Class 6A State Championship Review: Greenwood 49, Lake Hamilton 24

Class 6A State Championship • 2020 • War Memorial Stadium GREENWOOD 49, LAKE H HAMILTON 24

Attendance 4,235 • Clear 50 degrees • 6:40 p.m. • Time 2:30

DECEMBER 5, LITTLE ROCK —

The Greenwood Bulldogs recorded a perfect 10 for the season.

Greenwood was perfect in 14 games in winning its 10th state championship with a convincing 49-24 win over Lake Hamilton for the Class 6A state title before 4,235 at War Memorial Stadium.

The perfect season was in Chris Young’s first as a head coach after being elevated in February after just a week to take over for Rick Jones, who won eight state championships before leaving for a football consultant’s role for the University of Missouri and head coach Eli Drinkwitz.

Young served on the coaching staff on all nine previous championship teams but was the athletic director at Cabot for 10 days in April, 2019, before returning to Greenwood to resume his role as offensive coordinator for Jones.

The 10 championships are the most for any program during the modern playoff era, which began in 1968. All of Greenwood’s titles are since Greenwood’s first in 2000 under Ronnie Peacock, who hired Young as an assistant junior high coach before Harv Welch moved Young up to the high school staff in 2001.

Young quickly joined legendary status with his dad, Joe Fred Young, as just the fourth father-son duo to win state titles along with Bill and Scott Reed, Jim and Bo Hembree, and C.W. and Bill Keopple.

“That’s pretty cool,” Chris Young said. “I’m really proud of the things my dad did and the reputation he has. To be able to share this with him is very special.”

The Bulldogs had to rally to beat Lake Hamilton in a week 10 matchup of State Championship Numbers 10

State championships for Greenwood 35

Straight points scored by Greenwood in second and third quarters after trailing 10-0

404

Points scored by Greenwood in the first half out of 604 points scored all season

unbeaten teams for the 6A-West regular -season crown and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Lake Hamilton led, 21-10, in the third quarter before the Bulldogs stormed back to win, 38-28.

In the championship game, the Wolves also took a lead.

Alex Hurtz capped Lake Hamilton’s opening drive with a 37-yard field goal.

On the ensuing kickoff, Lake Hamilton’s Jamarrion Byrd recovered a fumble and two plays later Grant Bearden passed to Owen Miller for an 11-yard touchdown for a 10-0 lead with 8:04 left in the opening quarter.

“We knew we had a lot of football left,” Young said. “We’ve done such a good job of protecting the football and not turning it over, I don’t remember the last time we turned it over. That was a little bit of a shock. We had to compose ourselves over there.”

Lake Hamilton forced Greenwood to punt and drove into Greenwood territory before Greenwood’s defense stiffened and forced a punt.

Greenwood’s offense then scored on five-straight possessions to take a 35-10 lead, and Greenwood’s defense forced Lake Hamilton to punt three times and stopped a fourth-down try.

The biggest turnaround was late in the first half when Lake Hamilton missed on a fourth-down pass at Greenwood’s 17 with 51 seconds left and Greenwood holding a 14-10 lead.

“Our kid’s wide open in the end zone, and our quarterback miss him and it would have been 17-14 going into the half,” Lake Hamilton head coach Tommy Gilleran said. “Then they scored down the sideline. In a big game like this, you can’t give up that type of play.”

Greenwood made the Wolves pay for their indiscretion. After Hunter Wilkinson had runs of 5 and 7 yards, quarterback L.D. Richmond hit speeding receiver Luke Brewer perfectly in stride for a 71yard touchdown strike with seven seconds left in the half to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 21-10.

“A lot of teams get the ball near their own 20-yard-line with 51 seconds left might take a knee there, but that is not us,” Young said. “That is not our style, and that’s not how we play. That’s a tribute to our kids, they made the play.”

It was much more than a simple 14point swing, it provided a massive swing of momentum toward the Bulldogs.

“That was the difference in the game,” Young said. “They missed a pass the play right before that, had a guy open in the end zone, and then we scored on that.” MOST VALUABLE PLAYER

L.D. Richmond ■ QB ■ Greenwood

BURLSWORTH AWARD WINNERS Braden Stein ■ OL ■ Greenwood Bradley Rieman ■ OL ■ Lake Hamilton

GREENWOOD OFFENSE QB LD Richmond SR RB Hunter Wilkinson SR WR Caden Brown SR SR Aiden Kennon SO LT Braden Stein SR LG Jeremiah Presson JR C Ethan Cole SR RG Easton Erwin SR RT Christian Brown SR SR Jase Strozier SR WR Luke Brewer JR PK Luis Morales SR LAKE HAMILTON DEFENSE DE Obed Liera SR NM Dawson Poindexter SR DE Zach Roberts JR OLB Izaiah Clenney SR MLB Jamarrion Byrd SO OLB Gavin Roberts JR NB Kendrick Martin SO CB Marion Conrad JR CB Ethan Watson JR S Trent Singleton SR S Justin Crutchmer SO P Paul Gonzalez JR LAKE HAMILTON OFFENSE QB Grant Bearden JR FB Tevin Woodley JR WB Owen Miller JR WB Kendrick Martin SO TE Izaiah Clenney SR LT Dylan Horton JR LG Chase Jessup JR C Jeffrey Cable SR RG Bradley Reiman SR RT Luke Dodd SR TE Leland Barrie SO PK Alex Hurtz JR GREENWOOD DEFENSE DE Beau Asher SR DT Tyler Crossno JR DT Landon Kilgore JR DE Ty Cowan SR OLB Tatum Sadler SR ILB Angel Hernandez SR ILB Parker Gill JR OLB Jordan Hanna SR CB Colin Daggett JR CB Colt Owenby JR S Jayden Jasna SR P Noah Jantzen JR

CLASS 6A CHAMPIONSHIP STATISTICS

TEAM STATISTICS

LAKE HAMILTON GREENWOOD First Downs 16 19 Total Offense 54-304 56-416 Rushes - yards 47-218 42-238 Passes - yards 4-7-86 11-14-178 Fumbles Lost 0 1 Interceptions Thrown 0 0 Fourth Down Stopped 1 0 Penalties 6-50 7-56 Punts - Average 4-32.5 2-36.5 Big Plays (10+ yards) 9-201 10-227 Zero or Less Plays 11-(-49) 6-(-4) Sacks By - yards lost 0-0 4-35 3rd Down Conversions(avg to go) 3 of 9 (10.3) 6 of 11 (6.3) 4th Down Conversions(avg to go) 0 of 1 (4.0) 2 of 2 (1.0) Punt, Int, Fum Returns - yards 2-8 1-5 Average Drive Start own 38 own 41 Points Off Turnover 7 0 Possession Time 26:50 21:10