plays later when quarterback Michael Troxler scored on a 5-yard bootleg run. The point after was good.
But that was essentially all the Blue Devils would do against the GHS starting defense. The Bulldogs clamped down defensively, while the home offense put up 38 unanswered points to build a 45-7 third quarter lead. The visitors’ last touchdown was meaningless and came very late in the game against Greenwood’s second tier defense.
While West Memphis squandered its next four offensive possessions with two punts and a pair of lost fumbles, the Bulldogs’ offense kicked into high gear, scoring three more touchdowns and a field goal before heading to the locker room at halftime with a 31-7 advantage.
With the game tied at 7-7, Greenwood next drove 74 yards on a 16-play series that ended with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Noland to receiver Peyton Holt. Noland completed eight of 10 passes during the possession, and Kenny Wood ran four times, including a nine-yard plunge on fourth-and-one at the visitors’ 39, keeping the drive moving. Ennis added the extra point after the TD.
Greenwood’s next possession ended with a field goal. Taking over at their own 44 after a West Memphis punt, the Bulldogs needed seven plays and a defensive penalty to reach the Blue Devils’ 22-yard-line. Noland completed a 10-yard pass to junior receiver Josh Barlow to get things going. Wood then ran for six yards to the visitors’ 36.
On the next snap, Wood got 10 yards to the 26, but the play drew a flag for holding against West Memphis, advancing the ball even further to the 14-yard-line. But Noland was sacked at the 22, then later completed a pass to senior Zane Harmon at the 9, short of the first down, bringing on the field goal unit. The kick by Ennis was good from 26 yards on the first play of the second quarter for a 17-7 lead.
The GHS defense shined on the next West Memphis possession, getting a quarterback sack by senior lineman Jon Womack at the 12-yard-line, then a fumble recovery at the 20 by senior linebacker Camden Beshears. The ‘Dogs would score just one snap later.
On first down, Noland passed the ball to Wood just inside the 10-yard-line, but the tenacious tailback refused to go down, using second effort to muscle his way into the end zone. The kick by Ennis made the score 24-7 with 9:51 left in the opening half.
After another short possession and punt by the Blue Devils, the GHS offense went back to work, this time starting with excellent field position at the visitors’ own 49. A two-yard run, a six-yard pass, and a five-yard penalty moved the ball to the 36, before Wood found running room around right end to the 26.
Two plays later, Noland passed to Wood for nine yards to the 17, before Wood galloped through the middle of the West Memphis defense for the score on the next play. The extra point made the score 31-7 with 6:29 remaining in the half.
The Blue Devils then put together only their second significant offensive drive of the half, moving from their own 20 all the way to the Greenwood 1-yard-line. But a lost fumble near the goal line was recovered by Bulldogs’ senior linebacker Nick Vota, ending the threat.
In the second half the Bulldogs scored twice more in the first eight minutes of the third quarter, crushing any hope of a West Memphis comeback, sealing the victory and punching Greenwood’s ticket for the state championship game in Little Rock.
The first touchdown came on a 14-yard run by Wood at the end of a 10-play drive from the Blue Devils’ 49 after West Memphis was forced to punt on its opening possession of the half. A 13-yard completion to senior Kade Orlicek advanced the ball to the 36 for a first down.
Wood then ran twice to the 33 and caught a short pass to the 27, setting up fourth-and-one, which he narrowly converted on the next play, reaching the 26. Jackson Webb then carried twice to the 14, before Wood took the handoff and made a nice cutback to reach the end zone. The PAT was good.
Leading 38-7, Grant Ennis kicked off, but the Blue Devils’ fumbled the return deep in their own territory, falling on the ball at the 5-yard-line. They managed a first down, but finally had to punt from their own 19, a short kick that was fair caught by Peyton Holt, who was then plowed over by a West Memphis defender, drawing a flag.
The play advanced the ball all the way to the visitors’ 28-yard-line, giving Greenwood another golden scoring opportunity. Two rushing plays netted four yards to the 24, then Noland passed to Orlicek for a first down at the 18. Wood ran to the 12 and Webb to the 11 before Noland fired a bullet pass to Barlow, who made the catch and wrestled a defender into the end zone for the score.
With exactly four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Ennis added the extra point for a commanding 45-7 Greenwood lead, putting the 35-point mercy rule in play. The first string GHS offense did not return for the Bulldogs’ next possession, and the starting defense was soon sidelined as well.
With the clock running almost continually, the Blue Devils marched 96 yards to score on their only possession of the fourth quarter, a drive that consumed just over nine minutes. The touchdown came on a 1-yard quarterback keeper with 1:56 left to play. The extra point made the final score 45-14.
Statistically, Greenwood outgained West Memphis by a 3-to-2 ratio, 377 yards to 252, a much smaller margin than might be indicated by the final score. Four of Greenwood’s scoring drives started inside Blue Devils’ territory as the Bulldogs won the battle for field position.
Kenny Wood had most of his 132 rushing yards in the first half. He ran the ball 20 times for a 6.6 yards-per-carry average. Connor Noland (-4), Marc Jones (16), Jackson Webb (17), and freshman Hunter Wilkinson (4) accounted for the remainder of Greenwood’s 165 rushing yards.
Noland completed 24 of 32 passes for 212 yards and four touchdowns. Peyton Holt caught seven passes for 59 yards, while Kade Orlicek and Kenny Wood both had four catches for 41 and 57 yards, respectively. Zane Harmon and Josh Barlow also had three receptions each, Harmon for 29 yards and Barlow for 20.
Defensively, the Bulldogs were led once again by Nick Vota with nine total tackles, four of them solo stops, plus a fumble recovery. Sophomore linebacker Eli Martin had five tackles, including four solos. Junior defensive back Aaron Ohl and senior linebacker Camden Beshears both had four tackles.
Several others chipped in with three stops, including junior defensive back James Dawson, junior linebacker Travis Cox, senior defensive back Dylan Vota, junior lineman Morgan Hanna, along with senior linemen Hunter Webb, Jon Womack, and Austen Youngwolfe.
The GHS defense gave up just 46 rushing yards in the game on 25 attempts. West Memphis did most of its damage through the air with 13 completions for 206 total yards, 61 of those yards coming on one play. But nearly 100 yards and the Blue Devils’ final touchdown came with the Greenwood starting defense out of the game. In his post-game comments, Head Coach Rick Jones was quick to praise his defensive players and their coaches.
“That was pretty good rushing defense,” said Jones when informed that Pine Bluff was held to less than 50 yards on the ground. “Our coaches on defense – Coach Chick, Coach Gill, Coach Sandifer, and Coach Nation – they do such a great job,” he added. “They work hours and hours and they had a great scheme. I was nervous about it, but I give those guys a lot of credit, and our kids played awesome. They played great football. Our defense has been the difference maker [all season]. Sometimes when our offense has been struggling, our defense has really come through.”
“They’re an athletic football team,” he said of the Blue Devils. “They gave us a lot of trouble. It may not look like it on the scoreboard, but they had some fast receivers. I was so proud of our secondary. Except for a couple of times, we kept [their receivers] inside and in front, and our D-line kept pressure on their quarterback.”
Jones also complimented the offensive line play, a sore spot for the Bulldogs at times this season. “Probably the stars of the game were our offensive linemen,” he said. We’ve been on them and ugly to them all year long, and they were awesome. They kept [Pine Bluff’s] two great pass rushers out.
“We didn’t mow them down inside, but I think it got to where they were going backwards more easily in the second half. Our O-line really gave our quarterback time to throw. [They] gave Kenny [Wood] some holes, and Connor [Noland] took care of the football and threw some beautiful passes. Our receivers also made some contested catches.”
The coach also responded to a question about his seniors who played their last game at Smith-Robinson Stadium. “They’ve been a great group,” he said. “When you think about all the sweat, blood, and tears they’ve spent on this field, it’s a great way to walk off with a great win over a good football team.
I’m so proud of our effort,” he continued. “We played great in all three phases [of the game]. Grant [Ennis] kept kicking it deep and our coverage guys were super, and we didn’t give them anything easy. I was really proud of the way we played.”
But Jones acknowledged that one final hurdle remains for this season to be a total success, and that’s bringing a state championship trophy back to Greenwood. “We’ve had a great season, but we’ve got to finish our business, that’s the main thing,” he said.
“Our guys are hungry. They’ve been there before, and they know what it takes to get the job done. We’re going to [wait] about 24 hours and then get ready to go.
“Here we go again,” he said when asked about facing Pine Bluff once again. “The thing that stands out about Pine Bluff is they are so well-coached. I think Bobby [Bolding] does a great job with those kids. They make great adjustments during the game. Their kids play hard, clean, tough football. We’ve played them four times and I’ve been so impressed. It’s no surprise to be seeing them again.”
Finally, asked about playing the game Friday night rather than on Saturday as so often in the past, Jones agreed that his team would be on its normal schedule this week, but that it really shouldn’t make a difference. “I don’t think [either way] is better or worse, if you’re playing in the finals,” he said.
“I don’t know how [anyone] could complain. We’ll play at midnight on the Wal-Mart parking lot,” he said with a smile. “It doesn’t matter to us. We’re just glad to be there, and we’re going to try to get the job done this year.”