Greenwood Football News and Notes
It is Semi-Final week in Greenwood, and the Bulldogs are thankful to be practicing on Thanksgiving.
Tradition
This will be the Bulldogs 11th consecutive trip to the Semi-Finals, which also coincides with their home game winning streak which now stands at 76. The Bulldogs have now made it to the semi-finals twenty-five times in the modern play-off era. With eighteen of those resulting in a trip to War Memorial for a State Championship game appearance.
The last time the Bulldogs were not in the Semi-Finals the current junior class was in kindergarten.
The Bulldogs will hold their traditional Thanksgiving practice at 9 A.M. at Smith-Robinson Stadium. The Community is welcome to the practice and enjoy donuts, coffee, and hot chocolate as the Bulldogs prepare for the Benton Panthers. This will be the tenth meeting of the two Class 6A titans, where Greenwood holds a 7-2 record on the Saline County team.
Awards and Records
While conference and state awards will be announced by the school after the Bulldogs last game. The Little Rock Touchdown Club announced that University of Central Oklahoma commit Cody Johnson was their 2025 Dan Hampton Award winner. Given to the top Defensive player in the state. The 6’4” 240lbs Defensive End has fifty-five solo tackles and fifteen tackles for a loss with seven sacks. On a defense that lost several Seniors like current UCA player Cash Archer, Cody Johnson was one of a few returners.
2024 MaxPreps and Gatorade Arkansas player of the year, Kane Archer is in an outstanding position to repeat those feats. The Senior signal caller gained 1000-yards rushing on the season Friday night. Archer is forty-one yards away from gaining 3000-yards passing on the season. Career numbers, he is fifty-three yards away from 10,000. He is 129-yards away from breaking the twenty-seven-year-old record of 10,075 yards career passing set by Brooks Coatney in 1998. It will mark just the second time in school history a quarterback has thrown for 10,000 yards in their career. He has already eclipsed the 100 passing TD’s and 50 rushing TD mark against Southside in Week 9. With a max of two games remaining or a minimum of one, the TD total sits at 125 passing and 54 rushing. Once again, Archer is in range to etch his name in the National Federation of State High School Associations or NFHS record book. Last year, Archer set the single season record with 81.5% completion percentage. The current career record is 76.1%, and Kane sits at 75.4%.
Recruiting
The big news out of Greenwood over the weekend was the decommitment of Kane Archer from University of Central Florida. Senior Offensive Lineman Cody Taylor remains committed to University of North Carolina – Charlotte. Several Bulldogs have taken visits this season as they look to their playing future. Seniors Landon Billy and Akira Fujibayshi took a visit to Henderson State. While the latter also took Official Visits to Hendrix, Southern Nazarene, Lyon, and attended the Battle of the Ravine between Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State. Senior Cornerback D.J. Dobbins took a visit to Arkansas Tech. Sophomore QB Dabin Gaines visited University of Tennessee – Martin and McPherson College in Kansas. National early signing day is December 3-5, while regular signing day is February 4th, 2026.
State Capitol Week in Review From Senator Terry Rice
Little Rock – In July, the federal government’s passage of HR1, the Big Beautiful Bill, established the Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program. The program established $50 billion to be allocated to the States over a ten-year period to alleviate concerns over the cuts to Medicaid in the bill. Half of the funding will be divided equally among the 50 states and the remaining funds will be made available to states through grants distributed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
In October, Arkansas applied for a portion of the federal funding in the amount of $1 billion that would be paid out in installments over five years. The RHT Program seeks to address the major challenges faced by rural Arkansas. Statistics from the Arkansas Department of Health found that about 45% of Arkansas live in rural areas, making it one of the most rural states in the country. Almost half of our rural hospitals are considered vulnerable to closure.
The state’s proposal is divided into four subsections: Promoting Access, Coordination, and Transformation (PACT), Healthy Eating, Active Recreation, and Transformation (HEART), Recruitment, Innovation, Skills, and Education for Arkansas (RISE AR) and Telehealth, Health-monitoring, and Response Innovation for Vital Expansion (THRIVE).
The PACT initiative is the costliest, with $400 million for initiatives including primary care, specialty care, preventive screenings, and telehealth services in underserved communities. The plan would focus on Clinically Integrated Networks (CIN) to improve efficiency, data sharing and regional collaboration. PACT ensures that rural residents can access timely, coordinated care close to home.
The HEART initiative would cost approximately $150 million to create a community-driven approach to nutrition, physical activity and chronic disease management. HEART would strengthen rural health systems by integrating school programs, community-based initiatives, faith organizations, and healthcare education. In addition, it would provide $10 million for school-based clinics and mobile care units.
With approximately $161 million, the RISE AR initiative would focus on recruitment and training programs, increasing medical school rotation slots and new workplace retention methods.
The strategy for THRIVE would be funded at approximately $267 million to upgrade EMS and emergency response systems. The initiative would also be invested in telehealth infrastructure, including cybersecurity and network upgrades, with nearly $92 million to be used for launching remote pilot programs for chronic diseases.
CMS is currently in the review process of the RHT grants that will be awarded by the end of this year. According to the National Rural Health Association, each state is given a score dependent on rural facilities and population estimates based on factors outlined by the CMS.
The Rural Health Transformation Program presents an opportunity to invest in promoting an innovative and sustainable healthcare system in rural Arkansas. Through proper funding and implementation, the program has the potential to improve the long-term financial viability of Arkansas’ rural healthcare. The application for the grant can be found at: https://governor.arkansas.gov/arkansas-rural-health-transformation-program-application/.