GREENWOOD — Though the Greenwood Bulldogs have not played a 6A-West game, they are now 3-0 against 7A-West teams.
The Bulldogs rolled up over 500 yards of offense but had withstand a late rally before claiming a 35-28 victory over Bentonville West on Friday at Smith-Robinson Stadium.
The game was played because both teams lost their conference opener because their opponents had to cancel over covid-19 concerns. Both teams will try to play conference games next week.
“That is a good football team over there and I thought our guys got after them tonight,” Greenwood coach Chris Young said. “We whipped them on offense and defense tonight.”
Greenwood led 28-14 at halftime, but West seemed to grab the momentum going into the locker room when AJ Moss blocked Luis Morales’ 22-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
The Wolverines got the opening kickoff and Carson Morgan returned the kickoff 27 yards to the West 48. The Bulldog defense though forced a three-and-out as the Wolverine offense came up empty.
Greenwood then marched 85 yards in 14 plays, capped by LD Richmond’s 6-yard keeper with 7:14 left in the third quarter for a 35-14 lead.
“The defense came up with a big stop and the offense then came up with a big drive,” Young said. “We knew (the blocked field goal) to end the half was big. That drive really put the game away for us.”
West coach Bryan Pratt said not taking advantage of the field position was disappointing.
“We have the ball at midfield after a great kickoff return and we go three-and-out,” Pratt said. “We have to be in a rhythm offensively and not be in third-and-long. We didn’t play well all around.”
Still, the Wolverines tried to rally, getting a Carlos Hall 1-yard run with 2:43 left, then added a 59-yard pass from Dalton McDonald to Ty Durham with :46 second left.
But onside kick attempts failed, and Greenwood ran out the final seconds.
“(Greenwood) is a great football team,” Pratt said. “It’s tough to prepare for them when we only have a couple of days to prepare. There is a reason why they are No. 1 in Class 6A. But we are not going to quit.”
Bulldog quarterback LD Richmond returned to the lineup after missing last week’s game and threw for 356 yards on 30-of-37 passing. He threw for a score and rushed for another. Running back Hunter Wilkinson rushed for 110 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Greenwood amassed 514 total yards and 26 first downs.
“He made play after play tonight,” Young said. “He spread the ball around to all of the receivers, he made great decisions with his feet and he made great decisions throwing the ball. He did what he wanted to out there.”
Richmond threw for 200 yards in the first half as the Bulldogs built a 28-14 lead.
Greenwood seized control of the game with touchdowns on three consecutive possessions in the first half.
Wilkinson capped a 10-play, 78-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:03 left in the first quarter.
Greenwood then marched 60 yards and Wilkinson finished that off with a 10-yard run with 10:10 left in the second quarter for a 21-7 lead.
GREENWOOD 35, BENTONVILLE WEST 28
The Bulldogs last score of the half was helped by a negative punt by Bentonville West. The Wolverines were to kick the ball away from their 22, but a bad snap out of the reach of punter Trenton Davis forced him to barely get it away in his end zone. The kick hit a Greenwood player at the 10 and West recovered at its 6. Since the ball did not cross the line of scrimmage, Greenwood gained possession with a first-and-goal.
Reserve running back Ty Moose score two plays later from the 5 and in just over five minutes, a 7-7 tie had become a 28-7 Bulldog advantage.
FOUR DOWNS
• Greenwood is now 3-0 against 7A-West schools in 2020. The Bulldogs earlier defeated Fort Smith South-side 42-3 and Springdale Har-Ber 33-0.
• The Bulldogs had 26 first downs and gained 514 total yards (356 passing, 158 rushing).
• After missing last week’s game, Greenwood quarterback LD Richmond finished the game 30-of-37 passing for 356 yards and a touchdown.
• Next week: Greenwood hosts Mountain Home in a 6A-West matchup while Bentonville West hosts Spring-dale in 7A-West conference play.
GREENWOOD 35,
BENTONVILLE WEST 28
Bentonville West . 7 7 0 14 — 28 Greenwood........14 14 7 0 — 35 First Quarter
GREEN — Brown 31 pass from Richmond (Morales kick), 10:31. WEST — Miller 4 pass from McDonald (Brown kick), 4:38.
GREEN — Wilkinson 1 run (Morales kick), 2:03.
Second Quarter
GREEN — Wilkinson 10 run (Morales kick), 10:10. GREEN — Moose 5 run (Morales kick), 1:20. WEST — Jones 9 run (Brown kick), 4:43.
Third Quarter
GREEN – Richmond 6 run (Morales kick), 7:14.
Fourth Quarter
WEST — Hall 1 run (Brown kick), 2:43. WEST — Durham 59 pass from McDonald (Brown kick), :46.