GREENWOOD -- Greenwood's defense gets pizza every time it records a shutout, and the Bulldogs had to work extra for it on Friday night.
Class 6A No. 1 Greenwood stopped Siloam Springs three times inside the 10-yard line, and the Bulldogs overcame a shaky performance on offense to defeat the Panthers 38-0 on homecoming at Smith-Robinson Stadium.
Greenwood 38, Siloam Springs 0
Siloam Springs^0^0^0^0^—^0
Greenwood^14^14^7^3^—^38
First Quarter
Green — Holt 16 pass from Noland (Ennis kick), 10:20.
Green — Holt 11 run (Ennis kick), 4:00.
Second Quarter
Green — Wood 1 run (Ennis kick), 7:32.
Green — Wood 2 run (Ennis kick), 5:39.
Third Quarter
Green — Holt 80 pass from Noland (Ennis kick), 7:02.
Fourth Quarter
Green — FG Ennis 36, 10:12.
"Defense is going to want their pizza on Sunday, I promise you that," said Greenwood coach Rick Jones. "With us turning it over the way we did, they deserve it. They made it hard on themselves a couple of times -- jumping off sides and stuff like that. But I was proud of the way they stopped them. In the paper everybody's going to read 38 to nothing, and they're not going to understand the real story that the defense really played well in what we call the blue zone. They did a good job of keeping them out of the end zone."
Greenwood (6-0, 3-0 6A-West) cashed in on short field position for two of its four first-half touchdowns to take a 28-0 lead at halftime.
But the Bulldogs also turned it over twice in the first half, including once on special teams and another on a Connor Noland interception.
The Bulldogs also failed to recover a Siloam Springs onside kick to open the second half, which had their head coach frustrated.
After the game, Jones told team's rule is it gets to enjoy a victory for a short time before moving on to the next opponent. Jones admitted it might be tougher than usual to enjoy this one.
"Probably by not watching the film until 6 o'clock in the morning might be the only way to get it done," he said. "I think by midnight the rule is over, so I can go back to being mad at midnight."
Greenwood's Peyton Holt scored three touchdowns, including the first two on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Noland on the Bulldogs' opening drive. Holt had an 11-yard run to put the Bulldogs up 14-0 later in the first.
Kenny Wood ran for a pair of short touchdown runs in the second quarter with the second one coming after the Bulldogs tackled Siloam Springs punter Kaiden Thrailkill at the 9-yard line.
Greenwood stopped Siloam Springs (2-4, 1-2) at the 5-yard line just before halftime with a turnover on downs.
After the Panthers recovered the onside kick to start the second half and drove down to the 2-yard line. The Bulldogs stuff a pair of run attempts and Greenwood's Trey Woods intercepted his second pass of the game to keep the shutout alive.
"They're so good up front defensively that it just makes running the football really, really difficult," Siloam Springs head coach Bryan Ross said. "When you're down in a compressed field, it just makes it even harder so."
Holt caught an 80-yard touchdown pass on the next play to put Greenwood ahead 35-0 and inflict the sportsmanship rule with 7:02 remaining in the third. Holt finished with four catches for 142 yards and two receiving touchdowns and one rushing TD. Noland was 10 of 17 for 205 yards. Greenwood finished with 342 yards of offense, while Siloam Springs had 219.
Sports on 10/07/2017