Football: No. 1 Greenwood routs Benton

Greenwood linebacker Travis Cox (15) corrals Benton running back Zak Wallace (23) on Friday at Panther stadium in Benton.
Greenwood linebacker Travis Cox (15) corrals Benton running back Zak Wallace (23) on Friday at Panther stadium in Benton.

BENTON -- Greenwood brought its defense from the River Valley to Saline County and held down one of the state's top offenses.

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Special to the Democrat-Gazette/JIMMY JONES

Greenwood quarterback Connor Noland (13) attempts to junke Benton linebacker Brock Morris (46) in the open field Friday at Panther Stadium in Benton.

The Bulldogs, who have been the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's No. 1 team in Class 6A for the first eight weeks of the 2017 season, limited Benton to 226 yards offensively in a 33-17 victory on Friday night at Panther Stadium.

Greenwood (8-0, 5-0 6A-West Conference) stopped a Benton offense that averaged 38.9 points per game entering Friday. The Bulldogs had nine sacks and kept junior running back Zak Wallace in check. Wallace, who had 976 yards and 14 touchdowns in 7 games, finished with 58 yards on 18 carries.

"I was proud of the way our defense played," Greenwood coach Rick Jones said. "They played really, really well. The coaches had a great plan for them and the kids went out and played really well.

"Our defense, they were lights out. They got after it. They were physical, tough and played really good football."

Benton coach Brad Harris, who was the head coach at Lincoln, then the Panthers' defensive coordinator before taking over as head coach in 2016, had high praise for Greenwood.

"It was tough sledding all night," Harris said. "Those guys are good defensively. They're really aggressive. They play assignment football.

"They're by far the best team we've seen this year, from a defensive standpoint."

It was a first-quarter drive in which Benton took more than five minutes off the clock that Greenwood showed its prowess.

Benton (5-3, 3-2) had to settle for a Taylon Akdamor 36-yard field goal, which gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead with 2 minutes, 10 seconds left in the first quarter.

From there, it was all Greenwood.

Two scoring runs from senior running back Kenny Wood, from four and five yards out, gave Greenwood a 14-3 lead with 7:43 left in the second quarter. Wood finished with 126 yards and 3 touchdowns on 24 carries.

Senior quarterback Connor Noland, a University of Arkansas, Fayetteville football and baseball commitment who passed for 169 yards, threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to junior Josh Barlow along the Bulldogs sideline to extend Greenwood's lead to 21-3 with 5:43 left in the first half.

Benton pulled within 21-10 at halftime when sophomore Gavin Wells threw an 18-yard pass to Bradyn Hendrix as time expired.

In the third quarter, Greenwood continued to roll, with senior Grant Ellis' 22-yard field goal and Wood's three-yard run extending the lead to 31-10 at the 2:52 mark. The Bulldogs added a safety to pull ahead 33-10, but Benton set the final score with a 13-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Peyton Hudgins to junior Michael Allison with 2:36 left.

Sports on 10/21/2017

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