The Greenwood Bulldogs won their eighth consecutive game last Friday night at Sheridan, beating the Yellowjackets 42-14 to clinch the 6A West conference title along with a top seed in the playoffs and a first-round bye.
All of that was possible because of Greenwood’s 62-33 victory a week earlier over the Benton Panthers, their closest rival in the 6A West. Before taking on Sheridan, Head Coach Rick Jones talked about the win over Benton and what he expected from the Yellowjackets.
“We played pretty well,” he said of beating the Panthers. “It put us in a position to play for the conference championship, and that’s a good thing. Home field advantage and a first week bye, those are good things to play for tonight.”
As for Sheridan (2-7, 1-5), the ‘Jackets entered Friday’s contest with just two victories overall and one in league play, so the odds clearly favored the visiting Bulldogs (8-1, 6-0). But that’s something a head coach and his players can’t afford to take for granted.
“You know you’re going to get everybody’s best shot, and that’s the way it is,” said Jones. “[But] we never really put a lot of emphasis on the opponent anyway. It’s always about us. We want to be a better team tonight than we were last Friday. We want to try to get better.”
Jones then offered his assessment of what to expect from the Yellowjackets. “They’re going to blitz and bring some crazy stuff [defensively],” he said. “They line up in some different formations with three backs in the backfield and stuff we don’t see very often.
“The big challenge tonight will be trying to get lined up properly. They’re going to try to find a soft edge and take advantage of us. They’re going to try and grind it out and run the football,” he added.
The Bulldogs won the opening coin toss and elected to kick to start the game. As usual, senior Grant Ennis put the ball in the end zone for a touchback. Four snaps later the Yellowjackets punted from deep in their own territory to Greenwood’s Luke Leonard for a short return to the home 48-yard-line.
On second-and-10, quarterback Peyton Holt passed to Leonard for five yards to the 43, then threw to running back Hunter Wilkinson at the 30 to move the sticks for a first down.
Two plays later Holt ran a keeper to the 27, but a penalty before the next snap moved the ball back to the 32. Holt then lofted a screen pass to Wilkinson behind the line of scrimmage, and the sophomore rambled down to the Sheridan 13.
Holt then found Leonard again near the sideline for a nice gain to the Sheridan 1-yard-line. That was followed by another flag and a five-yard step-off to the six before Holt flipped the ball forward to Luke Leonard in motion. The senior receiver raced around right end for the score. Ennis added the extra point for a 7-0 GHS lead (8:23).
Ennis followed with another touchback on the kickoff, putting Sheridan at its own 20. The Greenwood defense then did what it’s done all season long, forcing the offense to earn every inch. The Yellowjackets punted four plays later, giving the Bulldogs the football at their own 41.
Holt then threw to Treyton Dawson to the home 48 for a first down. Two plays later Holt found Leonard for a nice gain to the 34. The senior QB next rolled to his right before throwing to Isaiah Belue for big yardage to the 15.
The next play was a completed pass for no gain, but Luke Leonard got up limping, though he walked off the field on his own power. As a precaution, he did not return for the rest of the game.
Holt ran for two yards on the next snap, then fired a strike to receiver Lazaro Angel, who went out-of-bounds at the 4-yard-line. Hunter Wilkinson scored on the next play and Ennis added the extra point for a 14-0 Greenwood lead (5:04).
After another touchback by Ennis, the Yellowjackets continued to struggle on offense against a smothering Bulldogs’ defense. On third down from their own 19, a Sheridan pass was picked off by Greenwood’s Gunner Perkins near the 25.
The senior defensive back made a great spin move to avoid a tackle, then followed the sideline and his blockers to the end zone before falling across the goal line for the pick-six. Ennis made the score 21-0 (3:45).
Minutes later, after another Sheridan punt, the Bulldogs’ offense was back in business at midfield. Holt threw to running back Marc Jones on first down to the Sheridan 45, then passed to Lazaro Angel at the 40. Next, Jones picked up the first down at the 36.
Jones ran again to the 29, followed by four consecutive short-yardage passes to sophomore Jase Strozier, reaching the 10-yard-line as time expired in the first quarter.
On the first snap of the second quarter, Holt passed for an apparent touchdown to Treyton Dawson, but the play was nullified by a penalty back to the 15. Holt then went back to Strozier at the nine before running the QB keeper around left end, cutting back to the middle for the score. The kick by Ennis made it 28-0 (11:08).
The combination of Greenwood’s deep kickoffs and defensive prowess continued its suffocation of the Yellowjackets’ offense on Sheridan’s next possession. Another three-and-out was followed by a punt that was downed at the GHS 16-yard-line.
Hunter Wilkinson struggled to the 19 on first down before Holt threw to Isaiah Belue at the 30 to move the chain. After an incompletion, Holt fired a bullet down the middle to Angel at the 47.
The junior made a great two-handed leaping overhead catch, but was hit almost immediately, causing the ball to come loose and bounce down the field. Treyton Dawson tried to fall on it near the Sheridan 40, but the ball squirted away until Jase Strozier finally corralled it at the home 32.
Holt went back to Angel for a short gain on the next play at the 27, then tossed a screen pass to Wilkinson, who took it all the way down to the Yellowjackets’ 8-yard-line.
Holt then kept the ball for the touchdown around right end. The extra point made it 35-0 with 7:06 remaining in the second stanza. With the mercy rule in force for the second half, the Bulldogs did not score again before the intermission. They scored once more in the second half.
After the second team offense finished the first half for the Bulldogs, they returned to the field in the third quarter, keeping the Greenwood starters on the sideline.
Sheridan scored the lone touchdown of the third quarter on a 20-yard gallop with 35 seconds left against the second team GHS defense, making the score 35-7.
Max Vickery returned the ensuing kickoff to the Greenwood 27 just before time expired in the quarter. Each team then scored once in the final 12 minutes.
The GHS defense scored its second TD of the game around the seven-minute mark of the fourth quarter when junior Eli Martin scooped up a loose football and sprinted 70 yards for the score. The extra point was good by junior Jackson Stewart.
Leading 42-7 with about six minutes left, the Bulldogs gave up one final score to the Yellowjackets on a two-yard run after an 80-yard drive. The extra point was good on the last play of the game.
The offensive stats weren’t much to brag about, but quarterback Peyton Holt had a nice first half throwing the ball, connecting on 21 of 26 attempts for 190 yards, unofficially. He also rushed for 21 yards on four carries. He threw for one score and rushed for two others.
Seven receivers had multiple catches in the game, led by Lazaro Angel with six receptions for 52 yards. He was followed by Luke Leonard with five catches for 39 yards, Hunter Wilkinson with three receptions for 52 yards, and Isaiah Belue three receptions for 36 yards. Jase Strozier also had six catches for 32 yards. Treyton Dawson (2/22) and Marc Jones (2/9) also had receptions.
QB Jace Presley was six of 14 for 43 yards passing. But the Bulldogs had less than 100 yards rushing in the contest, an area of concern for Coach Jones all season.
After the game, the coach offered a mixed reaction to the win. “We did some things pretty well and some things not so well,” he said. “I thought we had a good week of practice, but it’s sometimes difficult to play with the kind of intensity and enthusiasm that you want.
“I did not feel that we were as sharp as we needed to be. We need to get better. We still have a ways to go,” said Jones. “But that was a big game because it was for home field advantage in the playoffs as long as you win, and that’s a great thing and we were happy to do that.”
Asked about the two defensive scores in the game, Jones said, “There are some pluses in the game when you get two defensive touchdowns. I was proud of them, but offensively we weren’t quite as sharp as we needed to be.”
The Bulldogs close out their regular season against conference foe Lake Hamilton this coming Friday at home in Smith-Robinson Stadium. The Wolves are 5-4 on the season, but 2-4 in league play, having lost three of their last four games. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with senior night festivities scheduled before the game.
Greenwood will enjoy an open date on Friday, November 9th, for the opening round of the playoffs. On the 16th they will host the winner between the fourth-place team from the East (likely Marion) and the fifth-place team from the West, probably Siloam Springs.
Greenwood, Benton (7-2, 5-1), and Russellville (6-3, 4-2) are the top three teams from the 6A West, while West Memphis (9-0, 6-0), Jonesboro (6-3, 5-1), Searcy (7-2, 4-2), and Marion (7-2, 4-2) are the top four teams from the 6A East.
Pine Bluff, which started the season ranked by Hooten’s Arkansas Football as the state’s top 6A team, has a dismal record of 2-6-1 overall, 2-4 in league play, and could miss the playoffs completely if they lose to Jacksonville (3-6, 1-5) this coming Friday.