Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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Holt latest quarterback to lead Greenwood to a state championship.
Peyton Holt made the most of his one season as the Greenwood Bulldogs’ starting quarterback.
The senior, who moved to the position from wide receiver, accounted for 368 yards and five touchdowns to lead Greenwood to a 45-14 rout of Benton on Saturday afternoon in front of 11,201 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Greenwood (12-1), the 6A-West Conference champion, won its second consecutive state championship and ninth overall. It’s the eighth title for Bulldogs Coach Rick Jones since 2004.
“They’re hungry,” Jones said. “They never get satisfied.”
Holt completed 23 of 34 passes for 284 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, and he rushed for 84 yards and 3 scores on 23 carries to earn the game’s MVP award.
Holt became the seventh different quarterback to win a state championship under Jones at Greenwood, joining Daniel Stegall (2005), Tyler Wilson (2006, 2007), Stephen Hogan (2010), Hayden Smith (2011), Jabe Burgess (2012) and Connor Noland (2017).
“I don’t go into comparing quarterbacks,” Jones said. “But today, that was a pretty doggone good performance.”
Holt knew the job of the Bulldogs’ signal-caller wasn’t an easy one, but it ended with raising a state championship trophy.
“It’s a lot of pressure being a quarterback at Greenwood when they produce so many,” Holt said. “But me and Coach Jones worked on it a lot. You build confidence in practice. I just played my game, and we executed as an offense.”
Benton Coach Brad Harris said the Panthers had no answers for Holt.
“I don’t think you can stop him,” Harris said. “He can run it. He can throw it. You can get him in empty, and he’s tough to defend. He made plays when there was no space. We had some stuff schemed up for him, but he did a really good job. He’s a great competitor.”
Sophomore running back Hunter Wilkinson added 74 yards and 1 touchdown on 20 carries for the Bulldogs. Senior Aaron Ohl and junior Treyton Dawson each caught a touchdown pass from Holt.
The Bulldogs trailed 7-0 in the first quarter, but scored on their first four possessions to take a 24-7 lead at halftime. Greenwood outgained Benton 518-289 and forced three turnovers.
Benton (10-3), which finished second behind Greenwood in the 6A-West, was led by senior running back Zak Wallace, who rushed for 145 yards on 22 carries and scored on a 24-yard run.
After Wallace’s 24-yard touchdown run gave Benton a 7-0 lead with 8:08 left in the first quarter, it was all Greenwood.
Senior Grant Ennis’ 45-yard field goal cut the lead to 7-3 with 2:12 left in the first quarter. With 11:06 left in the second quarter, Holt found Ohl for a 71-yard touchdown pass for a 10-7 lead.
Holt scored from 9 yards out with 6:12 left in the second quarter to give Greenwood a 17-7 lead.
Junior Lazaro Angel’s one-handed, 31-yard reception set up Wilkinson’s 5-yard touchdown run on the next
play to extend the Bulldogs’ lead to 24-7 with 4:12 left in the first half.
Holt threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Dawson for a 31-14 lead with 6:29 left in the third quarter. He later added scoring runs of 7 and 6 yards to cap the Bulldogs’ scoring.
Benton was playing in its first state championship game since 2014, and was attempting to earn its second title and first since 1977. But the Bulldogs were too much for the Panthers for the second time this season (Greenwood won the teams’ first meeting 62-33 on Oct. 19).
“We’re proud of our team. We’re 10-3,” Harris said. “We got beat by these guys twice that are 6A state champions. Our other loss could be to the 7A state champion, Bryant.
“We don’t have anything to hang our heads about. I’m real proud of these guys for everything they’ve done for our football program. Since 2014 when I’ve been at Benton, we’ve been knocking on the door. We’re going to break through.”