The clock is ticking on the 2023 football season for the Greenwood Bulldogs who host the Pioneers of Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Friday night at Smith-Robinson Stadium. It will be the second meeting of the two powerhouse teams, the first encounter won by Stillwater last season, 41-27. Both teams went on to reach their respective Class 6A state finals. The Pioneers then completed an unbeaten season (14-0) and won their state championship while the Bulldogs lost to Pulaski Academy and finished 10-3 on the season. Kickoff Friday is set for 8 p.m. due to the excessive heat.
The ‘Dogs have been practicing since July 31st and will complete their pre-season workouts this week, which will see the summer’s hottest weather so far with temperatures reaching above 100 degrees every day, including gameday. Greenwood also hosted Fayetteville a week ago in their annual pre-season scrimmage, a 21-7 win for the home team. Head Coach Chris Young recently talked about the scrimmage and the proposed lineup for Friday’s season debut.
Young is entering his fourth year as head coach and has led each of his previous three teams to the state finals, winning it all in 2020. His 2023 squad is one of the favorites to compete for the championship again, but some of the state’s toughest competition will come from within Greenwood’s own 6A West conference. Both Pulaski Academy, last year’s champion, and Little Rock Christian are expected to stake their own claims to the title. Most pundits have that trio of teams ranked as their top three in Class 6A.
As for last week’s scrimmage, Fayetteville made a lot of mistakes in the first half when both varsity squads were competing head-to-head, but at least some of those errors were caused by Greenwood’s veteran defense with nine returning starters from last season. Altogether, the Bulldogs had four interceptions and a fumble recovery, holding Fayetteville’s highly touted quarterback, senior Drake Lindsey, to miniscule passing numbers. He threw for over 3,700 yards last season.
A member of Arkansas’ legendary Lindsey sports family, Drake has committed to playing college football for the Minnesota Gophers. His grandfather, Jim, played running back for head coach Frank Broyles and the 1964 national champion Razorbacks, along with football legends Barry Switzer, Jimmy Johnson, Jerry Jones, and Ken Hatfield.
“Obviously our strength was defensively,” said Coach Young of the scrimmage. “Fayetteville’s got a Division I quarterback and two receivers that can really run, and I thought we gave them fits all night long. It started up front with Cash [Archer] and [Brady] Pettigrew. Those guys got to the quarterback all [scrimmage] long and caused a lot of problems. We [also] covered [well] in the secondary. [Landon] Nelms got the big pick six early on. He made a great break on the ball. They got behind us a couple times, but both those [receivers] can fly, so that’s going to happen. That’s an area we’ve got to work on.
“But overall, I was very pleased with our first defense. [Fayetteville] didn’t score on [them], but we took them out with about a minute left in the second quarter. We brought in 11 new guys and that’s when Fayetteville scored. So we want to see those guys play better. We’ve got to create some depth by having our [#2 defense] play better. I [also] thought we tackled well for our first time live and played the ball well in the air and controlled the line-of-scrimmage,” said Young.
Greenwood scored after a long opening drive on a toss from sophomore quarterback Kane Archer to senior running back Brayedan Davis, who caught the short pass and streaked down the GHS sideline for the touchdown. Senior kicker Bodey Steinfeldt added the first of his three extra points. Moments later, Nelms made a textbook move on the ball and intercepted a pass, returning it the other way for the game’s second TD. A short time after that, linebacker Zach Edwards also recovered a Fayetteville fumble. It was 14-0 after the first period.
In the Fayetteville red zone in the second quarter, Archer connected with Isaiah Arrington on another short toss that the junior receiver somehow jitterbugged into another GHS score. Steinfeldt’s point after kick was good for a 21-0 hometown lead. Also in the first half, defensive back Zack Zitzmann nabbed a second GHS interception and backup running back Isaiah Niles was assisted off the field with an apparent knee injury, the extent of which was not known at the time of this interview.
Fayetteville finally scored its only touchdown late in the first half against Greenwood’s #2 defense on a long pass play with 23 seconds left in the second quarter. The second half then went by rather quickly with the clock running continuously and both teams’ junior varsity players on the field most of the time. Neither team scored in the second half, but Greenwood had two more defensive highlights, both interceptions, one by lineman Devon Graham and the other by linebacker Cash Owenby.
“Offensively, we started with a long drive – I’m not sure how many plays – and finished with a touchdown, which was a great start,” said Young. “Then we get a pick six and score again, so we started really fast. But we slowed down and missed some throws with our young quarterback. That’s going to happen early on. But I was disappointed with how we finished the game. We made first downs and moved the ball, but we made mistakes – a couple false start penalties, we missed some deep throws to guys that were open, and we dropped a couple [passes] late.
“But there were some bright spots,” continued the coach. “[Receivers] L.J. Robins, Isaiah Arrington, and Grant Karnes are going to be as good as anybody we see. We’ve just got to do a better job of getting the ball in their hands in space so they can make plays. I thought Brayedan Davis was good for his first game at running back. I think he will continue to improve the more playing time he gets. We’ve got to get better on the offensive line – our left tackle was out,” referring to junior Christian Fleming, sidelined with a minor injury.
Joining Fleming on the sideline were fellow injured Bulldogs Peyton Presson, Braden Skaggs, and Eli Whitaker, all seniors and all projected starters this season. According to their head coach, all four should return to the lineup sooner rather than later, although one or more of them could miss Friday’s home opener. Presson is Greenwood’s top possession receiver, Skaggs is a member of the GHS starting secondary, and Whitaker is a fixture at linebacker. “Without four starters I thought we did some good stuff,” said Young. “All those guys will be back, it’s just a matter of when.”
Asked to summarize his thoughts concerning the scrimmage and his team’s need for improvements, the coach said, “We’ve got to get better on the offensive line. We’ve got a quarterback that can make things happen, but we’ve got to give him time. We’ve got to be more physical running the football, getting some creases for Brayedan. We really think he can be a good running back, but we’ve got to give him that opportunity. Those are the biggest things up front.
“Quarterback play has got to improve. He’s got to be consistent, but he’s young,” said the coach of starter Kane Archer. “We’ll see big jumps for him every time he gets to play. That kind of scrimmage is not his game. He makes stuff happen when the play breaks down, and obviously we’re trying to protect the quarterback, so they aren’t live [and can’t be tackled].”
Young was also impressed by the play of backup quarterback, Cooper Goodwin, another promising sophomore. “I thought he played great,” said Young. “Cooper is a kid we have a ton of confidence in. He’s a sophomore like Kane and needs time to develop. Kane had the advantage of being with us last year, but Cooper has done awesome. I thought he threw the ball great the whole scrimmage. He’s getting better every day.
“Defensively, stopping the run is big for us and eliminating those deep balls. [Fayetteville] got behind us a few times and fortunately [for us] they missed the throw, but we can’t count on that. We’ve got to keep those [receivers] in front of us,” said the coach, who then proceeded to name his starters and some of his top reserves for the season.
“At receiver right now we’ll probably go with Isaiah Arrington, L.J. Robins, Noah Chaser, and Evan Reed will fill in for Peyton Presson until he gets back [from injury]. Noah can play all four positions, so he will rotate with all those guys. Reed is more of a blocker, but those guys will fill in for Peyton, with Grant Karnes as our fourth receiver. Arrington and Karnes are the only underclassmen among that group.
“Brayedan Davis is at running back with Kane [Archer] at quarterback,” said the coach. Davis is a senior and Archer is the highly touted sophomore who saw significant playing time last season after garnering national attention in junior high, playing for the Kansas City Outlaws. Davis will be backed up by senior Isaiah Niles [when healthy] and sophomore Wesley Raggio. Coach Young added that L.J. Robins and Grant Karnes could get some carries later in the season as well. As mentioned above, Archer is ably backed up by Cooper Goodwin.
“We’ve got some competition at left tackle,” said Young. “We’re rotating Elijah Caraway, a senior, and Landon Billy, a sophomore. They’re filling in for Christian Fleming who is out [with an injury]. Our left guard is Cody Taylor, our center is Ryan Shortes, our right guard is Brett Woolsey, and at right tackle is Ashton Stein.” Of those names, Caraway, Shortes, and Woolsey are seniors. Taylor, who started at times last season as a freshman, is the biggest of the bunch at 6’2”, 275 pounds. Woolsey weighs in at 260 pounds.
“On defense the front three will be Brady Pettigrew, Brendan Chick, and Cash Archer,” continued the coach. Pettigrew and Chick are both seniors. “At linebacker is Riley White, Kaleb Garner, and Eli Whitaker,” all seniors, “and [junior] Zack Edwards will rotate with all three of those guys. At cornerback will be [seniors] Landon and Caden Nelms [no relation]. Kaylor Jasna will play some at corner and some at safety. He can play anywhere for us in the secondary. All three of our safeties are back – Josh Allen, Brady Mackey, and Braden Skaggs.” Jasna is a junior while the others are all seniors. “Skaggs is out right now, and [junior] Zack Zitzmann is filling in for him and had a great scrimmage. He’s really come on in fall camp and we’re excited about him.”
“Our special teams we feel really good about,” Young added. “Jack Edwards is a great snapper, as good as there is, and Landon Nelms our punter is back, and Bodey Steinfeldt is back as our kicker, so we feel good about the kicking game.” All three of those players are returning seniors.
“Our overall speed and athleticism are better than in the past, but we’re still a little undersized, which scares [us],” said the coach. “We watched Stillwater [against Bentonville] last night and they just line up and run downhill right at you. But most of the teams in our league are not like that, but that will be a challenge, stopping the run up front.”
When asked about up-and-coming sophomores, Coach Young said, “We’ll find some surprises. Wesley Raggio is one that’s going to have to play just because we’re a little thin at running back. Cody Johnson is a defensive end we think is going to be a really good player. He’s just young right now, but he’s got a great frame on him. We kind of want to protect those sophomores right now.” Akira Fujibayashi is another talented sophomore who is the team’s backup center.
“Stillwater is very impressive,” said the coach of Greenwood’s first opponent. “They tied Bentonville, 14-14, and we all know how good Bentonville is. [Stillwater] is huge up front and has a great running back that missed last year with an injury, and all three of their receivers are back. They are very unique defensively and do a lot of different stuff, so it’s going to be a challenge. They’ve got some really good football players and they are a lot bigger than we are.”
So, it all begins for real on Friday night at home against the Pioneers, and you can bet the Bulldogs want to avenge last year’s 14-point loss. A trip to Fort Smith Northside follows in week two before the start of 6A West conference play on the road at Mountain Home on September 8th. Greenwood will play eight league contests, but the serious competition is at the end of the schedule when the Bulldogs play Pulaski Academy and Little Rock Christian on consecutive weeks to end the regular season. But gridiron action is just around the corner, Bulldogs’ fans, so be patient and get ready for another great ride!