Coming off their first, and hopefully their only loss this season, the Greenwood High School freshmen bounced back last Thursday at Farmington, defeating the Jr. Cardinals, 26-8. A week earlier the Jr. Bulldogs were tripped up at home by Van Buren, losing 21-20 after a failed two-point conversion attempt in the final seconds. Greenwood’s record is now 4-1.
Farmington teed up the ball for the opening kick, with the ball sailing out-of-bounds. Starting from their own 35, the visiting Bulldogs scored quickly in just four plays to take the early lead. Running back Drake Little carried on the first two snaps, reaching the 43-yard-line. Drew Dickinson ran to the Farmington 45, then carried again off left tackle before cutting back to the middle and finding a gap all the way to the end zone for the score. Kicker Grayson Cobbler added the extra point (7:03).
The remainder of the first quarter featured an exchange of fumbles and three punts before Greenwood scored its second touchdown to take a 13-0 lead at the 5:25 mark of the second stanza. The wild flurry began with a muffed punt by the Jr. Bulldogs, recovered by Farmington at the GHS 34. But the visiting defense had two consecutive plays for negative yardage before forcing a fumble scooped up by Greenwood’s Jacob Pugh, giving the visitors the football at their own 38.
Two punts followed the back-to-back fumbles, and Greenwood took over at the Farmington 45 after a short kick early in the second period. Quarterback Jubal Parks passed to Jevin Tilson on first down, reaching the Cardinals’ 39-yard-line. After a pair of short runs to the 30, Drew Dickinson got the call and weaved his way through the middle of the defense for the touchdown. The PAT attempt was blocked.
Trailing 13-0, the home team responded quickly with its only score of the game on a big play. From the Farmington 43, a short pass turned into a long run aided by several missed tackles by the Greenwood defense. The Cardinals then ran a successful two-point conversion play, making the score 13-8 at the 4:33 mark of the second quarter.
But the visitors had more than enough time left to score again, getting a great kick return from Braxton Canada to the GHS 43. On first down, Parks passed to Jayden Campbell to the 50 before Drake Little ran twice to the 39. Gunner Flanary then carried twice to the 27. A short pass to Jevin Tilson reached the 22 before Greenwood’s #22, Drew Dickinson, ran three times to the nine. After a Greenwood penalty and a three-yard gain to the 11, Parks passed to receiver William Rye in the right side of the end zone for the touchdown. The extra point was good, making it 20-8 with 1:42 left in the half.
The Jr. Cardinals received the opening kick of the second half, but could do nothing with it, punting the ball away to the Greenwood 37. The Jr. ‘Dogs then marched 63 yards in 11 plays for their final score. The drive began with a pass from Jubal Parks to Braxton Canada, reaching the GHS 46. After a penalty on Farmington moved the ball to the 50, Canada caught two more Parks’ offerings to the Cardinals’ 25-yard-line. A short screen pass reached the 20 before Parks and Canada connected again to the Farmington seven for a first down. But three plays later it was fourth-and-goal from the nine when Parks threw to Canada in the end zone for the touchdown. A two-point conversion pass attempt fell incomplete, keeping the score, 26-8.
Farmington got an excellent kick return into Greenwood territory and moved the chains once before turning the ball over on downs at the GHS 33 early in the fourth quarter. The visitors then kept the football for the remainder of the game, chewing up the final 7:10 with a consistent running game that stretched to the home 20-yard-line before time expired.
Head Coach Luke Hales was pleased with his team’s bounce back performance and said so in his post-game comments. “It felt awesome to win,” he began. “Our boys responded really well. I think we played a much more physical game. I know our defense played awesome. Other than one big play our defense really stoned them. We gave up one big bubble screen down the sideline, but other than that our defense played physical, they tackled well and made some big plays.
“We had some adversity early,” he continued. “We muffed a punt, which was frustrating, but that’s how it goes sometimes. Braxton [Canada] came back later and made some big plays on both sides of the ball to help us win. We were proud of the kids and proud of their effort.”
Asked about a renewed emphasis on running the football, Hales agreed with that perception. “We ran Dickinson early. That was a big part of our gameplan. I told Coach [Brian] Sims after the game and said, ‘We won that one because of your guys and the defense. Our big boys up front really set the tone – Jaxen Cepeda, Walker Fink, Aden Brazel, Bryce Davis, and Thomas Ball. We ran the ball really well. We got the ball back with 7:10 left in the fourth quarter and we never gave it back to them. We ran the clock out, and that’s a credit to our offensive line and running backs.”
Asked about quarterback Jubal Parks, who took every snap in the game for Greenwood, Coach Hales said, “He did a great job for us,” also revealing that his other QB, Dabin Gaines, was injured and unavailable to play. The Jr. ‘Dogs had used both behind center through their first four games. “Gaines was out with an injury this week, so Jubal played the whole time. We’re not sure when [Gaines] will be back but look for multiple guys to get reps at quarterback,” said the coach. Braxton Canada has also taken a few snaps as well.
This week’s opponents are the Jr. Goblins of Harrison, always a rivalry game for Greenwood, especially after the fiasco that played out last season at Crooked Creek. There were multiple questionable calls and no calls by the officials before Coach Hales protested to the point that he was ejected from the game and for a time refused to leave the field. The Bulldogs lost the game 15-14 and are looking for revenge on their home turf at Smith-Robinson Stadium.
“We’re excited to get to play those guys,” said Hales. “It’s always a great game. Two years ago, we beat them by one point at our place, and last year they beat us by one point at their place. So our kids are definitely going to be up for it.” Kickoff is set for Thursday night at 7 p.m. and the weather looks to be excellent.