They had a successful scrimmage at Fayetteville last Tuesday and now the start of the 2022 season is less than a week away for the Greenwood Bulldogs. On Friday they open at Stillwater, Oklahoma, and the Pioneers are probably one of the two toughest opponents on their schedule. Their other non-conference contest will be the home opener on September 2nd at Smith-Robinson Stadium against the Fort Smith Northside Grizzlies. Conference play in the 6A West begins September 9th at home against Mountain Home, and they will play eight league games in 2022.
Asked about his impression of last Tuesday’s scrum at Fayetteville, Head Coach Chris Young said, “We played well. Offensively, we had six possessions with the varsity, the first group, and we scored on four of those. We stalled out inside the 10 twice and kicked field goals. Obviously, we would have liked touchdowns there, but Steven Duran got some experience kicking field goals. He was two for two.”
A senior, Duran is battling junior Bodey Steinfeldt for the starting kicker position, though the younger Bulldog was held out of the scrimmage as a precautionary measure. “Bodey had a bit of a strain, so we held him out,” said the coach. “Steven kicked off and kicked field goals for us, but that’s an area we’ve got to get better at with both those guys. One of them may win both jobs or one may do kickoffs and the other field goals.
“That’s an ongoing battle for the next couple weeks. We’ve got to coach them better and get them some more reps. I think we’ll see them develop as the season goes on. [Junior] Landon Nelms is punting for us right now. Landon had a good fall camp. It’s new for him, but he’s got a big, strong leg. He’s just got to practice and get better,” added Young.
Of course, much of the excitement surrounding the GHS program this season is the presence of senior quarterback Hunter Houston and the freshman phenom Kane Archer, ranked among the nation’s top QB prospects in the 2026 class. But it was Houston that took most of the reps against the Purple Dogs last Tuesday, while Archer sat out to rest his throwing shoulder and learn by watching.
“I thought our quarterback (Houston) played really well,” said his head coach. “He missed a couple throws early, but really settled in and was efficient throughout the [scrimmage]. He made good decisions. I think with Hunter the sky is the limit. He’s throwing the ball well, making great decisions, and encouraging his teammates. He’s vocal out there. We’ve really been happy with him. He’s the leader of our offense.
“The good thing is he’s got so many weapons at running back and receiver to get the ball to them in space, and we have guys to make plays after they get the ball. It gives us a chance to be really good.” The Bulldogs also played senior Storm Scherrey at QB during the scrimmage as the team’s #3 signal caller. Before moving to safety, Scherrey played quarterback in junior high and early in his varsity career.
As for the ninth grader, Kane Archer, Young said, “We’ve been resting him. He’s had a little soreness in his arm and hasn’t practiced in a while, but he’s back now and had a good practice yesterday [Thursday]. He’s a young guy and he’s going to get a lot better as the year goes on, but he’s got to learn our offense and terminology. There’s quite a difference between a Friday night high school game and junior high. We expect he’s going to be a good player for us, but there will be some growing pains along the way.
Regarding all those offensive weapons Young mentioned, five of them are at receiver, each one capable of doing something special on any given Friday night. “We spread the ball around a lot,” said Young. “[Sophomore] Grant Karnes had a big [scrimmage]. He caught a touchdown pass, broke a couple tackles, and caught two other deep balls. I think he had over 100 yards receiving in the first half.
“L.J. Robins, Aiden Kennon, Peyton Presson, and Noah Chaser – all five of those guys are really our four starters. We’re going to rotate those five guys with our first group, and they were all able to get the ball and make some plays [at Fayetteville]. We’re excited about those guys, and four of them will be back next year. Aiden is the only senior.
“Peyton has just gotten better every practice,” said Young of his tallest receiver at six-feet-two. “He played a little bit last year, but he’s an athlete we don’t see in the off-season because he’s in basketball. But since he’s been back, he’s worked hard in the weight room. He’s really improved his route running and his ability to go up and get the ball. He’s locked down that position. He’s our starter at outside receiver on the right, and he had four or five catches in the scrimmage. He will be a big part of our offense.
“I think all five [of them] will have games where they have over 100 yards receiving. Grant had the big scrimmage Tuesday, over 100 yards at outside receiver on the left. But we’re really good at taking what the defense gives us. The first game [the defense] may focus on [Karnes] and open things up for L.J., Kennon, Presson, or Chaser. We think all five of those guys will have big games at times.”
Asked about his team’s best deep threat at receiver, Young said, “I think Grant [Karnes] is the guy who can really get up and go. L.J. has good speed and is tough after the catch, and Aiden Kennon at 225 pounds is a load to bring down once we get the ball in his hands. Noah Chaser has also come on speed wise. He ran track last year and we’ve seen tremendous strides in his speed, and now he’s becoming a great route runner. He’s got to get more physical and get stronger, but he’s just a junior.”
Last season the running back position looked loaded, but by season’s end had been decimated by injuries. Two of those backs return for their senior seasons and hope to avoid the injury bug that bit them last year. Jake Glover was having a great junior campaign until a mid-season leg injury ended his participation prematurely. Likewise, Javon Williamson was very effective when he played, but the 2021 junior had a hard time staying on the field with multiple nagging injuries until his season ended in the state semifinals. They are joined in the 2022 backfield by two more capable backs, both juniors, Brayedan Davis and Carson Hobbs.
“At running back, Jake Glover and Brayeden Davis both got a lot of carries,” said Young of Tuesday’s scrimmage. “Coming off an injury, it was good to see Jake back out there and doing well. He’s going to continue to get better, just like Javon Williamson, as they get bigger, stronger, and healthier. But both [Glover and Davis] are full go right now. We held Javon out of the scrimmage. He’s coming back from major surgery, and we wanted to limit his hits as much as we can. We just felt like it was the right decision at the time.”
Asked to further scrutinize his running backs, Young started with the newcomer Davis as a compliment to the returning senior Glover. “We moved him from linebacker. He’s a smaller guy, and very similar to Jake. He’s explosive with good speed and strong for his size. We think he’s really going to help us this year. He’s protected the ball and he sees things really well.
“Javon [Williamson] is a little bigger back with great speed. We’re just going slow with him and will put him in there a little at a time and make sure he’s ready, because we’re going to need him in the long run. Then [Carson] Hobbs is a junior who started for the junior varsity last year and will start again this year, but he’ll play a lot on Friday nights too. He’s a smart kid, does a good job protecting the ball, and is good in pass protection. So we feel good about our running backs,” said Young.
“Brayden [Davis] broke a long run at the end of the first half against [Fayetteville]. He made a good cut and broke about a 40-yard run. But the running game was an area that we’ve got to do a better job up front to create some room. We’ve got some backs that can go, but we didn’t give them very good holes the other night.”
Of course, all those offensive tools are of little use if the big boys up front don’t do their jobs, and the Bulldogs have a solid foundation upon which to build, and plenty of size as well. “Our offensive line has two returners, Ryan Shortes (5’10”, 270) and Hayden Webb (6’, 310), with Cooper Young (6’4”, 240), who started a couple games last year.” Webb and Young are seniors while Shortes is a junior.
“Those three are starting right now,” continued Cooper’s dad. “We’ve got a battle at left guard between [junior] Brett Woolsey (6’, 265) and Cody Taylor (6’3”, 270), a ninth grader. We split reps with those two guys. I expect they will both play at some point. At right tackle is Ashton Stein (6’4”, 240), a sophomore. We’ve got to get better at those two spots. We’ve got some young guys that need more experience. I think we’ll see the offensive line get better as the year progresses.”
Ashton Stein is the younger brother of former GHS lineman Braden Stein and the third in a line of three Stein brothers who have played for the Bulldogs. “It’s hard to start as a sophomore on the offensive line,” admitted Young. “He’ll make some mistakes. But he’s a big strong kid and he will get better. It’s the same with Cody Taylor. Being a ninth grader, we’ll see some improvement. There will be growing pains with those guys, but we do have three [starters] back that can help these young guys develop as the year goes on. And I think we’re blessed with a great offensive line coach.”
As for depth on the O-line, the coach named one sophomore and two juniors. “[Sophomore] Christian Fleming, Isaiah Niles, and Devon Graham can provide some depth. We’re not real deep on the offensive line, so we need to keep those guys healthy. We’ve got six guys for five spots and backups behind those guys. They are a big group, but they’ve got to get mean. We can also get quicker [off the ball]. As the year goes on, they will get bigger, faster, and stronger.”
Asked about protecting the quarterback during the scrimmage, Young gave a positive report. “They gave up one sack, so we were very happy with pass protection. But we weren’t very physical in the run game. That’s an area of improvement we’re going to stress this next week. We’ve got to get more physical. But they pass protected well. They got a hat on a hat and picked up the stunts.”
The third-year GHS head coach then turned his attention to the defense, with only three players returning from 2021. “Defensively, the thing we’re worried about early in the year is tackling. We don’t tackle live in practice. Teams have different philosophies. Some teams tackle live all the time. But we don’t go live very often. We do what we call “stud” where they kind of hit with their chest but don’t take guys to the ground. We think that helps us limit the injuries in practice. But our guys came out and tackled well against an explosive Fayetteville team with some good athletes, especially our first group. They gave up one touchdown and our second group gave up one touchdown. So, I was really impressed with them flying around, tackling, and limiting the big play,” said Young.
The strength of the 2022 defense for the Bulldogs could be in the secondary. “We’ve got four guys we’re rotating at three spots, which is nice because we can give them a break when we need to,” explained the coach. “We’ve got Braden Skaggs, Josh Allen, Brady Mackey, and Storm Scherrey. All four of those guys we consider as starters, and all four are really good football players for us.” Scherrey is the only senior while the others are juniors. The senior also started last year until he was lost to injury and season-ending surgery in week six.
“We play a three safety system, and we play four guys at those three spots (Skaggs, Mackey, Allen, Scherrey). At the corners we’ve got [junior] Landon Nelms and [senior] Brett Wood. Those are our starters, and [junior] Caden Nelms is rotating in with those guys.” Woods was moved from receiver to the secondary in the off-season.
“[Senior] Evan Williams is back at middle linebacker after a big year [in 2021],” said Young. “He had shoulder surgery in the off-season, but he’s back healthy and physical. [Juniors] Eli Whitaker and Riley White are our other linebackers.
“[Junior] Kaleb Garner is another linebacker that will really hit. We’ve just got to get him more consistent. Zack Zitsman and Zach Edwards are sophomores and they’re learning right now, but they are going to be good football players for us. Coach [Jason] Gill does a great job adjusting our personnel based on who we’re playing [against],” said Young. Gill is the team’s highly respected defensive coordinator.
Throughout the off-season Young and his staff were concerned about replacing several members of the defensive line lost to graduation. The Head Coach also had to hire a new D-line coach after the departure of longtime assistant Brandon Elmore. Enter first-year rookie coach Hunter Moreton, the younger brother of GHS offensive line coach Austin Moreton. Both brothers played at Fort Smith Southside and started at Arkansas State University, Austin on the offensive line and Hunter on the defensive line.
“Hunter has great knowledge, but he’s a young coach, and like young players, there are things he’s got to learn and things he will get better at as the year goes on,” said Young. “He’s related really well to the kids. They know he has great knowledge of the position, especially fundamentals and technique. I think he’s really going to help our defensive line.
“Up front we’ve got [junior] Brady Pettigrew and [senior] Tanner McKusker, two guys we know are going to be there right now. But we’ve got competition for the third spot with Cash Archer, Cameron Green, Logan Taylor, and Brendan Chick. They are competing for playing time. That was an area we were worried about, but we’ve been really happy with Brady and Tanner up front. We’ve just got to find a couple more guys to go with them.”
Archer is a sophomore and the older brother of quarterback Kane Archer, while Green and Chick are juniors and Taylor is a senior move-in, the older brother of freshman lineman Cody Taylor. McKusker was also converted from receiver to shore up the depleted defensive line.
“I’m pleased with their progress, but we still have a long way to go,” offered the coach. “They’re getting better but people are going to attack us up front. Pettigrew and Tanner will have to continue to get better, but some of those others are going to have to step up. They’ve got to get bigger and stronger. We’re a little light there compared to what we’ve had in the past, and that could give us problems against a team like Lake Hamilton.” The Wolves are known for their powerful ground attack.
The coach was also asked about two very late staff changes, both on the junior high level with the sudden departure of freshmen head coach Shannon Rhea, who has moved to Bentonville. Junior high offensive coordinator Luke Hales was given the battlefield promotion earlier this month. Hales is only in his second year as a professional coach, but played quarterback for the Bulldogs and at the University of Central Arkansas.
“I’m thrilled with that,” said Young of Hales’ new job. “I’ve known Luke for a long time, coming through our system as a player, and kept up with him at UCA. I’m really impressed with the way he’s handles himself. He’s got great knowledge as a young coach, and he sees things the same way I do offensively. Luke was a natural fit to take over that program. He’s very organized. He’s going to be a great football coach.”
The move left an opening on the four-man junior high staff, but it turns out that the perfect fit was already employed by the district as a teacher. Former GHS two-sport athlete Easton Barrett did his student teaching last spring at Greenwood and was later hired as a teacher at East Hills Middle School. Barrett was a former backup quarterback and played baseball for the Bulldogs half a decade ago.
“Easton is another young guy on staff that’s been through the program,” said Young. “He was hired to be an assistant football and baseball coach. He’s been in our program and knows our expectations. He can relate to the kids really well and understands what they are going through. Easton is going to get better every week he’s out here.”
As for the unexpected resignation of Coach Rhea, Young said, “Coach Rhea was great for our program. He won his last 20 games in a row. He did a great job. He’s a great man and I’ve coached with him for a long time. We wish him well.” Coach Rhea has family connections in Bentonville, which played into his decision to leave Greenwood.
Regarding the health of his team, Young said, “Knock on wood, we’ve been very healthy. Our numbers are down a little bit this year. Everybody’s numbers are down. It’s a statewide issue, probably a nationwide issue with Covid and everything. It’s also hard to get up at six in the morning and go practice and lift weights, and practice when it’s 100 degrees outside. It takes a special young man to stick with it.” So staying healthy will be huge for the Bulldogs, especially after the injury-plagued season that was 2021.
The coach also addressed the 100th anniversary of GHS football in 2022. “I’ve been fortunate to be involved in this program for 23 years with so many great coaches, players, administrators, and parents. The thing that’s special about Greenwood football is the way they support our kids and coaches. It’s exciting that this is the 100th year. There’s been a lot of people who came before us to make it possible for us to have what we have today. So anything we can do to say thanks to them or celebrate them, we want to do that.”
Finally, Young addressed some of the changes at Smith-Robinson Stadium this coming season, including a new visitor side press box currently under construction. “We’re fortunate to do that, to get some more people out of our press box and free up some [space]. That’s something the average fan won’t necessarily notice or benefit from, but it will help with our filming, coaches, and administration people [and local media] who use the press box.”
Another change that fans will certainly notice will occur after every Bulldogs’ touchdown, with the addition of a new lighting system that has proven popular at other schools in the state. Besides the traditional fireworks and firing the canon, a light show will also spice up Greenwood’s football Friday nights.
“We love Smith-Robinson Stadium, and we just hope it’s packed on Friday nights,” said Young. “We’re fortunate. Our community comes out and supports us. We just ask that as many people as possible come out and watch our games. They truly help us win and make the experience better for our [players] and students. We hope to see everybody at Smith-Robinson Stadium when we open against [Fort Smith] Northside on September 2nd.”