Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Another for Greenwood
Greenwood beat Lake Hamilton 49-24 and collected the program’s 10th state title since 2000, completing a 14-0 season under firstyear Coach Chris Young.
Many teams would have been satisfied taking a slim lead into halftime after regaining possession at their own 17 with 51 seconds left.
But that’s not how Greenwood operates.
Greenwood ran the ball before LD Richmond threw deep to Luke Brewer, who caught the pass in stride for a 71-yard touchdown play to give Greenwood a 21-10 lead with seven seconds left before the half. Brewer was the big-play receiver for the Bulldogs, who went on to defeat Lake Hamilton 49-24 Saturday in the Class 6A state championship game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Greenwood (14-0) won its 10th state championship and third in the past four years. The Bulldogs rewarded Chris Young with a state championship in his first season as head coach after he took over for Rick Jones, who won eight state titles at Greenwood before leaving to join the University of Missouri football program as a senior analyst.
Brewer’s 71-yard touchdown catch came seconds after Lake Hamilton quarterback Grant Bearden underthrew a wide-open receiver in the end zone from the Greenwood 17. Greenwood showed how the passing game is done when Richmond dropped back and threw well down the field to Brewer, who ran untouched into the end zone.
The junior receiver said he was not surprised by Greenwood’s aggressive play call with just seconds left before halftime.
“We had to score right before the half,” said Brewer, who caught two of the three touchdown passes from Richmond. “You get up 21-10, two touchdowns before the half, that’s a game-changer.”
Brewer also had a 39-touchdown catch for Greenwood, which scored 35 consecutive points after falling behind 10-0 after one quarter to Lake Hamilton (11-2), whose only two losses this season were to Greenwood.
“[Richmond] made a great throw, and Brewer got loose down the sidelines,” Young said. “That was the difference in the ball game.
“Luke is a special athlete. They tried to press him up, and we hit him on some stuff early. He had a great ball game.”
Lake Hamilton is a predominantly running team that surprised Greenwood with some early pass completions while jumping to the 10-0 lead. The Wolves’ success through the air didn’t last long against a pass rush that swarmed Bearden repeatedly in the backfield.
Greenwood overcame a slow start with Richmond completing touchdown passes of 7 yards to Caden Brown, and 39 yards and 71 yards to Brewer to put Greenwood ahead for good in the second quarter. Brewer finished with 3 catches for 119 yards, including the deep ball that swung the momentum in Greenwood’s favor.
Greenwood then battered Lake Hamilton with its running attack to increase its lead to 35-10 after three quarters. The Wolves finally scored again, but their excitement was short-lived when Jayden Jasna returned the kickoff 98 yards to put Greenwood ahead 42-17 with under eight minutes left to play.
“This win is all for the seniors,” Brewer said. “They’ve had so much impact on my life and I just wanted to do it for them and for Chris, who’s helped me out so much. He’s a great coach.”