PEARCY — Greenwood’s defense stole the show in an offensive shootout between two unbeatens Friday night.
The Bulldogs recovered two fumbles in the last 3 minutes, including one for a touchdown, and captured the 6A-West Conference title with a 38-28 victory over Lake Hamilton at Wolf Stadium.
“I’m really, really proud of our defensive staff,” Greenwood coach Chris Young said. “We had some defensive linemen out, and we had some kids to come in and play that had never played this year. Man, they played awesome. They just fought.”
Greenwood (10-0, 6-0 6A-West) took a 31-28 lead on Hunter Wilkinson’s 63-yard touchdown run with 6 minutes, 50 seconds remaining, just two plays after Lake Hamilton (8-1, 5-1) had went out in front on Grant Bearden’s 3-yard quarterback keeper. The Bulldogs then elected to try an onside kick, but the ball went out of bounds and gave the Wolves possession on their 46.
Bearden’s 36-yard completion to Owen Miller on a third-and-16 play kept Lake Hamilton’s drive alive, but it ended three plays later when the Wolves suffered a bad snap on a third-and-6 play from the Greenwood 20. Parker Gill dove into the pile to recover the loose ball, and the Bulldogs took over with 2:56 remaining.
“That one was big,” Lake Hamilton coach Tommy Gilleran said. “We’re driving down to score, and they haven’t stopped us the whole game. To fumble and lose it right there, that was big because our defense was struggling. We had to try something different.”
Greenwood melted the clock and caused Lake Hamilton to call its timeouts before punting the ball with 37 seconds left. Jaelin Fowler then sacked Bearden for a 2-yard loss on first down, then the Wolves followed a spike with a bad snap which turned into a Greenwood touchdown when Gill recovered the ball after Bearden’s pass attempt went backwards into the end zone.
The Bulldogs, however, had to come from behind after Tevin Woodley’s 6-yard touchdown run gave Lake Hamilton a 21-10 cushion with 5:36 left in the third quarter. Greenwood answered with LD Richmond’s 1-yard quarterback keeper and made it a 21-17 game, then recovered an onside kick and took the lead eight plays later when Wilkinson scored on a 3-yard run with 23 seconds left in the third quarter.
“It was something we had seen on film,” Young said. “We knew we had that. It was just a matter of when we were going to try it. We hit the ball a little harder than we liked to, but our kid made a great play to get the ball. It was a big momentum swing for us.”
FOUR DOWNS
• Wilkinson finished with 20 carries and 204 yards and two touchdowns, with 151 of those coming in the second half.
• Richmond completed 12 of 20 passes for 125 yards and a score while running for 52 yards and another touchdown.
• Woodley led Lake Hamilton’s ground attack with 22 carries for 197 yards and a score, while Miller added 87 yards on 20 carries and had a 26-yard touchdown reception.
• Both teams will begin postseason play with first-round home games, but the opponents may not be known until the Arkansas Activities Association releases the playoff brackets later this weekend.
GREENWOOD 38,
LAKE HAMILTON 28
Greenwood.........3 7 14 14 — 38 Lake Hamilton.....0 14 7 7 — 28 First Quarter
Green — FG Morales 26, 0:31
Second Quarter
Lake — Clenney 33 pass from Bearden (Hurtz kick), 9:38.
Green — Brewer 6 pass from Richmond (Morales kick), 8:30.
Lake — Miller 26 pass from Bearden (Hurtz kick), 2:14.
Third Quarter
Lake — Woodley 6 run (Hurtz kick), 5:36. Green — Richmond 1 run (Morales kick), 2:37. Green — Wilkinson 3 run (Morales kick), :23.
Fourth Quarter
Lake — Bearden 3 run (Hurtz kick), 6:50. Green — Wilkinson 63 run (Morales kick), 6:13. Green — Gill fumble recovery in end zone (Morales kick), :16.
Henry Apple can be reached at happle@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAHenry.