Greenwood 9th Grade would beat Dardanelle 36-35 in Overtime.
Greenwood’s 9th Grade squad put on a show similar to that from a couple weeks ago when the Varsity team hosted Northside. Facing a 13 point deficit in the first quarter the Freshmen Bulldogs clawed their way back to win in Overtime.
“This was a special night for Greenwood Bulldog Football in general. We dressed out every single kid from 7th through 9th grade tonight. Our High School team was down here supporting us, it’s a special time to be a Greenwood Bulldog”
Junior High Head Coach Luke Hales
Greenwood would get the opening kick and and proceed to drive down the field with Wesley Raggio getting the touchdown and Cassanova’s kick. Dardanelle’s Rod Chaten would answer back with a Touchdown of their own. Jesus Garcia’s kick would be good making the score 7-7. On the ensuing kickoff Greenwood would fumble giving the ball to the Sand Lizards. Their drive would stall forcing them to punt. Greenwood would take over running out the rest of the 1st quarter clock.
Greenwood’s drive in the 2nd quarter would stall as well forcing a Cooper Goodwin punt down to the Dardanelle 1 yard line. An offsides penalty would put the ball at the 6-yard line, where Jesus Garcia would for a Touchdown, his point after was good putting the Sand Lizards on top 14-0. On the next drive the Dardanelle defense would be waiting and take an interception in for a touchdown. A fumbled snap on the point after would have Garcia trying to run outside only to be met by the Greenwood defense, 20-7.
Greenwood would fumble the hand off with Dardanelle recovering. The Sand Lizards would not be able to capitalize and punt the ball away. Cooper Goodwin on 4th down would find a wide-open Brayden Shepard for the touchdown, Cassanova would add the point after. Dardanelle would get one play before running out the clock to go to Halftime with the score 20-14 Dardanelle on top.
Dardanelle would receive the 2nd half kickoff then punt pinning the Bulldogs deep in their own territory. Greenwood would fail to get the first down and then be blocked on the punt. Dardanelle would take over and run to the left. In the process of being tackled Rod Chaten would fumble into the end zone giving the ball back to the Bulldogs on a touchback. Greenwood would then drive down the field behind the big offensive line with Cooper Goodwin getting the touchdown, the Cassanova kick would give Greenwood their first lead since the opening drive, 21-20. Greenwood would stop the Dardanelle offense forcing another punt, ending the 3rd quarter.
Greenwood would end their drive with a punt. Dardanelle would take advantage with Rod Chaten taking the ball again in for the touchdown. Dardanelle’s two-point attempt would be good pushing the score to 28-21. Wesley Raggio would take the Dardanelle kick to midfield, then after a time chewing drive Raggio gets the touchdown. Cassanova’s kick would tie the game 28-28 with 2:59 left in the 4th.
Farah Crossno’s kickoff would be recovered by Michael Shaw giving Greenwood another shot to wi the game. The drive would stop with Greenwood punting. Dardanelle would run out the clock sending the game into Overtime.
The Sand Lizards would start from the 10 and get four tries to put points on the board. As tradition would have it the Varsity squad arrives to watch 9th Grade after their team dinner. The Varsity team now stood shoulder to shoulder on the sideline. Dardanelle would use all four downs and get in on a Jesus Garcia 1 yd run, the point after would be good. 35-28.
Greenwood gets their shot. Lawyer Thornsberry would snag the 2nd down pass from Goodwin and get them to the 5-yard line. Bringing in the heavy package Cooper Goodwin would take it to the right diving to the end zone but come up short. On 4th down and sideline and crowd growing louder, Goodwin would again call his own number punching it in behind that line for the Touchdown. Offense would remain on the field with Coach Hales going for 2. Goodwin would take the snap go up the middle and get the two-point conversion. Game Over, Dardanelle 35, Greenwood 36.
As the 9th graders did when their classmate Kane Archer found Sophomore Grant Karnes for the win against Northside, the Varsity squad rushed the field to congratulate the upcoming underclassmen.
“9th Grade was awesome.” Said Coach Hales “We shot ourselves in the foot, you know we gave them the ball, we gave them opportunities. And with the talented players they have they are going to take advantage.”
“We have got to be more aggressive. We’ve got break down keep them in front. We’ve got to be physical.” In preseason Coach Hales mentioned that the offensive line would be the difference maker, he remarked “It was tonight!” he went on to say “We feel so confident running behind our big boys.”
Asked about going for two in Overtime on if it was an easy decision he replied, “I think so, with the Overtime time rules they (Dardanelle) have the opportunity to switch the ends of the field if we just tied right there. All of our kids were down here, they’re hyping us up so we just wanted to go for it on this end.”
“Proud of our Assistant Coaches our kids, they clawed and they fought. Just so proud of them.” said Coach Hales.
The 9th Grade Bulldogs will take a trek across the river and take on Van Buren in another conference matchup on Sept. 22nd.
