GREENWOOD -- It was Greenwood that made the key plays to hold off Fort Smith Southside 15-10 Friday night in a defensive battle at Smith-Robinson Stadium.
Greenwood allowed the Southside offense just 249 total yards and 11 first downs.
"I am unbelievably pleased with our defense. They played awesome," said Greenwood Coach Rick Jones, who is now 4-1 against the Rebels since 2007. "We gave them short fields twice and they fought their guts out. We can give up 50 and win or we can win 15-10. As long as you have more than the other team, that is what we want. The main thing is the defense kept fighting, struggling and straining to try and get stops."
The Rebels (1-1), conversely, hurt themselves with penalties. Southside had 10 penalties for 89 yards, four of those penalties led to Greenwood first downs.
"Penalties, penalties, penalties," Rebels Coach Jeff Williams said. "I was proud of the way our team played. Both defenses were outstanding tonight. We just had penalties that extended drives and we could not get off the field."
After a 3-3 tie at halftime, Greenwood (2-0) used two third-quarter touchdowns on consecutive possessions to seize control.
On their second possession of the second half, the Bulldogs covered 71 yards in nine plays, capped by a 15-yard scoring pass from Reid Wheeler to Kevin Jones. Jones missed the extra point, but Greenwood led 9-3 with 4:03 left in the quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out on the Rebels' next possession, the Bulldogs struck quickly. A 15-yard facemask penalty moved the ball to the Southside 44 before Wheeler hit an open Garrett Collins in the end zone for a 15-10 lead with 1:36 left in the third period.
Wheeler finished the game 20-of-25 passing for 226 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception.
"Reid made a great throw and let [Collins] go make a play," Jones said. "We've got to do a better job of getting the ball distributed. We didn't run the ball like we want to but give credit to Southside's defense. They did a good job all night."
Southside took advantage after Kaleb Chaires recovered a Greenwood fumble at the Bulldogs' 24. Quarterback Clay Tyler hit Deyon Jordan for a 6-yard touchdown with 7:20 left to get the Rebels within 15-10.
The Bulldogs burned much of the clock late, but Southside had a final chance at its 15 with 1:10 left. Tyler, though, was sacked by Greenwood defensive end Gavin Heller on fourth down with 41 second left to end the threat.
The game was tied 3-3 at halftime after both teams connected on chip-shot field goals. Kevin Jones drilled a 21-yard field goal midway in the second quarter, only to be equaled by Southside's Miguel Chavez-Garcia, who evened things with 47 seconds left on a 22-yard boot.
Sports on 09/13/2014