LITTLE ROCK — Greenwood failed to reach the state championship game for the first time since 2003 last fall, but Coach Rick Jones still gave his ultra-successful program high marks.
Greenwood righted the ship following a sluggish start to capture its third 5A-West championship in four years and finish 9-4.
A 54-24 semifinal playoff loss to eventual state champion Pulaski Academy ended Greenwood's chance at a fourth consecutive state title.
"It's just so easy to give up, especially with high expectations," said Jones, who has won more than 82 percent of his games since becoming Greenwood's coach in 2004. "You go into a season with high expectations, and all of a sudden you're 2-3 and might not even make the playoffs, you really have to just dig deep, deep down inside and decide how this thing was going to go.
"I thought our kids did a great job."
Greenwood, No. 1 in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Class 5A Super Six rankings, returns 11 starters in its chase for the program's fifth state championship this decade.
Jones said he believes the Bulldogs have a chance to be the top dog again because of the improvement of several players during the off-season.
For instance, senior wide receiver Spencer Harris caught 73 passes for 1,266 yards and 14 touchdowns last season. But Jones said the 6-3, 180-pound Harris is bigger, faster and more explosive now. He has a scholarship offer from Missouri Southern.
"He's a lot better than he was last year, and he was pretty good last year," Jones said. "He went around to quite a few colleges and really got some great experience working against some top-notch guys. I think he's going to be a really, really dominating player."
Jones said junior linebacker Marco Vota, 6-1, 196, has gained about 20 pounds since last season and should be among the top players at his position in the state.
Vota was a member of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Super Sophomore Team after making 63 tackles, including 14 for loss.
Senior quarterback Tyler Shook, 6-0, 170, threw for 2,865 yards last season - his first year as a starter - and has continued to progress, Jones said.
Other returning starters include senior running back Travis Green (a team-high 605 yards rushing last season) and place-kicker Austin Hartness, who saw action as a freshman.
"I think one of the things that excites us is that our returners have made great improvement," Jones said. "Sometimes if you have a lot of returning players, you think, 'Well, we're going to be 50 times better than we were last season.' Sometimes, it just doesn't happen.
"But I believe all the way down line, our returning guys are going to be greatly improved over what they were last year."
Sports, Pages 15, 19 on 08/27/2009