In what could be described as a David vs Goliath match-up, the Pocola Indians made the trek across state lines to face the Greenwood Bulldog 8th grade team. Pocola found themselves in a similar situation over the Labor Day weekend, their next opponent canceled due to Covid. This became common place in the 2020 season and even saw this class of Bulldogs missing out on two weeks of their season due to quarantine. A few calls later between Coaches and the game was set for September 9 at Smith-Robinson Stadium.

Jakson Overton would get the start on Thursday night as bounce back from the game against Russellville the week before. “He looked a lot more relaxed and he made some good plays.” Head Coach Shannon Rhea said after the game. “He ran the ball when he should, and he made a good pass throwing the deep ball down in the corner.”

Greenwood would start the game from their own 30 yard line, Wesley Raggio would get the call on the first place but would be tackled for a loss on the play. Jakson Overton would find Lawyer Thornsberry on the next play for a 9 yard gain, but the drive would stall on 4th down pass attempt to Benton Hossley resulting in a turnover on downs. Pocola would start their drive from the Greenwood 37. Pocola would drive down the field but stall on the 24 yard line. Going on 4th Down, Braden Hardwick would throw it to a Pocola receiver, Blaze McDaniel would break up the pass at the 4 yard line. Greenwood would take over at the 24. A 13 yard run by Wesley Raggio and a 11 yard run by Jakson Overton set up a 52 yard pitch and catch from Overton to Raggio for a touchdown. The two point conversion pass from Overton to Cooper Bland was caught putting the score at 8-0.

Pocola would take the ball at the 30 yard line to start there drive with Hardwick attempting a deep pass to Jackson Parker that would be incomplete. With some great passing the Indians would make it down the field capped off by a 2 yard run for the touchdown by Hardwick. Two point conversion would be good pushing the score to 8-8 in the 2nd quarter. Greenwood would answer back with a 66 yard run from Wesley Raggio. A leaping Cooper Bland at the back of the end zone would tack on another 2 points.

Pocola’s next drive would come to a stop on their own 26 with the Indians punting on 4th down. Jakson Overton would find Lawyer Thornsberry for a 32 yard catch putting the Dogs on the 25. Facing 4th and 11, Overton would toss it to Andrew Burton for the TD on a 26 yard strike. Pocola would take a knee to the game to halftime with the Dogs on top 22-8.

Pocola would start the 2nd half with a first down pass, they would not be able to convert on the next set of downs electing to punt. Some quick plays would find Brayden Shepard taking it into the end zone for 26 yards out, another Overton pass to Bland would put the dogs up 30-8. Middle of the fourth quarter Pocola would get another TD and two point putting the score at 30-16. From there the Dogs would drive down the field ending the game.

Jakson Overton came into the game looking for some positives and gained some by going 10 for 11 with 139 yards and two touchdowns through the air. The biggest one being the 26 yard pass to Andrew Burton. Rushing wise, Wesley Raggio would get 76 yards rushing on 6 carries and a touchdown. Brayden Shepard would get the ball two times and rush for 43 yards with one touchdown. Raggio would also lead in receiving yards off of the 52 yard touchdown. Lawyer Thornsberry would get 50 yards off of 3 catches, and Andrew Burton with 2 catches and 30 yards.

“With this group we have got to be able to run the ball, I think that’s our strength. We have got good size, and we got better.” Head Coach Shannon Rhea said. Next game is against the Darby Rangers out of Fort Smith. They feature an explosive running back in Demonie Brock and a transfer from Greenwood, Sean Durham. Coach Rhea went on to say, “We’ve got a really good opponent next week, we’ll find out what we got.”

“We’re happy to come over and play a big school like this and compete” said Pocola Coach Jason Parker. “Outside of a couple big plays we’re in that game.” Coach Parker had high praise for the Arkansas school, “This is a great program, everybody knows this is the cream of the crop program around here. I appreciate Coach Young letting us come over here and play and getting reps in. Ya know, this doesn’t do anything but make our boys better. We play a team like this that can roll in three different strings, then we go play next week it just makes our kids better.”

It was a reunion of sorts for some of the Greenwood 8th graders as they were coached by Jason Parker in the Spring Impact Youth Football League in 2018. Lineman, Landon Billy, Akira Fujibayashi, Running Back Wesley Raggio, and QB Kane Archer played for the Pocola coach on the now-defunct Fort Smith Cowboys. They would finish 3rd in the League that year and would springboard Archer into the National spotlight. Jason Parker’s son Jackson was also on the team and they met up after the game to get a photo with their former Coach. Parker was also the Defensive Coordinator on the Poteau Bandit Bi-State League team that nearly all of the 8th Grade Bulldogs played against as Pittbulls.

After a tough loss against Shiloh Christian, the seventh grade Bulldogs found their footing and win against Kimmons 26-16.

It had been August 26 since the 7th grade Bulldogs had taken the field and they showed no signs of rust as they got after the Kimmons Red Raiders this past Tuesday. The Bulldog defense had Kimmons stopped on a 4th and 2 on the first drive, a few missed tackles had Kimmons’ QB run 59 yards for the first TD of the game. A two point conversion would be good, putting the score at 8-0. Ty Holt would take the ensuing kickoff across the midfield stripe and the Dogs would start from the Kimmons 41 yard line. Holt would find Braden Brewer three times on the ensuing drive to get the Dogs within striking distance of the end zone. A 25 yard run by Rhett Holloway would be negated by a holding penalty, but the Bulldogs responded. Holloway would get the call and scamper 14 yards for the the TD. A two point conversion from Holt to Brewer would be good for two, tying the score 8-8.

A fumble by Kimmons on the snap would be recovered by Jacob Berry, this would get the offense back on the field at the 50 yard line. Rhett Holloway would get the drive started with a 14 yard run. Two plays later, Ty Holt would keep it around the right side escaping attempted tackles for a 31 yard TD run. The two point conversion would fail, and the quarter ended 14-8, Dogs on top.

Kimmons would get a good drive going getting down to the Greenwood 24. A Bailey Thibodeaux interception on the the 12 yard line would put a stop to the driving Red Raiders. Several good runs by Holt and Holloway would get the offense down to the Kimmons 37. A 28 yard pass as time expired from Holt to Brewer would get the Dogs down the Kimmons 9 yard line. Halftime score 14-8.

A short kick by Kimmons to start the 2nd half had the Bulldogs starting at their own 38. A couple runs by Ty Holt and Rhett Holloway would once again get them in scoring position. Getting down to the 21 yard line, a false start penalty would push the Bulldogs back to the 26. The next play Holt would find Braden Rennick again on the drive, this one for 26 yards to put the Dogs ahead 26-8. The two-point conversion would be no good. The Red Raider offense would stall out on their own 25. On 4th down, Kimmons would go for it. A fumbled snap was scooped up and tossed to Jayden Thomas, who gets through the Greenwood defense and his own offense for the 75 yard TD. The two point conversion is good with the score 20-16.

A Bailey Thibodeaux kickoff return would get the Bulldogs down to the Kimmons 29 yard line. A 20 yard run by Ty Holt would be canceled out by a holding call, putting the Dogs at the 40 yard line. A short run by Holloway set up a big gain through the air as Holt would find Rennick again, this time for 31 yards. Holt would take it in from 6 yards out giving Greenwood a 26-16 lead. The next drive Kimmons would not be as lucky as they faced 4th and 32 at their own 22. A run to the right would be stopped at the 20 yard line. Greenwood’s drive would stall at the Kimmons 25 giving the ball back to the Red Raiders.

Jace Brown would break up the pass on first down, but a 25 yard Kimmons run would give them momentum on the drive. A fumbled snap on on 2nd down would result in a Jacob Berry sack, leaving the Raiders facing 3rd and 15. Another fumbled snap was scooped up by Kimmons and almost became a wild play again, but was stopped by the Greenwood defense. With time ticking away, a swing pass to the left became a big gain with Jax Sharum pushing the Kimmons receiver out of bounds with one second left on the clock. Kimmons would attempt a hook and ladder on the play, but threw the ball forward twice, ending regulation play. Dogs on top 26-16.

The game would then go into a 5th quarter to get some more field time for Kimmons and Greenwood. There was not a score kept for the quarter and it was under a 15 minute running clock. Jace Brown and Kyler Scott would both find the end zone in the 5th, with Brown getting 2 TD’s.

Ty Holt would finish with nine completions off of 13 attempts for 116 yards one touchdown, he would also rush for 92 yards on nine attempts with two touchdowns, Rhett Holloway would rush nine times as well for 68 yards and one touchdown. Braden Brewer would snag five receptions for 57 yards and Braden Rennick would get three receptions for 67 yards and one touchdown.

7th Grade will be in action against Darby on Tuesday, games start at 5:30.