The Greenwood Bulldogs improved to 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in 6A West conference play last Friday night with a 44-27 victory on the road at El Dorado. It was the fourth consecutive win for the ‘Dogs after their season-opening loss at Fort Smith Northside, and career win 298 for Head Coach Rick Jones.
The road trip to extreme South Arkansas was by far the longest excursion of the season for Greenwood – over 210 miles – requiring much of the day to get there in time to prep for the 7 p.m. kickoff. The contest was seen by many observers as an early barometer of where both teams stood in the league race. Hooten’s Arkansas Football magazine had the Bulldogs as slight three-point favorites.
The Wildcats, under Head Coach Scott Reed, won four state titles in five years (2009-13), but have watched Greenwood become the more dominant team since moving up to Class 6A in 2012. The defending state champions, the Bulldogs are hoping to repeat this season despite losing a wealth of talent to graduation.
“El Dorado has a good-looking football team,” said Coach Jones before the game. “They’ve got three huge offensive linemen and two average size linemen, and their defensive front is big and strong, with big linebackers and a big secondary. Offensively they are very physical and tough. It’s going to be a challenge.
“They’re not intimidated,” he added. “Scott is one of the best coaches in Arkansas, and he does a great job with his kids. They are well-disciplined. They play good, hard, clean football. Defensively, they’re going to be very aggressive and get after us, and we’ve got to be ready to handle the pressure.”
Regarding the long trip on game day, Jones was philosophical. “It’s just one of the joys of being a high school football coach, jumping in an old yellow bus and just driving forever. But that’s part of it. We don’t have charter planes or anything like that,” he joked. “We just jumped on the bus and ate our Chick-fil-a sandwiches on the way and had a big time. We just enjoyed being with our guys.
“When [players] look back at their high school years, one of the things they will remember is those bus trips. But when the game [begins], it really doesn’t matter. The field is still 100 yards long, so it’s going to be fine.” The coach also explained that renting charter buses for the long trip was prohibitively expensive.
The Bulldogs kicked off to start the contest and the GHS defense came up with a quick stop, forcing the Wildcats to punt, giving Greenwood the football at its own 32-yard-line. It didn’t take long for the offense to get going.
On second down, senior quarterback Peyton Holt ran for 58 yards to the El Dorado 10-yard-line, setting up the Bulldogs’ first scoring chance. Sophomore running back Hunter Wilkinson ran for three yards, then caught a pass that reached the 1-yard-line. He carried in for the score on the next snap. Senior kicker Grant Ennis added the extra point for a 7-0 Greenwood lead (8:23).
The home team threatened to score on its next possession, driving from the Wildcats’ 29 to the GHS 15. But good defense by the Bulldogs and a holding penalty pushed El Dorado back to the 38. The ‘Cats recovered somewhat, reaching the 16, but on fourth down missed a 33-yard field goal.
The two teams then traded punts before the Bulldogs put together their next scoring march. From their own 34 they needed six plays to reach the El Dorado 44 before the first quarter ended.
Facing fourth-and-one to start the second stanza, Greenwood moved the sticks after Holt ran for six yards to the 38. Three rushing plays and two El Dorado penalties later, the ‘Dogs had a first down at the 18. Holt then lofted a nicely thrown ball into the end zone for sophomore receiver Treyton Dawson, who leapt high to make the touchdown catch despite being well-covered by a defender. Ennis added the extra point (9:48).
Leading 14-0, the GHS defense continued to play well. Senior defensive lineman Morgan Hanna and junior teammate Coleton Erwin combined for a big sack of El Dorado quarterback Alex Hicks at the 8-yard-line, forcing another Wildcats’ punt to the GHS 35.
The quick-strike Greenwood offense immediately went for the deep ball, with Holt throwing long to Dawson over the middle, who made the catch near the El Dorado 35 before getting a step and racing ahead for the score. Ennis added the extra point and the visitors led 21-0 with 7:40 left in the first half.
But the Wildcats weren’t out of it yet. Back on offense, Hicks commanded a 10-play, 83-yard drive that culminated with his 12-yard TD run. The PAT cut the Greenwood advantage to 21-7 (3:44).
The Bulldogs added three more points just before the half on a 28-yard field goal by Ennis. The score was set up by a 23-yard pass completion from Holt to Dawson and a personal foul penalty on the Wildcats after an 8-yard run by Holt. At the break Greenwood led 24-7.
The opening kick of the second half featured a reverse handoff by the Bulldogs, but the possession ended with an interception by the Wildcats. El Dorado then went three-and-out, giving Greenwood the ball again at midfield.
From their own 48, the Bulldogs needed 11 plays to reach the end zone for the fourth time in the game. The biggest plays of the drive included a third-and-long pass to sophomore Lazaro Angel for a first down and a 13-yard reception by senior Luke Leonard at the El Dorado 18.
The offense kept the ball on the ground on five of the next six snaps, but did pick up a first down on a pass completion to Leonard at the 7-yard-line. Wilkinson scored from inside the one on fourth-and-goal with 4:24 left in the third quarter. Ennis added the extra point for a 31-7 GHS lead.
Perhaps feeling the desperation of the big deficit, the Wildcats went to the air immediately on their next possession, and it worked. On second down from the El Dorado 24, Hicks tossed a deep ball that was caught behind the GHS defense for a touchdown. The extra point made the score 31-14 (2:43) with just under 15 minutes to play.
But the Bulldogs had two more scores left in them, and found most of their success through the air, throwing on four of the five plays in their next touchdown drive. Holt threw to Leonard for seven yards, to Wilkinson for 16 yards, and to Dawson for six, reaching the El Dorado 41.
The ‘Dogs went deep again on the next snap, with Holt perfectly leading Leonard as he streaked down the visitors’ sideline. The senior bobbled the ball at first, but finally pulled it in, coming up just short of the touchdown at the 1-yard-line. Wilkinson carried in for the score on the next play.
Grant Ennis then added the extra point with 1:41 left in the third quarter, setting a new state record for career scoring by a kicker with 225 points, surpassing North Little Rock’s female kicker Savanna Melton, who just set the state record last year.
Ironically, three GHS kickers are among the state’s top four in single season scoring. Adam McFain (111 points in 2011) is first, Ennis is second with 107 points last year, followed by Kyle Magrini, who is fourth with 97 points during the 2000 championship season. Ennis has 37 points so far this season.
Holding a 38-14 advantage with just over one quarter to play, the Bulldogs felt safe, but El Dorado didn’t make it easy, reaching the end zone twice more in the fourth stanza to at least make the score more respectable.
But those scores came only after Greenwood put the proverbial nail in the Wildcats’ coffin after a failed fake punt gave the Bulldogs the football at the home 22-yard-line on the first play of the fourth quarter.
On third down from the 19, Holt threw to Wilkinson for a first down at the El Dorado 7-yard-line. Senior Marc Jones ran twice and Wilkinson once, but the Bulldogs faced fourth and goal at the two before Holt took the snap and ran right, diving for the pylon and the touchdown at the 8:07 mark. The snap was bobbled, nixing the extra point.
Trailing 44-14, the Wildcats marched 80 yards for their next touchdown, which came on a seven-yard run, then added the PAT. Their final touchdown was something of a gift after a bobbled snap on a punt attempt from the GHS end zone allowed El Dorado to scoop and score with 2:56 remaining.
The Wildcats failed on a two-point attempt, and likewise came up short on the subsequent on-side kick attempt, recovered by Greenwood’s Treyton Dawson, sealing the 44-27 win for the Bulldogs.
Though not entirely pleased with everything he saw during the game, Coach Jones was happy with the “W” and said so in his post-game comments. “All in all, that was a good win,” he said. “I wasn’t proud of the way we [executed], but offensively we played pretty well. I was pleased with that.
“I told them at halftime, ‘It’s not very good when you can’t stop the run and when you aren’t running the football,’ and I’m not sure that we did a whole lot better [in the second half]. But we got a good win a long way from home, and our kids played hard,” said the coach.
“I thought our kids competed. We fought, we scratched, we clawed, and did some things right. We just weren’t very pretty in some of our execution. All wins are good, but road wins are even better. We know we beat a pretty good football team tonight,” concluded Jones.
Statistically, the Bulldogs were led by dual threat quarterback Peyton Holt, who ran for 125 yards on 12 carries and threw for 271 yards, completing 20 of 25 pass attempts. Running back Hunter Wilkinson ran 13 times for just 36 yards, but also had six receptions for 54 yards. He did score three touchdowns, however, giving him 18 points on 19 touches of the football.
Besides Wilkinson, Greenwood receivers were led by Treyton Dawson with five catches for 123 yards, Luke Leonard’s six receptions for 70 yards, and Lozaro Angel with two catches for 23 yards. All stats are unofficial.
The Bulldogs will travel to Siloam Springs next Friday as they continue their march through the 6A West. The Panthers have struggled since moving up to Class 6A, but have posted a winning record (3-2) so far this season, 1-1 in conference play with a win over Sheridan and a loss to Benton.
Greenwood will then play three of its final four regular season games at home in Smith-Robinson Stadium against Russellville (10/12), Benton (10-19), and the season finale against Lake Hamilton (11/2). The Bulldogs’ final road trip of the regular season will be at Sheridan on October 26th.