The Greenwood Bulldogs are off and running after Friday’s 42-point victory at Muskogee, Oklahoma. Opting to play in week zero to start their 2021 campaign, the ‘Dogs traveled to the Sooner State to take on the Roughers for the first time in school history and put on an offensive show. Greenwood scored on its first four possessions and reached the end zone nine times in all. Incredibly, the defending 6A state champions amassed over 800 yards in total offense.
The homestanding Roughers entered the game with a new head coach, a freshman quarterback, and without a couple of key players due to injuries, including a starting running back. But after Greenwood’s initial shock-and-awe over the first 12 minutes, Muskogee rallied to fight the visitors to a 14-14 draw in the second quarter and trailed 35-14 at the half.
Still unbeaten (15-0) in his short head coaching career, Greenwood’s Chris Young rallied his troops at the break and saw them score four more times in the second half to put the game away. Young and his staff were no doubt pleased that the Bulldogs had no turnovers in the contest and the defense picked off a pair of Muskogee passes.
Greenwood was also able to rest numerous starters in the fourth quarter and give several younger players some valuable experience, including backup quarterback Slade Dean, who led the team’s last two scoring drives. The Bulldogs did not appear to have any significant injuries during the game. They return home to face Fort Smith Southside next Friday.
The Roughers kicked to Greenwood to open the action on a hot evening in Eastern Oklahoma, with the ball going into the end zone. Starting at their own 20, the Bulldogs needed nine plays to methodically move down the field for their first score. With junior quarterback Hunter Houston at the helm, the first two snaps ended with short pass plays to receiver Luke Brewer and running back Jake Glover, who picked up a first down at the 36 on the next snap.
Houston then passed to senior Bryce Caldwell to the 47 before giving the ball to senior running back Dylan Tucker, who rumbled for nine yards to the Muskogee 44. Houston connected with Caldwell again to the 23 and Tucker rambled for 17 more yards to the 6-yard-line. Glover then carried to the one before Tucker crashed the goal line for the score on the next play. Senior kicker Ben Moy added the point after touchdown giving Greenwood an early 7-0 lead (10:14).
The Roughers picked up a first down on their inaugural offensive series before having to punt the ball away. Aiden Kennon signaled for a fair catch, but was immediately hit, drawing a flag and moving the ball to the GHS 33. Glover ran to the 39 on first down and junior tailback Javon Williamson reached the 45 to move the sticks.
Houston then threw to Caldwell across midfield to the Muskogee 43, then again, drawing a face mask penalty after the catch, advancing the ball to the 22-yard-line. Forced to run on the next snap, Houston scrambled to the 18, then handed off to Glover on the ensuing play for 11 yards. From the seven, senior running back Cameron Krone scored up the middle behind a nice push from the offensive line. Moy added the extra point to make it 14-0 (5:57).
Muskogee’s next possession ended after just three plays when Greenwood junior linebacker Evan Williams picked off an errant pass at the home 43-yard-line and returned it to the 32. Four plays later the Bulldogs were in the end zone again on the strength of two big plays, a 10-yard pass from Houston to Aiden Kennon and a short pitch-pass from Houston to sophomore L.J. Robins that also netted 10 yards. Tucker then carried in for his second touchdown from the 1-yard-line.
Moy’s extra point kick made the score 21-0, still in the first quarter, and the GHS defense continued to shut down the Roughers’ offense, forcing another punt after giving up a single first down. After the punt and a penalty, the Bulldogs took over on offense at their own 17 with just under a minute remaining in the opening stanza.
On third down, Houston found Kennon over the middle for a nice gain to the 44 and a first down. A similar play with the same cast worked again on the next snap, this time for 31 yards to the Muskogee 25 on the final play of the quarter. Two snaps later Houston connected with Kennon again for 16 yards to the 8-yard-line before Greenwood’s #8, Dylan Tucker, scored his third touchdown of the half. Ben Moy added the PAT for a 28-0 GHS lead (11:19).
But just when it seemed that Greenwood was in total control of the game, the Roughers found some life on their next offensive possession. On second down from their own 36, a tunnel screen pass worked to perfection with both the quarterback and receiver narrowly avoiding tackles. The receiver then streaked down the sideline for Muskogee’s first touchdown (10:30). The extra point was good, cutting into the GHS lead, 28-7.
The two teams traded punts over the next few minutes, Greenwood’s only punt of the contest, before the GHS offense got back on track and scored its fifth and final touchdown of the half. The possession covered 87 yards and required 11 plays, seven of them on the ground for 58 yards. Houston completed all four of his pass attempts, scrambled out of the pocket for 11 yards, and ran for the 5-yard TD. Tucker ran twice for 30 yards to set up the score (4:25). Moy’s kick made it 35-7.
In response, from their own 20, the Roughers went almost exclusively to the air, throwing on eight of ten plays, completing five of them, advancing deep into Greenwood territory. The tenth play of the drive was a quarterback keeper from two yards out for the score. The extra point was true, making the score 35-14.
With just over a minute left in the half, the ‘Dogs still had time to score again, and nearly did, driving from their own 35 to the Muskogee 5-yard-line before a fourth down pass by Houston was tipped away. Two big pass plays accounted for most of the Greenwood yardage, one to Luke Brewer for 14 yards and another to Kennon for 39 yards.
As he was departing the field for the locker room, Coach Young offered his comments on the first half, saying, “We’ve got to play better defense. We gave up too many things, [including] a big play there. Then we get down here in the red zone [offensively] and we don’t finish. But we did some good things early on. I felt like we were a score away from putting those guys away, but [Muskogee] made a big play and now we’ve got a ball game.”
But whatever hope the Roughers might have harbored quickly vanished in the second half as the Bulldogs returned to their relentless ways on offense, scoring on their first three possessions before Muskogee was able to score its lone touchdown of the half against Greenwood’s second tier defense. The visitors led 56-14 early in the fourth quarter before each team scored a final TD over the last nine minutes of play.
The home team received the opening kick of the half, but was quickly forced to punt, giving Greenwood the ball at their own 14-yard-line. Seven plays later the Bulldogs hit pay dirt again on an 11-yard run by QB Hunter Houston. The bulk of the drive was through the air with Houston completing passes of 14 yards to Kennon, 11 yards to Caldwell, 14 yards to Williamson, and 13 more to Caldwell. A 15-yard face mask penalty on the Roughers also helped. The kick by Moy made the score 42-14 about five minutes into the period.
Less than a minute later Greenwood defensive back Colin Daggett picked off a Roughers pass, but his return was negated by a blocking penalty after the interception. Starting from their own 36, the Bulldogs needed six plays, all through the air, to score again. The biggest one happened on first down from the 36 when Houston connected with Jake Glover on a sideline toss that yielded 39 yards to the Muskogee 25-yard-line.
A couple of quick, short passes to Kennon and Brewer moved the ball to the 12, but the next two attempts fell incomplete. On third down, Houston found sophomore receiver L.J. Robins in the right front corner of the end zone near the pylon for the score (4:49). The kick by Moy was good and Greenwood led 49-14, but the offense wasn’t done yet.
A pass interference call on the Bulldogs allowed Muskogee to pick up a couple of first downs and move into Greenwood territory, but ultimately the Roughers had to punt the ball away. Aiden Kennon’s short return put the ball down at the GHS 26 late in the third quarter with many offensive starters remaining on the sideline for the next series.
Slade Dean took over at quarterback for Hunter Houston and proceeded to guide his teammates on a 74-yard drive in just six plays as the teams switched sides with the start of the fourth quarter. Dean completed a pass to Robins for 17 yards on first down for one of the biggest plays of the drive, except for the 20-yard toss to Robins for the touchdown. The extra point kick was true, and the GHS lead blossomed to an insurmountable 56-14.
With the game in the bag and Greenwood still auditioning two kickers, sophomore Bodie Steinfeldt entered the fray and booted a short sky kick that Muskogee returned to its own 45. With good field position, the Roughers needed just four plays to score their last touchdown against Greenwood’s defensive reserves. A long run of 32 yards set up the scoring play from 12 yards out on another run. The kick was good, making the score 56-21 with 8:45 remaining to play.
Still too soon to pack it in and needing reps for his younger players, Coach Young allowed the offense to continue playing straight up with Dean at the controls. The sophomore then led an impressive 87-yard drive for Greenwood’s last score. He completed a handful of short passes for 27 yards, but got help from running backs Tucker, Williamson, and sophomore Carson Hobbs, plus a pair of 15-yard penalties on Muskogee as tempers flared in the waning moments of the period. Dean carried in for the score from seven yards out and the extra point made the final margin, 63-21. Each team had one more possession over the last five minutes, but neither threatened to score again.
After the win, Coach Young talked to the Dog Pound briefly on the field about adjustments made for the second half. “We talked to [the players] at halftime,” he said. “I think they we were satisfied with the way we played, but we [the coaches] weren’t very happy, and the kids responded. The defense shut [Muskogee] out in the second half with our #1s. The offense came out and [scored early] and special teams were a lot better. I was really proud of all three phases [of our game] in the second half.”
Asked about the youth of his 2021 squad, despite having 28 seniors, Young said, “We’ve got some talented young football players. We’ve just got to get better every week. They’re going to make some mistakes. We made some tonight. But if we continue headed in the right direction, we’ve got a chance to be right where we want to be.” The Bulldogs have over 40 sophomores on their team roster from last year’s undefeated junior high squad.
The Bulldogs will host the Fort Smith Southside Mavericks next Friday night at Smith-Robinson Stadium beginning at 7 p.m. The Greenwood-Southside rivalry is a good one with players on both sides familiar with each other, but the ‘Dogs currently hold a nine-year winning streak over the Mavs, who lost their season opener to Fort Smith Northside, 31-16.