Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Greenwood coach sees balance in Class 6A battle
GREENWOOD — Class 6A is as wide open as it has ever been, according to the coach of the defending state champions.
Rick Jones — who’s led the Greenwood Bulldogs to seven state championships, including the 2017 title — says there are several teams who could be in the hunt in 2018.
“A lot of teams have a chance,” said Jones, who’s 163-23 in 14 years at the school. “I really believe that. I think I’d put Pine Bluff as 1-A, El Dorado as 1-B, Benton as 1-C. West Memphis has got a lot of guys back. Jonesboro has a very, very talented team. Searcy had a good group last year. Russellville won it a couple of years ago. Just go on down the list.”
The one thing all these teams have in common will be trying to knock off Greenwood, which has set the standard for excellence in high school football
across the state.
“We’re sort of used to having a target,” Jones said.
The Bulldogs were picked by the 6A-West Conference coaches to win the league, and Greenwood opens the season ranked No. 2 in the state in 6A behind Pine Bluff.
Many expect Greenwood to be quite good again in 2018, but the Bulldogs won’t have the same look of the 2017 team that steamrolled their opponents by an average of 32.5 points.
Specifically, the Bulldogs will not have gunslinging quarterback Connor Noland, who’s now a freshman at the University of Arkansas. Nor will they have Jon Womack on the defensive line, whose presence and monster strength fueled one of the best defenses Greenwood has ever had.
“It’s just going to be different,” Jones said. “We’re not going to have that dominating presence up front defensively with Womack. He was a true difference maker.”
Figuring out who will play quarterback is one of Greenwood’s first tasks to start 2018. Going into fall practice, senior Peyton Holt and junior Jace Presley were battling for the position.
The problem with moving Holt to play quarterback is it takes him out of the Bulldogs’ wide receiver corps, where he caught 101 passes for 1,354 yards and 17 touchdowns.
“We’re just going to figure it out,” Jones said. “I’m not sure that we won’t do a little of both. I can promise you this Peyton will be on the field.”
Greenwood returns three starters on its offensive line in Noah Fox, Colton Simpson and Cole Ceniceros.
“We’ve got to find some other guys that are trustworthy when it really counts,” Jones said.
Defensively with lineman Morgan Hanna, linebacker Travis Cox and secondary stalwarts Trey Woods and Aaron Ohl, Jones feels like the Bulldogs have a chance to be solid again.
“We’re pretty hungry,” Jones said. “We’re going to have some new guys that want to prove themselves.” Up north in Siloam Springs, the Panthers are beginning the Brandon Craig coaching era. Craig — a successful veteran out of Oologah, Okla. — was hired in February to replace Bryan Ross, who resigned after Siloam Springs went 2-8 overall and 1-6 in the 6A-West. Siloam Springs has missed the playoffs the last three seasons, but the Panthers are picked by the league coaches to finish sixth and earn the last postseason spot.