GREENWOOD -- The Greenwood offense was held to a three-and-out punt on its initial drive of the game, but the Bulldogs got it going after that on a rainy Friday night at Smith-Robinson Stadium.
Greenwood scored on four consecutive drives after the punt to help pull away in a 41-6 victory against Little Rock Hall in a 6A-West Conference matchup.
Greenwood 41, Little Rock Hall 6
Hall 0 0 0 6 — 6
Greenwood 28 7 6 0 — 41
First quarter
Green — Wilkinson 1 run (Ennis kick), 7:44
Green — Jones 12 run (Ennis kick), 5:16
Green — Wilkinson 10 run (Ennis kick), 1:15
Green — Wilkinson 1 run (Ennis kick), :00
Second quarter
Green — Leonard 29 pass from Holt (Ennis kick), 5:07
Third quarter
Green — Presley 1 run (kick failed), 7:26
Fourth quarter
Hall — Dotson 63 run (pass failed), 7:55
"We had a great week of practice and battled the weather," Greenwood coach Rick Jones said. "I think we made some strides, but it is hard to tell. I give Hall a lot of credit because they are a much better team than in the past. They fought, had a lot of class and never gave up."
Greenwood's offense found success running the ball with Hunter Wilkinson leading the way. He finished the game with 62 yards on six carries, including three touchdowns. Four of his runs went for more than 10 yards.
"Last week I thought he played well," Jones said. "He shows a little burst of speed from time to time. He is doing well for us."
Greenwood quarterback Peyton Holt finished 7-of-12 for 77 yards including a touchdown. He also ran for 38 yards on just four carries while only playing the first half.
Marc Jones also added 47 yards on the ground including a touchdown on seven carries for the Bulldogs.
"Those kids at Hall played hard and never gave up," Rick Jones said. "I could tell before the game on film they are much improved from four years ago. I have a lot of respect for them."
The Bulldogs after being stopped initially were able to score four touchdowns in a row after that to take a 28-0 lead after the first quarter.
A blocked punt by Greenwood's Max Vickery set up a one-play scoring drive capped by a 1-yard rush from Wilkinson to take a 7-0 lead.
The Bulldogs then used a three-play drive to take a 14-0 lead with Jones scoring on a 12-yard run.
Wilkinson added two more first-quarter touchdowns scoring from the 10 and the 1 again to extend the lead early. An interception by Greenwood defender Aaron Ohl helped set up the final touchdown of the first quarter.
Greenwood was able to push its lead out to 35-0 when Holt found Luke Leonard for a 29-yard touchdown pass with five minutes left before the break. Leonard finished with 58 receiving yards on three catches including the score.
The Bulldogs were able to add to the lead in the second half with a 1-yard touchdown run from quarterback Jace Presley in the third quarter.
Hall was held to just 17 offensive yards on 28 first-half plays against the Greenwood defense.
"They have some guys that are good athletes," Jones said. "Up front they hurt a little bit. They had a hard time blocking our guys. But they made some plays and got some speed. I'm proud of our defense."
Hall was able to avoid the shutout with a 63-yard touchdown run from Quinn Dotson in the final quarter.
Sports on 09/22/2018