The annual Blue-White spring football scrimmage will be held this Thursday night, May 23rd, starting at 7 p.m. at Smith-Robinson Stadium in Greenwood.
Everyone is invited to attend, though there will be a $5 admission charge that includes free food (burgers, chips, drinks) provided by the Booster Club until halftime.
The Bulldogs have reached the championship game in each of the last four years, winning the last two state titles in Class 6A. Overall the team has won nine state championships, the last eight under Head Coach Rick Jones. The Bulldogs have also reached the finals on four other occasions but lost, three of those under Jones.
Last year Jones and his staff had to replace quarterback Connor Noland, who is now playing baseball and football for the Arkansas Razorbacks. They did so by moving one of the state’s top receivers, Peyton Holt, behind center, and the gamble paid off with another state title.
But now Holt too has graduated and accepted a scholarship offer to play baseball at Louisiana-Lafayette, leaving the quarterback position vacant once again.
Senior Jace Presley appears to have the inside track on getting the job. He started on the junior varsity squad the past two seasons and played well. Football also runs in his blood.
He is the nephew of GHS assistant coach and offensive coordinator Chris Young and the grandson of Joe Fred Young, the former head coach at Fort Smith Northside.
As always, Jones and staff will be tasked with finding replacements for the other graduated seniors, while working to improve the skills and toughness of their returning players.
“In our spring game we are looking for guys that will compete at all times, good and bad,” said the coach. “We will put them in a game situation for the first time since our season ended in December.
“We have a lot of new guys and need to see how they handle game situations,” added Jones. “We will be working three-deep during the scrimmage, ones against ones, twos against twos, and threes against threes,”’ he explained.
Following the spring game, the Bulldogs will have a series of camps this summer and also participate in the annual FASDOGS workouts in July.
There will also be the mandatory two-week dead period in June enforced by the Arkansas Activities Association. Fall practice begins in earnest in early August. Their first game will be at home against Fort Smith Northside on September 6th.