Greenwood rolls over Mavericks

GREENWOOD — Once again, Greenwood is the unquestioned football king of Sebastian County.

The Bulldogs blitzed their Fort Smith opponent for the second straight week, scoring 42 points in the first half en route to a 49-0 win over Southside at Smith-Robinson Stadium on Friday night.

Last week, Greenwood jumped out to a 34-0 halftime lead over Northside, downing the Grizzlies 34-7.

This week, however, the Bulldogs (2-0) scored six touchdowns on its six first-half possessions while rolling up 447 yards and 22 first downs to overwhelm the Mavericks (0-2). The big halftime lead allowed Greenwood, which finished the game with 500 yards on 56 plays, to play reserves with a running clock in the second half.

Southside has played the topranked teams in Class 7A (HarBer) and 6A (Greenwood) to open the season.

“I really did not want to let up, because (Southside trailed Har-Ber) 42-7 last week and they came back on Har-Ber,” Greenwood coach Rick Jones said. “We didn’t play well in the second half last week but I thought our kids hung in there and played well. We have a long way to go but for one night, we played good football.”

The three-headed offensive monster of quarterback Connor Noland, running back Kenny Wood and receiver Peyton Holt keyed the Bulldog offense in the first half.

Noland was 11 of 14 passing for 235 yards and three touchdowns while Holt had five catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns and added a touchdown run. Noland also added a touchdown run, a 3-yard keeper to open the game early in the first quarter.

Wood, who has been recovering from a hamstring injury, finished with 166 yards rushing on 20 carries and a touchdown.

“Connor played like I expect

him to play every time,” Jones said. “He has great feet and his has great speed and he showed that. He is good for a reason – he can throw it and he can run it. Kenny ran well. We are trying to get him back to full speed. He looked a lot like the old Kenny tonight.”

Wood credited the offensive line for the holes he ran through.

“The offensive line made tremendous strides from last week to this week,” Wood said. “You could see how big the holes were to run through and how much time Connor had to pass.”

Wood gave the Bulldogs a 14-0 lead on a 9-yard run with 5:37 left in the first quarter. Noland then hit Holt for a 41-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left in the period to open a 21-0 first quarter lead.