The Greenwood Bulldogs clearly outplayed the Wolverines of Bentonville-West through three quarters last Friday night, building a 21-point lead in the first half, but had to hang on for the win as the visitors rallied in the last four minutes to narrow the final score to a more respectable 35-28. The game was played at Greenwood’s Smith-Robinson Stadium.
Of course, the game itself was never supposed to be played, but 2020 has been full of surprises, not all of them pleasant. The Bulldogs were scheduled to begin conference play against Little Rock Parkview, one of the three remaining unbeaten teams in the 6A classification. But the Patriots cancelled the game due to Covid-19 concerns, leaving Greenwood without an opponent last Tuesday morning.
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, Fayetteville also cancelled its game with Bentonville-West for the same reason, leaving the Wolverines without an opponent after coming off an open date the week before. GHS Head Coach Chris Young then placed a call to his counterpart at Bentonville-West to arrange the contest, later affirmed by the athletic directors of both schools.
It marked the second time in four weeks that Greenwood has been forced to change opponents. The first was September 11th when Springdale Har-Ber replaced Fort Smith Northside after the Grizzlies were forced to cancel due to the virus scare. The Bulldogs (4-0) have now faced three Class 7A opponents in their first four games, all wins.
Bentonville-West was picked third in the tough 7A West by Hooten’s Arkansas Football magazine during the pre-season and entered Friday’s game with a 2-1 record, losing to Broken Arrow (OK) and beating Muskogee (OK) and Little Rock Central. The Wolverines did not play on September 18th due to a planned open date.
So once again the GHS coaching staff had to work overtime to come up with a completely new game plan just three days before kickoff. In his pre-game comments, Coach Young acknowledged his staff’s diligence and his appreciation for them.
“I don’t know who is madder at me, the coaches or their wives, because I kept a lot of guys away from their families this week,” admitted Young. “But we [had] to adjust and get ready to play. The coaching staff stayed up here all night [Tuesday], but [Bentonville-West] was in the same boat, and we were excited to be here.”
Apparently, the extra work paid off as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 28-7 lead midway through the second quarter. After not playing against Choctaw (OK) the week before, senior quarterback L.D. Richmond returned and had a terrific first half, completing over 80% of his passes for just over 200 yards, numbers he would build on in the second half.
Senior running back Hunter Wilkinson also had his first 100-yard rushing game of the season. But the Bulldogs did lose a couple of starting defensive linemen to injury, Ty Cowen and Beau Asher. The extent of their injuries is not yet known, but Coach Young was hopeful they will return to practice this coming week.
Senior Caden Brown returned the opening kick 20 yards to the 21 to open the game. Richmond then threw to senior Jase Strozier to the 27 on first down before handing off to Wilkinson for a first down at the 39. Richmond threw twice more to Brown and Strozier to the Wolverines’ 39 before Wilkinson rumbled to the 31, moving the sticks again.
The next snap led to six points as Richmond aired it out downfield to Brown, who somehow got wide open behind the defense for the touchdown. Senior kicker Luis Morales added the extra point for the 7-0 GHS lead barely 90 seconds into the contest. Generally, the Bulldogs were able to move the football offensively for most of the game.
A penalty and a quarterback sack by Greenwood senior linebacker Conner Marvin forced the Wolverines to punt on their first offensive possession after a three-and-out series. That was the first of four consecutive punts, two by each team, before the Wolverines took advantage of a big play to set up the tying touchdown.
Good field position and a 32-yard pass completion put the visitors at the Greenwood 7-yard-line. Two plays later they scored on a 4-yard pass from quarterback Dalton McDonald to receiver Luke Miller. The PAT tied the score with 4:38 left in the opening period.
But that was it for the Wolverines’ offense until late in the half, as Greenwood scored on its next three possessions to build a 28-7 advantage, threatening to blow the game open. At the same time, the vaunted GHS defense shut down the opposition, not allowing a first down. Greenwood senior defensive back Jayden Jasna also picked off an enemy pass.
The home team’s next score came at the end of a 10-play drive that was favored by a bit of good fortune. After Bentonville tied the score, Greenwood started from its own 22 after the kick return by Caden Brown. Richmond ran for three yards on first down before throwing to Brown on the next play. He made the catch, but lost the ball after contact, with the pigskin taking a lucky bounce right into the hands of Jase Strozier, who picked it up and advanced it to the 39 for a first down.
Three plays later Richmond threw to Strozier for a first down at the 50, keeping the drive alive. After Wilkinson got four yards to the 46, Richmond found sophomore receiver Aiden Kennon for 12 yards to the 34. Wilkinson then ran again to the 26 and the defense was flagged for a facemask penalty, moving the ball to the 13.
Richmond next passed the pigskin to Caden Brown, who reached the 1-yard-line, from where Wilkinson scored on the next snap. Morales added the point after touchdown, making the score 14-7 with 2:03 remaining in the first quarter. But the GHS offense was just getting warmed up.
Following Jasna’s interception at the Greenwood 40, the Bulldogs engineered another multi-play drive that took more than three minutes off the clock. The series lasted 11 plays and carried the game into the early minutes of the second quarter. Hunter Wilkinson ran five times for 26 yards, including the 10-yard TD burst through the middle of the Wolverines’ defense. Richmond also completed four passes for 33 yards with junior receiver Luke Brewer making a key sliding catch and senior Peyton Carter hauling in a first down reception for 17 yards at the 15. The extra point made it 21-7 (10:10).
On their next possession, the Wolverines helped out the Bulldogs, giving them excellent field position at the Bentonville 6-yard-line. A penalty and a bad punt snap led to a crazy play near the visitors’ goal line. The poor snap was picked up in the end zone by the punter, who somehow avoided the rush and got off a low line drive kick that hit a Greenwood player and ricocheted back toward the goal line, eventually recovered by the Wolverines at their own six, giving Greenwood the ball after a long discussion by the officiating crew. Bentonville-West’s head coach Bryan Pratt was not happy.
Of the controversy, Coach Young said, “[The officials] had called roughing the kicker, but once the ball was over [the punter’s] head he had to re-establish himself as a kicker, and he did not do that. He kicked the ball sideways [and] our kids made a good play. There was no roughing the kicker in that instance. The ball hit one of our linemen and it was kind of a scrum from there, but it was a good play for us. [The ball] didn’t cross the line for a first down, so it was still our ball regardless of who recovered it. Our kids played it the right way and it was officiated correctly.”
Two plays later the Bulldogs were in the end zone. A short-range pitch-pass from Richmond to Brown got only a yard, but senior running back Ty Moose found pay dirt after stutter-stepping his way behind the pile and into the end zone nearly untouched. Morales drilled the PAT and Greenwood added to its lead, 28-7, with 8:29 left in the half.
The Wolverines finally got on track offensively before the intermission, driving 62 yards in 13 plays, with quarterback Dalton McDonald scoring from nine yards out. The touchdown came at the 4:43 mark, leaving Greenwood time to mount another scoring threat before halftime, which they did.
The ‘Dogs marched 74 yards in 12 plays, chewing up the remaining time before facing fourth down at the Wolverines’ 5-yard-line. After a Greenwood timeout with three seconds remaining, Morales was called on for a field goal attempt, but the kick was blocked to end the half with Greenwood leading 28-14.
“That was a bad ending,” said Coach Young on his way to the locker room at halftime. “That was a big play. [Bentonville-West] is going to get the ball coming out [after halftime], so we’ve got our hands full. That [blocked field goal] could have made it a three-possession [game].”
But the GHS defense was up to the task, forcing the Wolverines into a quick punt on the opening series of the third quarter. Greenwood took over offensively at its own 15 after a fair catch. Richmond then led a 14-play drive to push the Bulldogs’ lead back to 21 points.
The possession opened with a 12-yard pass completion to Caden Brown to the 27, followed by another toss to senior Camden Carter to the 35. After Wilkinson ran to the 38, Richmond found Carter again to the 44. Four consecutive runs, including 22 yards by Wilkinson, advanced the ball to the Wolverines’ 32-yard-line.
After an incomplete pass, Wilkinson and Moose combined for two runs to the 16 plus a personal foul penalty on the visitors that moved the ball to the 8-yard-line. Three plays later Richmond found an opening through the middle of the defense for a six-yard TD run. Morales added the extra point and the Bulldogs were up 35-14 with 7:14 left in the third period.
The Bulldogs would not score again, and after the game Coach Young admitted that he probably should have kept his foot on the gas for a bit longer offensively. “I learned a lesson as a young head coach tonight. We talk to our kids about sportsmanship and doing the right thing. It was 35-14 and we were driving and [probably] could have punched it in, but we slowed down.
“[Bentonville] came back and [was] really aggressive with our second defense,” he added. “It was frustrating because our kids thoroughly got after it. We thoroughly beat them on the field tonight, [but] the score doesn’t reflect it. I put my kids in a bad situation late in the game and that’s on me.”
Indeed, the game settled into something of a defensive struggle for the next several minutes, well into the fourth quarter, as Greenwood began to substitute more liberally and bring in some of its defensive reserves. The GHS offense continued to have success moving the ball, but failed on a fourth down play at the visitors’ 31.
Early in the fourth quarter the Bulldogs also came up short at the Wolverines’ 5-yard-line and again at the 40, turning the ball over on downs. With just 3:18 remaining and still trailing 35-14, the Wolverines suddenly came to life offensively against Greenwood’s defensive reserves. The visitors struck quickly, hitting a pair of big passes to cut into the GHS lead. But it was too little too late for Bentonville.
The first scoring drive lasted just five plays, built on a 36-yard pass completion on first down. Running back Carlos Hall scored the touchdown from one yard out. The PAT made the score 35-21 with 2:43 remaining to play.
The next score followed two minutes later after forcing a quick Greenwood punt. Starting from their own 17, the Wolverines drove 83 yards in less than a minute against many of the GHS defensive regulars, who had returned to the game. The big play was the 59-yard touchdown strike from McDonald to receiver Ty Durham.
Only 46 seconds remained when the extra point kick sailed through the uprights, cutting the Greenwood lead to 35-28, but making the ensuing kickoff extremely important. Everyone knew an onside kick was coming. The Wolverines had already failed on one just two minutes earlier. A Bentonville recovery on the second attempt would make for a very interesting end to the game.
Fortunately for Bulldogs’ fans, the kick bounced out-of-bounds near midfield, giving possession to Greenwood at the visitors’ 46 after a penalty. Richmond and his teammates then lined up in their traditional victory formation and took a knee twice to run out the clock on their fourth win of the season, 35-28.
Next Friday Greenwood hits the road on their longest trip of the season to Mountain Home. The Bombers have long been a doormat in football, but a new head coach, Steve Ary, seems to have turned things around in Baxter County. Mountain Home is 2-2 so far this season and has played well even in their losses. Game time is 7p.m. and the contest will be live streamed for fans on the Greenwood Dog Pound website.