Bulldogs down Wolves for third title in four years
LITTLE ROCK — Lake Hamilton got off to a strong start, pummeling Greenwood early, but the Wolves were unable to keep the momentum as the Bulldogs took their third Class 6A state title in the past four years.
The Wolves ( 11-2) got off to a strong start, scoring twice in the first four minutes of the game, but the Bulldogs (14-0) rattled off 35 straight points to take control of the game as they completed an undefeated season with the 49-24 win.
“We’ve got a great group of young men, and they’ve had a tough year with everything going on, and they’ve earned every bit of this,” said first year head coach Chris Young. “To see those guys smile and celebrate and just for a second be back to normal is awesome. You know, it didn’t start off great — get down 10-0, but our kids fought, didn’t give up, didn’t even flinch and had complete confidence in themselves on the sideline. To come back and win that ballgame after that start was huge. I’m really, really proud our kids.”
Greenwood quarterback LD Richmond, who was 11 for 14 passing for 178 yards and three touchdowns, was named the game’s MVP. Richmond also had 17 carries for 90 yards.
“There was a lot of pressure, but I’ve got the best coaches in Arkansas,” said Richmond of being a first- year starting quarterback. “They’ll set you up so perfect, and they make it easy on you. Without them, without these guys that I’ve got around me, behind me on the sideline everywhere, I mean, we wouldn’t be here.”
Lake Hamilton’s Bradley Rieman and Greenwood’s Braden Stein won the Burlsworth Award.
Lake Hamilton opted for an onside kick to start the second half, but the ball went out of bounds, giving Greenwood just 54 yards to go for their first score of the second half. Hunter Wilkinson took the handoff for the 2-yard touchdown run for a 28-10 lead with just 2:36 off the clock.
“We didn’t play up to, I think, our ability,” said Lake Hamilton head coach Tommy Gilleran. “I think our kids just made some mistakes early, and we couldn’t overcome them. But I think our kids just played hard all year, and in a big game like this, we’ve got to make more plays, and they made more than us. And so our kids have got to get better, but I think we have a good class of juniors. Most of our kids are coming back, and so they heard the noise tonight from that side, so I think we’ll be ready next year for whatever they want to bring.”
Wilkinson continued to rip the Wolves’ defense on the Bulldogs’ next drive, and with 2:52 left in the third, he ran the ball in from the 9 for a 35-10 lead to cap a five-play, 60-yard drive.
“I just run with attitude,” Wilkinson said of his performance. “I’ve just got to run with, I’ve just gonna run with the mean demeanor like I’m going to get that first down.”
Lake Hamilton finally got its offense going in the fourth quarter with senior quarterback Layne Warrick calling the plays. After a 32-yard pass to Izaiah Clenney and a 31-yard run by Kendrick Martin on a reverse, Tevin Woodley found his way into the end zone with 7:59 left
to pull within 35-17.
After a offsides call on the ensuing kickoff, Jayden Jasna returned the kick 98 yards for a touchdown for a 42-17 lead. His return was the longest in state final history, which was previously 95 yards set in 1946.
After a 23-yard run by Warrick on the next drive, Martin broke free over the right tackle for a 31-yard touchdown run with 7:02 left to pull within 4224.
Greenwood burned 5:05 off the clock on their next possession, using 10 plays on the 47yard drive. Wilkinson ran the ball in from the 9 for the score.
Lake Hamilton got an early start as the Wolves took a 10-0 lead in the first 4 minutes of the game.
The Wolves opened the game with a six-play, 48-yard drive, including a 33-yard pass from Bearden to Miller. Greenwood stopped the offensive drive, but Alex Hurtz kicked the
37-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead with 3:07 off the clock.
Lake Hamilton’s special teams got off to a strong start as Trent Singleton knocked the ball out of Jasna’s hands. Jamarrion Byrd recovered the fumble, carrying it down to the Greenwood 14.
Miller ran the ball 3 yards before, on second and 7, Bearden connected with him again for an
11-yard TD pass with 8:04 left in the first quarter.
“We had a couple plays that they hadn’t seen, and I ran them, and they worked really well,” Gilleran said. “And then they did some adjusting, and, you know, had some holding calls and different things that came about. You know, our offense ain’t made overcome a lot of holding calls. I don’t know if it seemed more one-sided, but it seemed one-sided tonight that we had a lot more holding calls than they did.”
Greenwood put up 21 straight to take the lead into the break.
After disappointing drives to start, the Bulldogs got things going on their third drive, moving the ball 80 yard on 15 plays that burned 4:53 off the clock as Richmond found Caden Brown on a 7-yard pass with 9:16 to pull within 10-7.
The Bulldogs took their first lead of the night at the 6: 48 mark as Richmond found Luke Brewer on a 39-yard pass to cap a five-play, 50-yard drive.
Lake Hamilton got a big drive, pushing down to the Greenwood 16 before Bearden’s pass to Clenney was incomplete in the end zone with 51 seconds left in the half.
Greenwood had a couple short plays before Richmond connected with Brewer again, this time on a deep 71- yard bomb to take a 21-10 lead into the break.
Wilkinson led the Bulldogs on the ground with 25 carries for 148 yards and three scores, and he had three catches for 9 yards. Brewer led the receiving corps with three catches for 119 yards and two touchdowns.
Three Bulldogs finished with nine tackles on the night — Tatum Sadler, Landon Kilgore and Colt Owenby with Sadler and Kilgore getting six solo stops. Colin Daggett and Jordan Hanna had eight each. Greenwood’s defense finished with four sacks for 35 yards.
Lake Hamilton’s trio of running backs were limited to just
202 yards. Woodley led the offense with 16 carries for 90 yards, Martin had four carries for 66, and Miller was severely limited on the ground with just
46 yards on 14 touches. Miller made up for the lack of rushing yards by leading the receivers with two catches for 44 yards while Clenney had two of his own for 42 yards.
Trent Singleton led the Wolves defense with six solo stops and nine total tackles. Justin Crutchmer, Jamarrion Byrd and Clenney had eight stops each with Crutchmer getting a game-high seven solo tackles.