Water is wet, the sun is hot, the Greenwood Bulldogs are going to the State Championship. As we have seen from the Girls Cross Country and Volleyball teams the Greenwood Bulldogs once again punched their ticket to Little Rock. While this will be their 4th consecutive trip it marks their 17th appearance at War Memorial.
Greenwood kicked off to the Bruins to start the game, and Pulaski Academy would stall on their own side of the field. The Bruins came up short on fourth down giving the ball back to Greenwood. 9 plays later, Kane Archer found the end zone from 1 yard out. The Bodey Steinfeldt kick was good to make the score 7-0. Pulaski Academy made their way down to the Greenwood 17-yard line on a drive that included Cash Archer picking up sack number 16 on the year. A penalty backed the Bruins up to the 27. On the following play Bruin QB Brandon Cobb was intercepted at the 15-yard line by Senior Brady Mackey, who took the pick 85 yards for the touchdown. Point after was good, Greenwood on top 14-0. The Bruins answered right back with a 80-yard touchdown pass, the 2-point conversion attempt failed, 14-6. The Bulldogs answered back as well with a 13-yard one-handed catch from Junior Grant Karnes. 21-6 Bulldogs, after the Jack Edwards snap, Blaze McDaniel hold, and Bodey Steinfeldt kick. To end the 1st quarter, Cash Archer and classmate Zak Edwards sacked the Bruin QB.
Facing fourth down on their own 15-yard line, Pulaski Academy elected to punt, albeit a very short punt had the Bulldogs starting from the Bruin 27-yard line. On 4th down, Greenwood elected to go for it, where Kane Archer found L.J. Robins near the back of the end zone. Point after was good, 28-6 Greenwood. Senior Brenden Chick opened the Bruins next drive with a sack. Following a 36-yard pass to get the Bruins to midfield, Cash Archer stopped the Bruin running back for a loss, the following play, Senior Riley White added his name to the sack list getting one of his own. The Bruins attempted another 4th down conversion and fall incomplete. Greenwood drove down the field again trying to put the Bulldogs close to Sportsmanship territory. Stalling out on the Bruin goal line, the Bulldogs lined up to attempt a field goal. A penalty moved them closer and they came up short on the one yard line handing the Bruins back the ball. Pulaski Academy on their own 34-yard line went deep in the middle of the field for a touchdown, their 2-point conversion was good making the score 28-14. Greenwood’s next drive relied heavy on the running of Senior Brayedan Davis to get the Bulldogs within scoring distance. Kane Archer found Senior L.J. Robins again this time with a one-handed catch for the touchdown. Point after was good, Greenwood 35, Pulaski 14. The Bruin drive was started by Senior Brady Pettigrew and Cash Archer combining for a sack. Pulaski Academy ran out the clock on the rest of the half.
Greenwood recovered the signature Bruin onside kick to start the second half. Driving down the Bulldogs scored on a Kane Archer 14-yard run. 35-14 Bulldogs in the 3rd Quarter. The Bruins drove down the field and found the end zone on a 1-yard run. A penalty on the point after moved the Bruins back, the ensuing Field Goal went wide right making the score 42-20. The following onside popped up into the waiting hands of Grant Karnes, he took the kickoff in for a touchdown. Point after was good, Greenwood 49-20. On the Pulaski Academy next drive, Cash Archer sacked the Bruin QB to setup a 4th down interception from Braden Skaggs. Three plays later Kane Archer found Junior Isaiah Arrington for a Touchdown, point after was good making it Greenwood 56 Pulaski Academy 20 and enacting the Sportsmanship rule in the third quarter. Pulaski would run out the rest of the clock on the 3rd quarter.
The Bruins drove down the field and got a touchdown on their final drive, the point after attempt was blocked leaving the score 56-26. With the game in hand the Bulldogs elected to let the reserves finish the game, with Sophomores Wesley Raggio and Cooper Goodwin and Senior Isaiah Niles taking a bulk of the running before finishing in the Victory formation.
“Proud for those kids, they worked so darn hard this year. To see them celebrate another trip to War Memorial. You know we’re spoiled around here. These Seniors are going to make their third consecutive trip to War Memorial, they have some unfinished business.” Head Coach Chris Young said following the win.
While most stories this year have focused on the explosive offense and tough defense, the surprise play of the night was the onside recovery for a touchdown. “We had a hat on hat, and we knew we let the outside guy on each side go. We told Grant, if he caught it clean to go score with it and he did. Once Grant got through there, they weren’t catching him.” Coach Young said about the onside return.
The Bulldogs will face Little Rock Christian on December 1st at War Memorial. Kickoff is slated for 6:30p.m. A link to tickets will be posted by the Greenwood School District. The game will be broadcast on PBS, channel 13-1 on digital antenna, 13 on Cox, 2 on Dish Network. There is a Livestream available through the Arkansas PBS website but it is geo-blocked to viewers outside of Arkansas unless you subscribe to the NFHS website. The Greenwood Sports Center will have an audio only Livestream on Youtube. There will be a State Championship send-off announced during the week.
