9th Grade Bulldogs traveled to Siloam Springs and defeated the Panthers 35-12 in NWRV Conference action.
The Freshman Bulldogs made their first trek to Benton County to face the Siloam Springs Panthers. Longtime foes in the Varsity ranks since the ’90s, the 2026 Bulldogs were facing them for the first time since they were Pittbulls doing 7 on 7 Tournaments during the pre-season.
Just like the Varsity Bulldogs, the 9th Grade jumped out of the gate early with a Wesley Raggio touchdown. Siloam Springs would be forced to turnover on downs and the Jr ‘Dogs would find the end zone again this time through the air as Cooper Goodwin would find Lawyer Thornsberry for the Touchdown. Laydn Casanova’s kick would be good giving Greenwood a 14-0 lead. Siloam Springs would turnover on downs again from great plays on defense.
Cooper Goodwin would throw the short pass to Wesley Raggio, with the running back finding the End Zone after a great run and down field blocking from the receivers. Casanova would tack on the extra point making it 21-0 with 4:49 in the 2nd. Siloam would finally put together a drive and find themselves 4th and Goal. They would push their way into the end zone with the two-point conversion failing when Linebacker Caleb Cox gets the interception. Greenwood would run out the clock to take the halftime lead 21-6.
Siloam opens up the second half just as they did the first half with a Turnover on downs. Greenwood would drive down to the Siloam 2 yard line and turn the ball over to Siloam. Siloam would then return the favor and fumble with Cody Johnson landing on the ball. Greenwood drives into the Siloam Red Zone as time expired on the 3rd Quarter.
Greenwood’s Brayden Shepard would hammer the run into the end zone for 6, with Casanova adding the extra point 28-6. Siloam then answers back with help from a pass interference call them throwing to the right to a falling down receiver. Touchdown Siloam Springs, two-point conversion would fail again. Greenwood drives down again once again allowing Brayden Shepard to get into the end zone for the final TD of the night. Casanova’s kick was good once again putting the score at 35-12 with 3:42 left in the 4th. The defense stood tall stopping the Siloam Springs offense after great plays from Cody Johnson, Easton Carter, and others. Greenwood would then run out the clock.
“They’re a good team, they were coached up. They ran the ball really well. They kind of played keep away from us for a little bit.” Jr High Head Coach Luke Hales said of Siloam Springs. After several weeks of close games the Freshman ‘Dogs were able to breath a little bit, Coach Hales had this to say, “Our guys on defense really stepped up. Cody Johnson had another really good night. Sylas Geren, Sam Hicks and Akira Fujibayashi really stepped up on the D[efensive] Line.” On the Offensive side of the ball, Coach Hales commented about the running game “Another big night for Offensive Line and Wesley [Raggio]. We didn’t throw the ball as I wanted to, but that comes with time and reps, and we’ll get that corrected.” Brayden Shepard has become one of the rising stars of the team in the short yardage situations, “That’s a big deal for our team. Wesley does so much he’s on kickoff, kickoff return, he runs the ball about every other play, he catches the ball out of the backfield. So it is awesome to have a [another] guy that can really go.” With the offensive line and the play of Raggio and Shepard, the Quarterback play and decision making of Cooper Goodwin has progressed throughout the season “They [Offensive Line] give him plenty of time, getting us movement so we can run the ball. Cooper’s the leader of our team. He’s a really smart kid, a great football player, and he’s going to have an awesome three weeks at the end of the season.”
Next week the Freshman Bulldogs host Pea Ridge in Thursday night action. They played Shiloh Christian this past Thursday and took a 49-3 loss. This will be the second meeting between the 2026 Bulldogs. Covid cancelled the game in 2020. In 2021 Pea Ridge traveled to Greenwood ending in a 41-6 win for the Bulldogs. This will also be the last home game for the Freshman Bulldogs as the last two weeks they are on the road to Shiloh Christian and Alma.
Currently Greenwood sits second in the very competitive NWRV Conference. Shiloh Christian is in first at 6-0, Harrison and Farmington both sit at 4-2 with the nod going to Harrison in that tie breaker. Rounding out the last half the conference is Dardanelle, Van Buren, and Siloam Springs at 3-3. Alma, Pea Ridge, and Prairie Grove sit at 1-5.
