No. 1 Greenwood upend El Dorado
El Dorado dug itself a 21-0 hole and never could dig itself out Friday. Top-ranked Greenwood buried the Wildcats 44-27 in 6A-West action at Memorial Stadium.
Greenwood improved to 4-1, 2-0 while the Wildcats fell to 2-3, 1-1.
"I don't think we played our best, obviously," said El Dorado coach Scott Reed. "The disturbing thing was, it didn't seem like in the first half we were confident that we could play with them. We dug ourselves a hole. I thought it was going to be a good ball game. I knew we'd have to play well to win. But, I didn't think we played real well in the first half.
"In the second half, at times, we did some good things. We could not slow them down, could not get them off the field. They were too productive on offense. Offensively, we'd move the ball and then get hurt with lost-yardage plays. "
Greenwood quarterback Payton Holt rushed for 111 yards and completed 19-of-27 passes for 272 yards. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for another. The senior repeatedly made big plays with his feet,
scrambling out of sacks, and surprised El Dorado with his passing.
"He's been that way every week. He is a really good player," Reed said. "I didn't realize he was as good a passer as he was. He, obviously was last night."
Greenwood totaled 435 yards of offense.
Offensively, the Wildcats rushed for 208 yards. Keonte Larry led El Dorado with 85 yards rushing on 10 attempts and had a 22-yard reception. Alex Hicks had 26 rushes for 75 yards, including 36 yards in losses.
El Dorado couldn't get things to click through the air, however. Hicks completed 4-of-9 passes for 113 yards and a touchdown. Devunte Kidd had two receptions for 76 yards.
"We just looked out of sync. I think we're going to have to get a little more balanced," Reed said of the team's passing. "We still ran the ball pretty well. I don't know that we're going to be a throw it 25 times and complete 65 percent, but we're going to have to be able to hit some (big) shot plays. And, we've got to eliminate the lost-yardage (plays). We have to do a better job in protection and getting the ball out and making plays. We work it. Gosh, we spend a lot of time in the passing game. Right now, our kids are confident in our running game. We just have to continue to get better."
El Dorado’s first possession would be indicative of the evening. Steven Tollette took a jet sweep nine yards on first down. But, Hicks was sacked on second down and the Wildcats failed to convert on third-and-4.
Greenwood took over and drove 68 yards. Holt had a 58-yard run to set up Hunter Wilkinson’s 1-yard TD plunge. Grant Ennis hit the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 8:23 left in the first.
On the Wildcats’ ensuing possession, Larry ran for six and Hicks nine for a first down. Larry then ran for 11 before Hicks found tight end Alex Boone for a 22-yard gain. Hicks was sacked for a
7-yard loss but then ran for 28 on the next play. A block in the back penalty, however, proved too much to overcome. The drive stalled and Greysen Hubbard’s 33-yard field goal attempt was wide left.
The Bulldogs would score again on an 11-play drive, converting a pair of fourth-and-1 opportunities before Holt hit Treyton Dawson on a 19-yard fade for the touchdown. Ennis’ kick with 9:48 left in the second pushed the lead to 14-0.
A 13-yard sack spoiled El Dorado’s next offensive possession.
Greenwood didn’t waste any time taking advantage as Holt hit Dawson for a 67-yard TD pass. Ennis’ PAT made the margin 21-0 with 7:30 left in the second.
Dawson had five receptions for 120 yards and two TDs.
El Dorado finally retaliated with an 80-yard drive on 10 consecutive rushing plays. Hicks would score on a 12-yard run. Hubbard added the kick, cutting the deficit to 21-7 with 3:44 left in the half.
Greenwood would add a 28-yard field goal by Ennis on the final play of the half.
The Bulldogs extended the lead when Wilkinson’s 1-yard run capped a 10-play drive, pushing the margin to 31-7 with 4:24 left in the third.
The Wildcats answered when Hicks threw a perfect deep ball to Devunte Kidd, who hauled it in on his way to a 68-yard touchdown reception. Hubbard’s kick cut the lead to 31-14 with 2:43 left in the third.
Greenwood countered with a scoring drive. Luke Leonard’s 40-yard reception set up a 1-yard TD run by Wilkinson with 1:41 left in the third. The lead swelled to 44-14 after Holt’s 2-yard TD run on fourth-and-goal with 8:07 left in the fourth. The PAT failed.
Larry’s 7-yard TD run capped an 80-yard drive by the Wildcats. Hubbard’s kick made the score 44-21 with 4:36 remaining. El Dorado’s final score was set up by the defense. Greenwood’s punter, in his own end zone, dropped the snap and was tackled by Jacoby Hankton, whose hit forced a fumble. Zac Donahue recovered it in the end zone with 2:56 left for the final margin.