The Greenwood Bulldogs did not disappoint in their season opening contest at Bentonville-West last Friday night, putting together nine scoring drives plus a kick return for a touchdown in a 70-35 victory over the Wolverines. The visitors never punted, but did have three possessions end in lost fumbles, much to the chagrin of Head Coach Chris Young. Despite scoring 10 times, Young described the offense as “sloppy” similar to what he said after the Fayetteville scrimmage, while also acknowledging there were bright spots but still plenty of things to correct and improve upon. Future foes beware.
The game was played in Centerton, AR, a rapidly growing community southwest of Bentonville, and the Wolverines are a good team picked third in the 7A West behind #1 Bentonville and #2 Fayetteville. They are also the first of three consecutive 7A non-conference opponents for the Bulldogs before their open date on September 20th. Greenwood will host Fort Smith Northside next Friday before welcoming Springdale Har-Ber the following week.
The two teams last met in 2020 when the Wolverines filled a late vacancy in the Greenwood schedule due to a Covid outbreak at Little Rock Parkview. The Bulldogs won that game 35-28, surviving a late rally by the Wolverines, but there were no such worries last Friday night. Greenwood ran out to a 14-0 lead, then 27-7 early in the second quarter. They led 41-21 at the half then outscored the home team 29-14 over the last two periods. The closest the Wolverines got in the second half was to trail 41-28 before Greenwood scored three consecutive touchdowns to invoke the 35-point mercy rule.
There was instability in the air Friday and a short delay due to lightning, but the temperature cooled before kickoff to about 80 degrees. Still, several players on both sides got cramps, which is not unusual early in the season. The day after the Arkansas Razorbacks defeated Arkansas Pine Bluff, 70-0, and the GHS freshmen squad won at Nashville, 54-21, the Bulldogs started their 10-touchdown blitz after receiving the opening kick, marching 69 yards in nine plays.
Senior Grant Karnes returned the kickoff to the GHS 31 and three snaps later quarterback Kane Archer scrambled for 16 yards to the 45 for a first down. After a pair of short gains to the home 44, Archer executed a QB draw for 31 yards to the 13-yard-line. Running back Wesley Raggio carried three times to complete the drive, the last one for the 1-yard touchdown. Kicker Hudson Meeker added the extra point for a 7-0 GHS lead.
After the visiting defense held the Wolverines to a quick three-and-out, the Bulldogs took over on offense again at their own 28. It took 13 plays and one very lucky bounce, but Greenwood soon made it 14-0 less than eight minutes into the game. Kane Archer ran three times for 15 yards before passing to junior receiver Champ Davis for his first official catch after moving to Greenwood from Nebraska last spring. Facing fourth-and-one, Raggio ran to the Wolverines’ 49 for a first down, keeping the drive alive.
After a QB sack, Archer passed over the middle to Davis again, who caught the ball at the home 45 but was hit and fumbled at the 35 only to have fellow receiver Hudson Meeker pluck the ball out of the air and advance it to the 23 in a remarkable sequence. Archer then completed three passes to finish the drive, one each to Grant Karnes, Isaiah Arrington, and Cooper Bland. From the 10, the junior QB rolled right to buy some time before finding Bland for the catch and score at the pylon. Meeker’s kick made it 14-0 (4:34).
But the Wolverines temporarily avoided getting buried in the first quarter by responding with a quick three-play scoring drive. After a pair of running plays, the home offense took advantage of broken coverage by the GHS secondary to complete a 69-yard scoring pass to cut the Greenwood lead to 14-7 after the extra point (3:13).
Champ Davis then made a great first impression on Greenwood fans by returning the ensuing kickoff 84 yards right up the middle through the home defense before breaking into the open and outrunning the lone remaining defender to the end zone. Meeker’s kick was true again, making the score 21-7 with 2:59 still left in the opening period.
Senior linebacker Cash Archer then set up Greenwood’s next score by sacking the Bentonville-West quarterback, causing a fumble then recovering the football as well. In his exuberance, he tossed the ball in celebration, drawing a flag, but Greenwood still got the football at its own 30. Younger brother Kane then threw to Davis for seven yards before Kane kept the ball to the Bentonville 43. Raggio and sophomore running back Mario Dunbar then carried three times, twice by Dunbar, to the 23 before the first quarter ended. Two snaps into the second period, Archer rolled to his left and found a wide-open Isaiah Arrington in the end zone for the 23-yard strike. But a bad snap led to a missed extra point, leaving the Bulldogs ahead, 27-7.
But another quick Bentonville-West score kept the Wolverines in the game. They raced 70 yards in five plays, the last one a 55-yard sideline pass for the score. The PAT cut the home deficit to 27-14 with 9:34 remaining in the half, time enough for three more scores, two by Greenwood and one by the home towners.
Grant Karnes returned the Wolverines’ kickoff to the Greenwood 32. After a short pass to the 36, Kane Archer rambled 15 yards to the home 49-yard-line. Two plays later he got five more yards to the 39 then two snaps after that threw to Champ Davis over the middle for 21 yards. Davis corralled the ball with one hand before bringing it in to secure the catch. Wesley Raggio then wrapped up the drive with an 18-yard sprint up the middle and into the end zone. But for the second time in succession the extra point kick failed, leaving the score at 33-14 with 7:28 left in the half.
GHS linebacker Cash Archer struck again on the Wolverines’ next possession, halting a promising scoring drive with a quarterback sack and a loss of 18 yards, forcing Bentonville-West to settle for a long field goal try, which was no good. But the visiting offense soon coughed up the football with another fumble recovered at the Greenwood 17-yard-line, giving the home team another great scoring opportunity, and this time they took advantage of it. On third down from the 14 they completed a screen pass for the score and the extra point was good with 2:02 left in the half.
Leading 33-21, the Bulldogs needed just 31 seconds to rebuild their three-score advantage. Grant Karnes helped by returning the kickoff 20 yards to the GHS 41. Archer then threw to Arrington at midfield and watched the senior receiver gallop all the way to the home 15 before going out-of-bounds. The Greenwood QB once again used his legs to reach the 4-yard-line before handing to Mario Dunbar for the touchdown on the next snap. Archer then scrambled to buy time before throwing to Cooper Bland for a two-point conversion, making the halftime score, 41-21.
Four more GHS touchdowns followed in the second half with the Bulldogs’ defense gave up two scores. Bentonville-West started the first possession of the half at its own 18 and engineered an eight-play scoring drive culminating with a 1-yard quarterback carry for the score. The home QB also had the biggest play of the drive, a 31-yard dash into Greenwood territory. The extra point made it 41-28 (9:44), but the Wolverines would get no closer.
Just over a minute later the Bulldogs began to pull away, scoring their seventh touchdown after a rapid-fire six-play drive and a pair of offsetting penalties that erased a touchdown pass from Archer to Karnes. Starting from their own 29, the ‘Dogs went to the air with Archer completing four consecutive passes, reaching the home 20-yard-line. A Bentonville-West penalty then helped move the ball to the 10. Two snaps later from the six, Archer threw to Karnes for an apparent touchdown, but offsetting penalties nullified the play. Archer then reconnected with Karnes, who made a nice leaping catch in the right side of the end zone for the score. The GHS quarterback then kept the ball and scrambled for the two-point conversion.
Trailing 49-28, the Wolverines became desperate to score but failed on a fourth down play at their own 45, giving Greenwood the ball with about eight minutes left in the third quarter. After another pair of offsetting penalties on first down, Archer threw to Champ Davis for a big gain to the Wolverines’ 37-yard-line. The second freak play of the game happened next when Archer’s pass was batted right back to him by a defender, allowing him to retain possession and scramble for five yards to the 32. He then passed to Arrington at the 25 before handing off to Wesley Raggio for an impressive hard-fought run through the defense for the touchdown. This time Meeker’s extra point kick was good, making it 56-28.
The next two possessions ended with the Bulldogs stopping the Wolverines on downs, then coughing up the football again with another lost fumble. But the GHS defense quickly compensated with a QB sack on fourth down at the home 15-yard-line, setting up an easy scoring chance for the Bulldogs. After throwing a pair of short passes to Grant Karnes, Archer kept the ball around the left side for a 5-yard touchdown. The PAT increased the Bulldogs’ advantage to an insurmountable 63-28 with 3:12 left in the third quarter. But each team had one more score left in them. The Wolverines scored their final touchdown before the period ended with the mercy rule in place and the clock running almost nonstop.
A good kick return advanced the ball to the Greenwood 44 as the first GHS reserves began to enter the game. After reaching the visitors’ 21-yard-line, the Wolverines used a long draw play to reach the end zone for their fifth and final score with five seconds left in the quarter, making it 63-35. But the Bulldogs lost yet another fumble early in the fourth stanza, giving the ball back to the home squad at midfield.
The GHS defense then rose up and stopped Bentonville-West on downs at the Bulldogs’ 49, setting up the visitors’ final TD drive under the leadership of #2 quarterback Cooper Goodwin. The junior didn’t throw a pass, and didn’t need to, handing off three consecutive times to Mario Dunbar for 21 yards to the home 30. Junior Deacon Cameron then carried to the 18, setting up the touchdown by Fort Smith Southside move-in Maddox McCalip on an 18-yard burst through the middle. McCalip, Cameron, Dunbar, and Raggio are all competing for the #1 running back position. Reserve kicker Landon Franklin added the extra point to make the final score, 70-35.
Scoring 70 points, the Bulldogs racked up some impressive offensive numbers in their first outing of the season. Unofficially, Kane Archer threw for 287 yards, completing 25 of 31 attempts, including a perfect 12 for 12 in the second half. The highly touted Archer was one of three Bulldogs who had at least 70 yards on the ground, rushing eight times for 70 yards. Wesley Raggio had 78 yards on nine carries and Mario Dunbar had 72 yards, also on nine carries. Deacon Cameron ran twice for 17 yards and Maddox McCalip carried just once for a touchdown in his GHS debut.
The receiving corps was led by Isaiah Arrington with nine catches for 142 yards, followed by Champ Davis with 81 yards on five catches and Grant Karnes with seven receptions for 50 yards. Karnes and Arrington had receiving touchdowns as did junior Cooper Bland, who had two catches for 13 yards. Archer rushed for one score and threw for three others. Wesley Raggio had three touchdowns among his nine carries, while Mario Dunbar and Maddox McCalip had one each. On special teams, Champ Davis had a kick return for a touchdown.
After the game, Head Coach Chris Young talked briefly about the win with Dog Pound sideline reporter Richie Cagle and other members of the media. “We were just inconsistent,” the coach said as he began his remarks. “We gave up 35 points and we expect to play better than that. We weren’t very happy the way we played defensively. [But] we made some great stands. We turned the ball over on offense and the defense got a huge stop. I was really proud of them for that. There were some bright spots defensively, for sure.
“It’s just the inconsistency,” he continued, turning his attention to the offense. “We scored 70 points. You’d think we’d be fired up. But we fumbled the football five times. We had a running back who played here three years, Hunter Wilkinson, and never lost a fumble. We fumbled five times, and that’s coaching. That’s my fault, Coach Hogan’s fault, and Coach Holloway’s fault, and we’re going to get it fixed this week. We’ve got to go to work. We’re really good at doing the little things right, and we didn’t do that tonight, and that’s coaching. So we’re going to go back and work our tails off as coaches this weekend.”
Asked about some of the positives he saw from his team, Young added, “At times [QB] Kane [Archer] was awesome and was really good. I thought our receivers, minus ball protection, made some good plays. Up front I thought [the offensive line] got better as the game went. But we’re not going to be satisfied. We’ve got to get better. We have a goal at the end of the year, and we’ve got to play better to get there.”