No. 6 Greenwood 42, LR Catholic 21
Greenwood quarterback Connor Noland (13) stiff-arms Little Rock Catholic defender Peyton Adams in the first quarter of Friday’s game. Noland threw for 90 yards and two touchdowns to help the Bulldogs remain unbeaten and move to 9-0 on the season.
NO. 6 GREENWOOD 42, LITTLE ROCK CATHOLIC 21
Greenwood Coach Rick Jones is pleased that his team left Little Rock with a 42-21 victory over Little Rock Catholic on Friday night at War Memorial Stadium.
However, he lamented his team’s lack of discipline, as the Bulldogs committed 13 penalties for 72 yards. For Jones, who has led Greenwood to six state championships, he knows his team will have to play better football if it wants to return to War Memorial Stadium for the Class 6A state championship game in December.
“We didn’t play a very clean game,” Jones said. “We didn’t do a lot of things it takes to win a football game. We were able to make some plays that separated us score-wise. At some points, we didn’t execute worth a flip.”
Senior wide receiver Ryan Padilla led the Greeenwood receiving corps with 10 catches for 174 yards and 1 touchdown. Padilla entered Friday’s game with more than 800 yards receiving and it was just another big night for him, Jones said.
Junior quarterback Luke Hales completed 10 of 16 passes for 208 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Sophomore quarterback Connor Noland went 6-of-9 passing for 95 yards with 2 touchdowns.
Greenwood (9-0, 6-0 7A/6A-Central) finished 7-0 against Class 7A competition this season, including victories against Springdale, Fort Smith Northside and Fort Smith Southside in nonconference play and conference victories against Bryant, Conway, Van Buren and Little Rock Catholic. It’s a source of pride for Jones, who leads the smallest school in Class 6A by enrollment with 824 students.
“It’s something for our kids to be proud of,” Jones said. “We don’t back down. We don’t blink. We don’t bow down to anybody. They’ll compete against anybody.”
Greenwood will play Alma next week with a chance to finish 10-0 in the regular season, one year after a 7-4 season in its first season in the 7A/6A-Central.
“It’s been a different season from last year for us,” Hales said. “Everybody on the team really wants to play. It’s different in practice. It’s been good for the team.”
The Bulldogs led 13-0 after one quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Jordan Green with 10:24 in the quarter and Hales’ 7-yard run at the 5:19 mark.
Noland threw a 14-yard pass to Padilla on 4th-and-goal with 10:32 left in the first half and Hales’ 2-point conversion made it 21-0. Hales then threw a 79-yard touchdown pass to Andrew McGill for a 28-0 lead with 5:54 left in the second quarter.
The Rockets (3-6, 2-4) cut the lead to 28-7 with 1:13 left in the half on senior Andre Sale’s 32-yard pass to senior Justin Temple. Catholic then forced a threeand-out, but Chris Elser’s 20-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half was blocked by Greenwood’s Jax Burgess to leave the score at 28-7 at halftime.
In the third quarter, Hales scored from one yard out to make it 35-7 and Noland’s 11-yard pass to Drew Dunee with 4:05 left in the quarter gave Greenwood a 42-7 lead and the 35-point sportsmanship rule was put into effect.
Sale, who passed for 248 yards, added a 10-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Adam Shepard with four seconds left in the quarter to pull the Rockets within 4214. Senior Lance Harville-Thomas, who was held to 27 yards on 10 carries, had a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Catholic travels to Van Buren next week with the winner earning the 7A/6A-Central’s No. 3 seed in the Class 7A playoffs.
NO. 3 PINE BLUFF 49, SHERIDAN 7
PINE BLUFF — Ladarius Skelton threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more as Pine Bluff (9-0, 6-0 6A-South) remained undefeated with a victory over Sheridan (4-5, 2-4).
Skelton hit Casey Higgins with a 45-yard touchdown pass and Xavier Smith with a 13-yard scoring pass, finishing 9 of 13 for 155 yards. Skelton also ran for 176 yards in 9 carries, with touchdown runs covering 29 and 73 yards.
Pine Bluff added touchdown runs by Romar Reades (3 yards) and Keshawn Whaley (9 yards). The Zebras outgained the Yellowjackets 470-246 in total yards, with their rushing game accounting for 315 yards.
NO. 4 CABOT 62, JONESBORO 53
JONESBORO — Colton Eads rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns as Cabot (9-0, 6-0 7A/6A East) outran Jonesboro (6-3, 4-2).
Alex Roberts added 12 carries for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a 49-yard scoring run, for the Panthers.
Jarrod Barnes’ 62-yard touchdown run was among his 13 carries for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns for Cabot.
For Jonesboro, Kylon Tate had an 80-yard touchdown run. Ke’dren Brunson scored on a 45-yard touchdown run. Jonathan Adams also caught a touchdown pass for the Hurricane.