Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Greenwood holds off Northside
FORT SMITH — Though the ending got a little scary, the final result is what mattered for Greenwood.
The Bulldogs rolled up 508 total yards and the defense made several key secondhalf stops to hold off Fort Smith Northside 33-25 in a season-opener nonconference game Friday night at Mayo-Thompson Stadium.
Greenwood led 33-18 with under two minutes left and appeared to be running out the clock.
A Bulldog fumble led to a 67-yard fumble return by Darius Carson with 1 minute, 11 seconds left to get the Grizzlies to within 33-25.
“Those are the kind of things that just drive you crazy,” Greenwood coach Rick Jones said. “All we are trying to do there is run out the clock. Give Northside credit because they were ready for us and they played hard and fast. They gave us nothing easy.”
Northside then attempted an onside kick, but the kick went out of bounds and Greenwood kneeled three times to clinch the win.
“That was a hard fought game,” Jones said. “We have a young team and they just came out tonight and made plays. Our defense gave a great effort tonight, especially in the second half. We made some huge stops.”
The Bulldog defense held Northside to just a third-quarter field goal in the second half. Cheuy Parga’s 33-yard field goal trimmed the Greenwood lead to just 25-18.
The game was put away with 8:34 left when Bulldog quarterback Luke Hales hit a wide-open Ethan Escalante for a 39-yard touchdown, capping a 10- play, 82-yard drive. Greenwood ran 9 straight rushing plays before a play-action fake by Hales left Escalante all alone inside the Northside 15.
“We knew we would have to run the quarterbacks more this year,” Jones added. “Northside was taking chances trying to stop the run late, and we were hoping we can get one loose but it is hard to do because their defense covers so well.”
Hales and Connor Noland combined for 181 rushing yards to go along with running back Kenny Wood’s 91-yard effort.
The Bulldogs gained 313 yards in the first half in building a 26-15 halftime lead.
Hales’ 1-yard run capped off a 16-play, 65-yard drive to give Greenwood a 6-0 lead with 4:15 left in the opening quarter.
Greenwood stuck again in the final seconds of the quarter when Noland hit Devin Gilbert in the back corner of the end zone for a 12-0 Bulldog lead.
Northside fumbled on the first play of the second quarter and Greenwood made them pay for the mistake. Hales hit Wood on a wheel route for a 35-yard touchdown and a 19-0 lead with 11:23 left before halftime.
The Grizzlies finally got their offense going as Max Frazier hit Biyron McGrew on a skinny post for a 22-yard score midway in the second quarter.
Wood scored from a yard out to give the Bulldogs a 26-8 lead with 4:55 left in the half.
Trey Norwood answered for the Grizzlies keeping on the option and sprinted to a 73-yard touchdown run with 2: 31 left in the half to get Northside back in the game.