Greenwood cruises past Fort Smith Southside

GREENWOOD 42, FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 3

FORT SMITH — For Chris Young, it was a successful debut as Greenwood head coach.

The Bulldogs exploded for 42 first-half points and cruised past Southside 42-3 Friday night at Rowland Stadium.

Young, who has been a long-time assistant for Rick Jones at Greenwood, watched as his team seized control of the game from the opening kickoff. Caden Brown took the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown 13 seconds into the game.

“That set the tone for the night,” Young said. “We have a guy that can run, and we made them pay for kicking it deep. It was a great start, and it went on from there.”

It was also the debut of LD Richmond as Bulldog quarterback, and he did not disappoint. The senior was a solid 19-of-25 passing for 184 yards and three touchdowns.

“He was efficient tonight,” Young said. “We have some guys who can go get the ball. It builds confidence when you make those plays. It’s contagious; when one guy plays well, it spreads to the other receivers.”

Young said he was not nervous about his debut as head coach.

“It was business as usual and not a whole lot different to be honest with you,” Young said. “This win was about the kids, not me. We’re fortunate to have a good group of kids.”

The win also gave Greenwood its ninth straight win over its Sebastian County rival.

“They have been a great football program for a long time, and they know what they are doing,” Kim Dameron, first-year Maverick coach, said. “They know how to win. For us, (Greenwood’s) the goal — to get this program to compete on a high level against them and the school across town. It’s not going to happen overnight.

“We are not going to be deterred. We will continue to fight. We’re going to continue to try to get better every day.”

The Bulldogs will host Northside next week with the winner gaining county bragging rights.

“I promise you that there are plenty of things we have to work on for next week to get ready for a good Northside team,” Young said.

The Bulldog offense rolled up 250 yards of offense in the first half in scoring four touchdowns. Greenwood finished the game with 315 total yards as the second half was played with a running clock.

The defense also added a score on the final play of the first half. Connor Marvin tipped then took a pass away from a Maverick receiver at the Bulldog 15, got a great block from Hayden Wells at the Southside 40 and scored with no time left on the clock.

The pick-6 gave the Bulldogs a 42-3 halftime lead and invoked the running clock in the second half.

The Bulldog defense also had a solid opening-game performance, allowing three first downs and 65 total yards in the first half. Greenwood allowed just four first downs and 75 total yards for the game.

“Our defensive mentality was great,” Young added. “We give them the ball deep, and we stuff them and hold them to a field goal. When we muffed those punts, they go right back on the field. The defense did not complain or make excuses. The went out there and got the job done.”

After Brown’s kickoff return, Greenwood’s offense went to work after the defense forced a punt. The Bulldogs marched 50 yards in 10 plays, capped by Hunter Wilkinson’s 5-yard run for a 14-0 lead with 8:11 left in the first quarter.

Richmond got his first touchdown toss of the season on a 14-yard pass to Luke Brewer late in the first quarter for a 21-0 lead. That drive was setup by a 36-yard punt return by Jayden Jansa.

Southside would get on the board early in the second quarter on a 22-yard field goal by Issac Banda. The play was set up by a muffed punt, recovered by Landen Chaffey at the Bulldog 22. Southside would recover three muffed punts in the game.

“(The muffed punts) was probably more them than us,” Dameron said. “We had some field position. We just couldn’t do anything with it.”

Young said Jansa will bounce back from this game.

“Jayden is as good as there is returning kicks,” Young said. “He had a really good return earlier in the game. We just got to get his confidence back. He is a guy who is going to help us win a lot of games. What I was proud of was when we made mistakes, we did not let it haunt us.”

Two more touchdown tosses by Richmond to Payton Carter and Brewer increased the lead to 35-3 late in the first half, just before Marvin’s half-ending Pick-6.

FOUR DOWNS

• Greenwood leads the overall series 10-4 and has won the last nine over Southside.

• Greenwood coach Chris Young has something over his legendary coaching father (Joe Fred Young) — winning his debut. Young’s first head coaching job was at his alma mater Conway High. In his only season there, the Wampus Cats lost to Class AAA state champion Little Rock McClellan 29-21 in the 1971 season opener.

• In his debut as starting quarterback, LD Richmond finished the game 20-of-29 passing for 187 yards and three touchdown.

• Greenwood hosts Northside while Southside travels to Russellville next week.