It was Greenwood’s first trip to the Bill Frye Invitational, and the Bulldogs took home the hardware with a 58-43 win over the Hackett Hornets.

In Friday and Saturday action against Booneville and Heavener, the ‘Dogs started out fast then let up in the second period, then came out roaring after halftime. “It almost looks like my halftime speeches are unbelievable!” Head Coach B.J. Ross said after the 68-44 victory against Heavener on Saturday night. Senior Forward Jack Scott came out firing on all cylinders, netting 17 points in just the second half.

In the Championship game, Hackett would jump out on the Bulldogs early 8-2 before back-to-back baskets from Senior Grant Karnes and Junior Kane Archer. Archer’s basket coming off a turnaround jumper. At the end of the first period Greenwood led 18-13. Kane Archer had seven points at the end of the period, Grant Karnes with four points, Jack Scott with three points, and Jayden Garnes and Hudson Clark with 2 points.

Physical play filled up the second period of play, the Bulldogs were able to add to their lead outscoring the Hornets 8-3. With .3 seconds left, Sophomore Ty Holt fouled Hackett Senior Draden Best sending Best to the foul line for 3 shots. The Senior went 0-3 at the line as the buzzer sounded for halftime.

The physical style carried over into the second half with Hackett Hornets Hayden Foster and Matthew Rodgers going to the foul line going 3-4. Greenwood went on to score 8 unanswered points from Archer, Karnes, and Garnes. Greenwood’s swarming defense stifled the Hornets to just nine points, while the offense was able to hit another gear by putting up 14 points to put the lead at 40-25.

A nifty play from Kane Archer to Grant Karnes opened the fourth period with an Archer pass to a leaping Karnes for the basket. The Hornet offense would not stop as they rattled off eight unanswered points themselves with baskets from Juniors Kanon Fisher and Matthew Garner. Down 17 at the start of the fourth period, Hackett pulled within nine points trading baskets back and forth with their Sebastian County neighbor Greenwood. Hackett tried to slow the Bulldogs down using the foul line where Greenwood went 4-10 on four consecutive trips. A foul than a technical foul on Hackett had Jayden Garnes attempting four shots on one trip. Despite a run late, Greenwood was able to pull out the win 58-43.

Senior Grant Karnes earned the Tournament MVP for his effort on the night with 14-points and a double-double.

“It’s a big deal for these kids. That’s what I keep getting lost in.” Head Coach B.J. Ross said after the win. “I have got to understand that it is a big deal. Because it’s been a while since they’ve won eight.” While the Bulldogs have seen quite a bit of success on the football field, they have not always translated to the basketball court. This is the fastest the Bulldogs have reached 8 wins since the 2017-2018 season, when Greenwood reached 8 wins by January 2nd, 2018. That season they went 16-13. 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 the Bulldogs had 9 wins and 11 win seasons.

“Great environment, that’s what these kids, that’s what they enjoy.”

Greenwood has one more non-conference game against Cabot on Friday before the conference play starts on January 7th against Van Buren. It will be back-to-back home games for the Bulldogs. The Lady Bulldogs will be facing Bryant on Friday at home as well.

This was an incredible year of football in the Resident News Coverage area. New Coaches, new athletes, School, State, and National records broken. Communities separated by district lines coming together. Surprising upsets. So much went on from the last week of August until the first week of December.

Coach of The Year

Midway through the year Mansfield Head Coach Whit Overton, about sealed up this title with a win over Booneville. The Tigers had not defeated the Bearcats in 30+ years. Then four days later, the unthinkable happened. A housefire claimed the lives of three people in the Greenwood community. Senior Wide Receiver Isaiah Arrington, his mother Wendy Medrano, and sister Vivian Medrano. What happened next for the community, the school, and the Greenwood Bulldogs football team is hard to put into words, but I will give it a good effort.

When a tragedy happens, there is always a search for how we get back to normal. For this writer I have seen this occur twice, my junior year we lost a teammate in the middle of two-a-days before the season. The second being 9-11 when I was a volunteer at the school. Sports are always that glue that helps us get put back together when we are broken. And on October 30th, there were a lot of us broken. Rising up and standing at the forefront of it all was Greenwood Head Coach and Athletic Director Chris Young. The night of the tragedy, he rallied the coaches at 2am to plan the next steps, how to help the kids affected. Most certainly a tough situation for anyone to be in. A vote with the Seniors was taken on whether to play that Fridays game against Fort Smith Southside, and the vote was yes. At the prayer vigil the first night, Coach Young spoke about the community wrapping their arms around the team and the families affected. Something he would mention several times throughout the remainder of the season. The gluing had begun.

Support for the Bulldogs came from all over, local schools Hackett, Mansfield, Fort Smith Southside, and Lavaca served a pre-game meal the first Friday. President-elect Donald Trump sent a letter later in the season as well. As the Bulldogs took the field at Jim Rowland Stadium at Fort Smith Southside, it was time to heal just a little more. The opening kick-off was ran back by Arrington’s classmate Grant Karnes and Coach Young was the first one down to grab him up. Touchdown dances ensued, something Coach Young spoke about at the Celebration of Life service for Isaiah, Wendy, and Vivian. “At Siloam Springs, Isaiah makes this catch then this move on the sideline where he’s got the ball in the air and the guy misses. Then he gets the Touchdown and does a dance. I know I was hard on him for not having the ball high and tight, but you know he made the right move. I would give anything to see him do a touchdown dance again.”

The next Friday against Mountain Home for the Conference Championship, Greenwood in a first half downpour won 42-0 on Senior night. The next two games Greenwood outscored their opponents 90-0 to earn their 18th State Title appearance. At War Memorial Stadium the Bulldogs won their 12th State Title in Football defeating Shiloh Christian 61-35. Along the way they broke school, State and National records. Most importantly, Coach Young and his staff let the kids be kids and have fun on Friday night and take the time they needed. The broken hearts and minds may never be fully glued back together, but for six weeks the team and the community tried hard to make it happen. For his leadership at a time when it was needed most, Greenwood Head Football Coach Chris Young is the 2024 Stone Cold Lock of the Week: Dudes Of The Year – Coach of the Year.

The Extras

Near the end of the regular season, there was a curiosity as to what place had cannot miss concession stand food, spirit squads, band. While suggestions were rather light on the latter two, who had the great food, garnered the best response. Band was the Hackett Marching Band. I will throw in Greenwood’s band for their rendition of 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop” which well…. caught me off guard on how good it was. Their train percussion in the 4th quarter is fun. Spirit Squads back to Hackett again, their cheer team finished 3rd in state this past weekend. Greenwood’s Cheer and Dance teams added to the trophy cases with State Championships of their own. Finally, food. Last season the Greenwood Band Concession set the bar with their Crinkle Cut Fries, but did not bring them back this year. But! It got us thinking, what else is out there? Magazine has Outdoor Grilling that received high marks. Mansfield has pulled pork nachos, which on my trip for the first round of the playoffs I forgot to try. There was a shout out for the burgers at Lamar. Nachos made an appearance again in Cedarville for their Apple Nachos. I am intrigued to see what those are. Then Hackett has State Fair Food with their take on Funnel Cakes and Deep-Fried Oreos.

The Team

Offense

QB – Kane Archer – Greenwood

RB – Daniel Burton – Mansfield

RB – Kolton McCubbin – Magazine

OL – Christian Fleming – Greenwood

OL – Cody Taylor – Greenwood

OL – Akira Fujibayashi – Greenwood

OL – Sam Hicks – Booneville

OL – David McKamie – Charleston

WR – Grant Karnes – Greenwood

WR – Champ Davis – Greenwood

WR – Emiliano Gaona – Charleston

ATH – Isaiah Arrington – Greenwood

Defense

DL – Caiden Ore – Mansfield

DL – Eddy Castelo – Greenwood

DL – Dakota Deer – Mansfield

DL – Aiden Fox – Booneville

LB – Cash Archer – Greenwood

LB – Jaxson Brown – Waldron

LB – Maddix Terry – Charleston

LB – Cole Bailey – Waldron

DB – Jayden Carter – Paris

DB – Kaylor Jasna – Greenwood

DB – Andrew Burton – Mansfield