New Head Coach Luke Hales and his 2022 freshmen Bulldogs improved to 4-0 on the season after surviving a wild finish at Van Buren last Thursday, 25-18, adding to their four-year winning streak. But there won’t be much time for celebrating because they host Farmington next Monday afternoon at 5:30, making up a game cancelled late last month due to weather. The Jr. Cardinals are expected to pose a significant threat to Greenwood’s unbeaten status.
A special thanks goes out to Ross Fujibayashi for researching and correcting the number of wins in the streak, now at 25. His son, Akira, is the starting center for Greenwood. The freshmen Bulldogs won their last two games in 2019, then went unbeaten in 2020 (10-0) and 2021 (9-0) and are now 4-0 in 2022. They are also pursuing their third consecutive league championship in a newly revamped conference that includes a stronger lineup of opponents.
The freshmen ‘Dogs kicked off to start the action last Thursday at Van Buren’s Blakemore Field, but the ball went out-of-bounds, giving the host Pointers good field position at their own 40. It was no problem for the visiting defense though, with Greenwood D-lineman Cody Johnson breaking through for a big loss on first down, forcing a quick punt to the visitors’ 40-yard-line three snaps later.
A few plays later, from the Van Buren 32, running back Wesley Raggio ran three times to the 22 for a first down. Two snaps after that quarterback Cooper Goodwin completed a pass to Benton Hossley for a 21-yard touchdown reception. The extra point kick by Laydn Casanova was good, making the score 7-0 in favor of the visitors from South Sebastian County.
The Jr. Pointers penetrated Greenwood territory on their next possession before a pass interception at the goal line turned the tide. Greenwood defensive back Konnor Sanders returned the pick down the sideline to near midfield, but a penalty brought the ball back to the 7-yard-line. That flag would be significant because three snaps later Goodwin was trapped and tackled in the end zone for a safety, making the score 7-2, forcing the visitors to line up at their own 20 for a free kick that was returned to the Greenwood 47.
But the visiting defense bowed up and did not let Van Buren’s good field position lead to another score. After three snaps the Jr. Pointers were forced to punt from the midfield stripe. The Bulldogs then scored consecutive touchdowns to go up by 17 points, 19-2, with the help of an onside kick.
Starting from their own 30 after the Van Buren punt, the freshman ‘Dogs began an 11-play drive that resulted in an 8-yard touchdown pass from Goodwin to Raggio. Including the TD pass, Goodwin completed three of five tosses and ran the ball a couple times as well. His longest pass was to receiver Cooper Bland for 28 yards to the 9-yard-line, setting up the touchdown pass to Raggio out of the backfield. But the extra point try failed, leaving the score at 13-2.
But Coach Hales wasn’t content with the 11-point lead and called for an onside kick, the first of several throughout the contest. Kicker Laydn Casanova bounced the ball toward the Van Buren front line and Greenwood’s Jin Sayadeth streaked ahead to catch up with the ball as it crossed the 10-yard threshold and was mishandled by the Pointers. Sayadeth made the recovery at the Greenwood 47.
It took just six plays for the visitors to score again and pad their lead. Wesley Raggio ran twice for 13 yards then Goodwin completed a long pass to receiver Malaki Efurd to the 8-yard-line. Raggio ran to the three on the next snap, then for the touchdown. A two-point pass attempt failed, but Greenwood still led comfortably, 19-2.
But that lead didn’t last long as Greenwood tried another onside kick, only to have the play backfire when a Van Buren player grabbed a fortunate bounce and split the defense before outrunning the pursuit to the end zone. The Pointers’ two-point try also failed, making the score 19-9 late in the second quarter.
The ensuing kickoff went out-of-bounds, giving Greenwood the ball at the visitors’ 40-yard-line. After picking up a first down at midfield, the Bulldogs went back to the air with Goodwin completing a pass to Benton Hossley at the home 38. Two snaps later, Malaki Efurd hauled in a deep pass on the right side of the field for the touchdown. The two-point try failed, leaving the score 25-9 with less than a minute remaining in the half.
But that would be all the scoring for the freshmen ‘Dogs as the Jr. Pointers played good defense in the second half and took advantage of a Greenwood turnover to mount a rally that fell just short. The two teams traded punts to start the action in the third quarter, then Van Buren stopped a fourth down play by Greenwood at the home 9-yard-line, thwarting the visitors’ best scoring chance of the second half.
Neither team scored in the third period, but a Greenwood fumble was recovered by Van Buren at the visitors’ 15-yard-line. Four plays later the Pointers scored on a running play from three yards out, but the two-point conversion failed, leaving the score, 25-15. Van Buren then recovered an onside kick attempt and drove to the Greenwood 25-yard-line before settling for a 32-yard field goal, making the score 25-18.
The visitors then recovered the expected onside kick and were able to take some time off the clock as the seconds ticked away in the final minutes. Van Buren completed a long pass play to reach the Greenwood 30, but defensive back Lawyer Thornsberry picked off a fourth-down pass in the end zone to preserve the win for the visitors with just seconds left to play.
Coach Hales talked about the game, praising his defense, while taking the blame for some of the play calls that put his offense in a bad position, particularly the first half safety. “That was a bad call by [me],” admitted the coach. “We called a screen [pass], which was not a good call and it ended up with a safety.
“[Van Buren] had some good players,” said Hales. “I give them credit. They had some big, strong kids. But we didn’t score in the second half. I called a bad game. Our kids were fighting and scrapping all night, but we just couldn’t get it done. We turned it over a couple times and didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. We got stopped on a fourth-and-three and shot ourselves in the foot. We didn’t execute the proper way. So we’ve got a lot of work to do.
“Our defense was incredible all night,” added the coach. “Our defense played awesome. The only points [Van Buren] scored in the first half was self-inflicted by our offense or special teams. And in the second half we put them in bad situations by turning the ball over on offense.”
That defense will have to play as well or better next Monday when Farmington returns to Smith-Robinson Stadium. The Cardinals remain unbeaten as does Greenwood and Harrison, so the winner of Monday’s contest will have a leg up on the conference championship. Asked about the short turnaround, Hales said, “We practiced today [Friday] when we normally do more of a walk through and film on Fridays. We had a full practice today in the heat and we will practice again on Sunday.”
Regarding the winning streak, Hales said, “I think the kids want to win. We want to win every game we play, grades seven through nine. Our kids fought, and scrapped, and clawed last week against Dardanelle and did the same thing against Van Buren. They know the [winning streak] is out there, but our main focus is on today. We want to win today. We’re just trying to take it one day at a time and get better.
“Being a young head coach with great support – my assistant coaches have been awesome – they’ve both been head coaches, and Coach [Easton] Barrett is coming along really well. We’ve just got to keep getting better.” Beside the newly hired Barrett, Hales’ assistants also include veteran coaches Eric Daniel and Brian Sims.