Despite a somewhat rocky start, the Greenwood Bulldogs (4-0) quickly returned to form after falling behind 10-7 in their 6A West conference opener last Friday at Smith-Robinson Stadium. Texarkana (1-3) was in town, coming off a 28-20 win over Class 5A Camden-Fairview the week before, but the Razorbacks and Bulldogs had never before met on the gridiron. And after Friday's results, Texarkana likely won't be in the mood for a rematch any time soon.
Trailing by three points late in the first quarter, Greenwood responded by scoring 48 unanswered points and playing smothering defense en route to a 55-10 league victory. After invoking the mercy rule numerous times last season, this was the first time they did so in 2016.
Greenwood's Kade Orlicek returned the opening kick to the 31, and the Bulldogs made quick work of their first possession, scoring in just four plays. On second down from the 30, running back Kenny Wood rambled for a nice gain plus additional yardage on a Texarkana penalty to the 49.
Quarterback Connor Noland kept the ball for nine yards to the visitors' 42, then on the next snap scrambled to his right and located fellow QB Luke Hales, who had lined up as a receiver. Hales caught the ball and found ample running room down the sideline for the touchdown. The extra point kick by Grant Ennis was good for a 7-0 GHS lead just 1:21 into the game.
But the next seven minutes belonged to the Razorbacks. On their first offensive series, a 10-play, 69-yard drive ended with a 30-yard field goal. Their biggest plays were a pair of passes from QB Tyler Braswell to receiver Michael Caldwell, covering 57 yards. Tall and speedy, Caldwell proved difficult to cover for the GHS defense in the first half.
The visitors' next scoring opportunity came moments later after the Bulldogs gave up the ball on a pass interception at mid-field. Five plays later, aided by a facemask penalty on Greenwood, the Razorbacks scored their only touchdown of the game on another pass to Caldwell, who made a spectacular catch of a deflected ball while falling down in the end zone. The PAT put the visitors up by three, 10-7, at the 3:49 mark of the opening period.
Suddenly behind for the first time this season, things could have gotten worse very quickly for the home team after a second interception by Texarkana. But on the next snap, junior defensive back Ethan Escalante returned the favor, snagging an errant throw and returning it to the Razorbacks' 47-yard-line. From that point on, it was all Greenwood.
It started with the GHS offense engineering a rapid seven-play drive to retake the lead for good. Kenny Wood ran three times for 18 yards to the 29, before QB Luke Hales kept the ball to the 24. Noland replaced Hales and ran the keeper again before being dragged down from behind by a horse collar tackle, drawing a flag on Texarkana.
On the next play from the 11-yard-line, Wood rambled to the 1, then got a second chance and scored the touchdown. The kick by Ennis was good and the Bulldogs led 14-10 early in the second quarter. The rally didn't end until Greenwood had scored on six consecutive possessions stretching into the second half.
The next score came just over 1½ minutes later after sophomore Aaron Ohl blocked a Texarkana punt, giving the Bulldogs the football at the visitors' 8-yard-line. Three plays later, Connor Noland scored on a 1-yard QB keeper around left end. The extra point made the score 21-10.
Special teams' play accounted for the next Greenwood touchdown. After the home defense forced the Razorbacks to punt from their own 30, Ethan Escalante fielded the kick at the Bulldogs' 31 and raced down his own sideline for a touchdown, cutting back behind a key downfield block for the score. Ennis added the extra point for a 28-10 lead.
The defense gave up a first down on Texarkana's next possession, but soon forced another punt, giving Greenwood the ball at its own 23. The result was another scoring drive, this one requiring 10 plays, only one of which was a pass. Noland completed an 8-yard toss to Josh Barlow, while Kenny Wood and Marc Jones did the rest. Jones and Wood both ran four times, each one for 32 yards. Wood scored on a 10-yard run, and Ennis added the point after touchdown.
With 4:11 left in the first half, the Bulldogs led 35-10, but weren't done scoring yet. Another three-and-out by the GHS defense put the ball back into the hands of the offense very quickly. After a loss on first down, the home team found itself at its own 24.
A pass from Hales to Barlow gained 11 yards to the 35, then a pass interference call moved the ball to the 50. On the next play, Hales dumped a screen pass to Wood, who followed his blockers down the home sideline. When the defense converged on him just inside the Texarkana 35, he hesitated long enough for his teammates to clear a lane for him to accelerate untouched to the end zone.
The extra point by Grant Ennis was good for a 42-10 Greenwood lead, but there was more action to come in the final 1:42 of the half. Back on offense, Texarkana had a long gain wiped out by a holding penalty, leading to yet another punt. But a fumble on the punt return gave the ball back to the Razorbacks at the Greenwood 48 with 25 seconds left.
On first down the visitors completed a long pass to the 13, calling time with nine seconds left. Another pass reached the 1, but the receiver couldn't crack the end zone, forcing a final timeout with one tick remaining. Disdaining the field goal, the Razorbacks tried to run it in, but the GHS defense stuffed the play and kept the halftime score at 42-10.
The Bulldogs added two more second half scores, including on their first possession. The visitors received the opening kick, but were forced to punt. The GHS offense then took over at its own 42 and needed just seven plays to score again and invoke the mercy rule for the first time this season.
On the drive, Kenny Wood ran three times for 11 yards, and Luke Hales completed three of four passes, two of which went to junior receiver Brayden Cullen for 29 yards. From the visitors' 18-yard-line, Hales then lofted a touch pass over the head of the defensive back to senior receiver Devin Gilbert at the goal line. With his back to the end zone, Gilbert leapt high and hauled in a one-handed grab for the score. Ennis added the extra point for a 49-10 GHS lead.
The final Bulldogs' touchdown was scored by the defense when sophomore Trey Woods returned an interception 19 yards for six points in the final seconds of the third quarter. The extra point try was blocked, making the score 55-19.
With the clock running almost continuously, the final 12 minutes slipped by quickly, with the Bulldogs resting their starters and getting some playing time for their reserves. But even the second unit defense was up to the task, turning back Texarkana's final scoring threat with five minutes left to play.
As with Greenwood's previous wins, Head Coach Rick Jones expressed some concern about his team's mistakes, particularly turnovers. “We gave up big plays,” said Jones of his defense. “It was not very pretty early. We did do some positive things, but two turnovers just isn’t going to get it done.
“Our kicking game and our defense scored, so that kind of made up for it,” he added. “The kicking game made two big plays in the first half, and I was proud of our defense for getting a pick six. We got some stops, we got the blocked punt and got a return, so I was proud of the kids.
"Texarkana exploited some of the things we have to get a lot better at,” said the coach. "They have a young, fast team, and the thing you don't want to do is give them any hope at all. They have some weapons, and they utilized them. Their big receiver – we had a hard time with him. We needed a ladder to get up there [with him]. But we're 1-0 in conference, and we're happy with that. We'll take 24 hours to enjoy this, and get ready to go to work."
Offensively, Jones did like what he saw from the running game. "We were struggling doing some things we wanted to do,” he said. “We ran it, obviously, [and] we ran it well. Our [offensive] line is getting better and better. I was proud of the way they blocked."
Kenny Wood led Greenwood’s 386-yard attack with 17 carries for over 111 yards and two touchdowns, and also hauled in two passes for 60 yards and another score. Marc Jones rushed eight times for 41 yards. Luke Hales was six of nine passing for 118 yards and two TDs. Connor Noland completed two throws for 50 yards and one score. Hales also had one reception for 42 yards.
"We got rolling there [offensively]," said Jones. "But [the Razorbacks] are really fast, and you can't keep [them] blocked very long. Kenny has just done better and better, finding the hole and being patient. I thought he made a couple of great runs tonight. I'm really proud of [him]."
On defense, Jones said, "Coach [Jason] Gill and Coach [Kenneth] Chick do a really nice job of communication between the box and the sideline. Our defensive guys do a nice job adjusting what they're doing." Chick and Gill serve as the Bulldogs' co-defensive coordinators.
Finally, Jones talked about this week's long road trip to El Dorado in South Arkansas. It's a big early conference showdown between two tradition-rich football powers. "It's all good," he said. "We get to take a nice bus ride. It's a beautiful part of the country and we're looking forward to it.
"We know El Dorado is a tough, physical football team. [Scott Reed] does a great job coaching them, and we have to make sure we're ready to play a great game and not be all involved in the trip." The last time the two teams met, the Wildcats (2-2) knocked the Bulldogs out of the playoffs in 2014, winning at Smith-Robinson Stadium, 24-14.
The Bulldogs won't play at home again until October 14th when they host Russellville on Homecoming night. They travel to Siloam Springs next week. Like Greenwood, both the Cyclones and Panthers opened league play last week with wins.