The Greenwood junior varsity Bulldogs traveled across the Arkansas River to Van Buren last Monday where they beat the Pointers on a chilly evening, keeping Greenwood unbeaten at 5-0.
The Bulldogs' defense forced a three-and-out to start the game after a big tackle behind the sticks by GHS defensive lineman Halen Carter. The visiting offense then took over at their own 33-yard-line and made rapid progress downfield after multiple short passes by quarterback Jace Presley and runs by tailback Aaron Ligon. Caden Brown capped off the long drive by catching a 33-yard touchdown pass from Presley. The extra point by Jackson Stewart made it 7-0 in the early going.
Another three-and-out by the Bulldogs' defense gave the ball right back to the offense. On third-and-18, Presley evaded tacklers and threw a strike to Ligon, who took the ball up the visiting sideline 81 yards to the house. The PAT made it 14-0 with 4:47 left in the first quarter.
Greenwood got the ball back quickly once again as Blaze Moore blew up an attempted screen pass to force another punt. The Bulldogs then made big yardage on the first play of the drive.
Jase Strozier caught a short pass and worked up the sideline for a huge gain. On the next play a carry by Ligon had Greenwood at Van Buren's 2-yard-line. Two snaps later he made it into the end zone and Greenwood went up 21-0 after the PAT.
After some more good defense, the Bulldogs were right back on offense again, and started driving down the field. Ligon took the hand-off from the Van Buren 12 and fought through multiple tacklers to score his third touchdown of the game and make it 28-0 with 8:32 left in the first half.
But the Pointers did not go away, driving the length of the field and completing a fade route in the endzone on fourth down to move Greenwood’s lead to 28-7. After a Greenwood fumble, the Pointers cut into Greenwood’s lead even more with a 31-yard touchdown completion. With 2:15 left in the half Greenwood was up 28-14.
Caden Brown gave the Bulldogs good field position to start their next drive, returning the kick-off to the Pointers' 37. On the next play, Presley found Jasna on a bubble screen, resulting in a touchdown. Kicker Luis Morales’ PAT made it 35-14. Greenwood's Andrew Middleton recovered a fumble soon after, but the 'Dogs did not have time to score before the half ended.
Both teams remained stagnant for most of the third quarter until Brown reeled in a long pass to extend Greenwood’s lead. Thes PAT made it 42-14 with 2:19 left in the third quarter. A safety and pick six by the Pointers brought the score to 42-22 with 6:14 left in the fourth quarter, but that ended the scoring for both teams.
Greenwood has two games remaining including Fort Smith Northside and a return bout with Van Buren. The 'Dogs will travel to Northside next Monday for a 6 p.m. kickoff before hosting Van Buren the following Monday at the same time.