With a bye week approaching, the Greenwood Bulldogs just rolled to their third consecutive non-conference win over a Class 7A team, the Wildcats of Springdale Har-Ber. The game took place at Smith-Robinson Stadium before a typically large home crowd this past Friday night. Once again, the explosive GHS offense invoked the mercy rule by halftime and finished off the visitors in a truncated second half, winning 56-19.
Greenwood will next take the field at Shiloh Christian, also from Springdale, on Friday, September 27th in the conference opener for both teams. The Saints will also enjoy an open date next Friday as both teams prepare for the 6A West showdown. In pre-season rankings, Shiloh Christian was seen by many pundits as the only league team with the potential to challenge the Bulldogs’ annual stranglehold on the conference title and almost certain return to the state championship game.
The Bulldogs have mercy-ruled all three 7A opponents this season, scoring 70, 58, and 56 points in succession, averaging 61 points per game. After giving up 35 points to Bentonville-West in their season opener, the Greenwood defense shut out Fort Smith Northside before allowing 19 points to Har-Ber. The GHS juggernaut continues to get better on both sides of the ball with seven games remaining on the regular season schedule, all against conference foes.
Last Friday’s contest against the Wildcats began with the Bulldogs receiving the opening kick, returned 31 yards by Grant Karnes to the home 41, and it didn’t take long for Greenwood to strike gold. Three plays, exactly. Quarterback Kane Archer tossed a short swing pass to the left to Chase Davis for a gain to the visitors’ 45. Archer then threw to Isaiah Arrington for a short gain to the 38. The Bulldogs went back to the well on the next snap, throwing another swing pass to Davis, this time to the right side. Davis made the grab near the 30 and found a lane down the sideline to the end zone, getting a key block from Grant Karnes at the 5-yard-line. Kicker Hudson Meeker added the extra point for a 7-0 GHS lead.
After forcing a three-and-out by the Wildcats, the Bulldogs next took possession of the ball at their own 43 after the Har-Ber punt, and this time it took four plays to score. Archer threw two passes, one each to Davis and Karnes, reaching the visitors’ 20. Running back Wesley Raggio then rumbled to the 12 on the next snap then took another handoff and sprinted around left end before cutting back to the end zone for the score. The extra point was good again by Meeker.
Leading 14-0 at the 7:57 mark of the first quarter, the Bulldogs’ defense continued to thwart the Wildcats and forced another punt to the GHS 49 with no return. Four plays later, the home team was in the end zone again. To jumpstart the possession, Kane Archer scrambled twice to the Har-Ber 22-yard-line, the second run covering 24 yards. Raggio then ran to the 18 before Archer found Cooper Bland over the middle near the 10 before the junior receiver carried in for the touchdown. The PAT made it 21-0 at the 5:36 mark.
The two teams then traded punts, the Bulldogs doing so for the first time this season, with junior D.J. Dobbins having the honor of kicking the ball. The Wildcats took over at their own 49 and got some help from a pass interference penalty on the Bulldogs, moving the ball to the GHS 31. Running back Titus Cramer then scampered for Har-Ber’s first score, but the point after failed.
Ahead 21-6, the GHS offense went back to work after Isaiah Arrington returned the kickoff to the home 30. Archer passed to Grant Karnes on first down, aided by a personal foul penalty on the visitors to the Har-Ber 42-yard-line. Another toss to Arrington reached the 24 before Archer rolled right to buy time and found Chase Davis in the end zone for the score. Meeker’s kick was good again for a 28-6 Greenwood lead with 20 seconds left in the opening quarter.
The home defense then helped set up the next Bulldogs’ score, stuffing a fourth down play at the GHS 46, putting the ball back into Archer’s hands with excellent field position early in the second period. After a rare incompletion and a short pass to the Har-Ber 47, the GHS quarterback threw to Wesley Raggio coming out of the backfield. Uncovered and wide open near the left hash mark, the diminutive running back made the catch and turned on the jets all the way to the end zone. The extra point made it 35-6 with 7:36 left in the half.
Another failed fourth down play by the Wildcats gave Greenwood the ball at Bulldogs’ 27, leading to the sixth GHS score of the first half, invoking the mercy rule for the second half. Archer and company needed just under three minutes to reach pay dirt in 12 plays, three of which drew penalty flags, two on the Bulldogs, who also overcame a first-and-25 situation. From his own 24-yard-line, Archer passed to Karnes to the 40, then scrambled and threw to Cooper Bland, putting the ball back at the 35 after a penalty. The junior QB then tucked the ball and ran up the middle to the Har-Ber 38.
Two snaps later he threw to Arrington for 14 yards, reaching the 21. With just 21 seconds left in the half, Archer found Chase Davis strolling through the end zone for the TD catch. Meeker’s kick made the score 42-6 with 16 seconds left, ensuring that the second half would unfold almost in real time with a continuously running clock.
The Greenwood defense ended the Wildcats’ opening possession of the third quarter when senior linebacker Gage Hanna recovered a Har-Ber fumble at the home 42. After the turnover, the #1 GHS offense returned to the field for the first series with Archer back at the controls. He passed to Grant Karnes for 19 yards to the visitors’ 34, then threw to Chase Davis, reaching the 19. Two snaps later he connected with Davis again at the 7-yard-line. A third straight toss to Davis reached the end zone with about 5:45 left in the third quarter. The PAT made it 49-6, but the #1 GHS offense would not return.
With time rapidly slipping away, the Wildcats scored again on their next possession with many GHS starters on the sideline. The touchdown came on an 11-yard run and the PAT was good, making it 49-13 as the game moved into the fourth quarter. The GHS #2 offense, led by junior QB Cooper Goodwin, then took the field and scored in just four plays. Starting at his own 42 after the kickoff, Goodwin completed a short pass to Ben Hossley at the 47. But after a pair of misfires, Goodwin was forced to scramble, finding running room around the right side all the way to the end zone for the score near the nine-minute mark. Landon Franklin’s extra point kick was good, and Greenwood led 56-13.
With time running out, the Wildcats managed to score once more against the #2 GHS defense, making the final score, 56-19, after another failed extra point try. It was Har-Ber’s second loss of the season, while the Bulldogs improved to 3-0, clearly establishing themselves as one of the best teams in the state, regardless of classification. It was Greenwood’s 64th straight victory at Smith-Robinson Stadium and their 16th in a row since losing in the 2022 state championship game.
Greenwood did most of its damage offensively in the first half, scoring 42 points on 377 yards in 32 plays, unofficially. Archer was 23 of 30 overall for the game, racking up 353 yards and six touchdowns, thanks to the blocking and running skills of his many receivers who turned mostly short passes into longer gains. Chase Davis led the way with 10 receptions for 154 yards and four touchdowns. Cooper Bland had two catches, one for a touchdown, while Wesley Raggio also had a TD reception. Isaiah Arrington had five catches for 60 yards and Grant Karnes had five grabs for 75 yards. Archer also scrambled four times for 51 yards while Goodwin ran once for 53 yards and a touchdown to lead the team in rushing.
After the game, Head Coach Chris Young addressed his Bulldogs on the field and congratulated them on a game well played. Young will give his players and coaches some well-deserved time off with the open date next Friday. The players will return on Wednesday to begin preparing for Shiloh Christian. After talking to his players, Young met with members of the media.
Asked about his plans for the next few days, Young said, “We have a bye week, and we want [the players] to get away from football and rest their bodies. I think we’re healthy and that’s huge. We’re going to give them Monday and Tuesday off, but we’re still going to practice three days next week, Wednesday through Friday. Shiloh is a really good football team, and a lot of preparation goes in to getting ready to play those guys.”
The Head Dog was very happy with the performance of Kane Archer and the offense. "I think our offense is at a really good spot right now," he said. "Our kids are coming out and executing. We're taking care of the ball better. We've worked on that since our first game.” We're just taking what [the defense is] giving us. Coach [Stephen] Hogan and our offensive staff do a phenomenal job. He and Coach [Austin] Moreton and Coach [Josh] Holloway. Coach [Luke] Hales in the [press] box called two touchdowns tonight. Those four guys have no ego, and I think all four of them called a play tonight and our kids executed.
“Our offense is really clicking right now and playing well. Our offensive line is doing a good job and improving every week. The ball is getting spread around and receivers are making plays after the catch. [Kane] did a good job getting the ball to [them] and letting them do their thing.”
Asked about the lack of a ground game against the Wildcats, Young said, "They loaded the box up a little bit, which is different than what we got the first two games. They played those guys in the box and gave us some leverage on the outside. We were able to take advantage of that. We have so many weapons, they can't take them all away." Despite not calling many running plays, the Bulldogs still had over 125 yards rushing, mostly on quarterback scrambles by Archer and Goodwin.
Defensively, Young was also pleased with the most reconstructed part of his team. "We're seeing improvement. We have a lot of seniors on defense that haven't started in the past," he said. "They're guys that have been in the program for six years. A lot of guys that have been around but haven't been on the field on Friday night. The more games those guys get under their belts, the better they're going to get. A couple times they got big stops on fourth down. Our defensive coaches have worked hard preparing our kids and they had a great game plan tonight.”
Young also praised his reservists and those who populate the scout team in practice during the week. “I think our scout team does a really great job and prepares us really well. We coach those guys hard, and we get a good look, and that’s one of the best things about our program. We practice hard to make the games easy, and we saw that tonight.”