By Buck Ringgold
Exactly 25 years ago, Greenwood’s football team captured its first state championship.
The Bulldogs have practically made it a habit of going back to Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium since then. They have been the most successful program in the state of Arkansas since that first championship season in 2000, winning 11 more titles, including back-to-back crowns the past two seasons.
A common thread to all those championships is Chris Young, who was an assistant coach on Greenwood’s first title squad a quarter-century ago. He’s now the Bulldogs’ head coach, and has led them to their last three championships, winning his first in 2020.
Greenwood won its latest title with a 61-35 win against Shiloh Christian in the Class 6A title game as quarterback Kane Archer threw for 321 yards and accounted for seven total touchdowns. The Bulldogs were able to fight through some adversity, especially in October, when the team received tragic news as wide receiver Isaiah Arrington, along with his mother and sister, passed away in a house fire.
With the Bulldogs heavily favored to win a third straight Class 6A title behind returning standouts like senior quarterback Archer (a UCF commit), expectations once again are running rampant in the western Arkansas hamlet affectionally known among the locals as “Titletown.”
Young talked about those expectations, and more, in a Q&A session with Vype’s Buck Ringgold.
Q (Ringgold): With all the tradition that Greenwood’s had over the years, all the state titles and all that, I know this is saying a lot, but can this be the most anticipated Greenwood football season in recent memory, considering what you have coming back and all the expectations and all that?
A (Young): You know, I think it’s similar to last year. Last year, we had a lot of guys coming back defensively, and then had some great, skilled guys back on offense, so the expectation was to be really strong in all three phases. And obviously, we had a great season last year, but this year we’re different in the fact that we’ve got a ton back on offense, but really kind of starting over on defense. You know, we’ve got two guys back that started most of the time, and a third guy that started a little bit. So defensively, we’ll see a lot of new faces out there. But you know, that’s exciting to get kids who’ve been up through the program get an opportunity on Friday nights.
Q: Of course, obviously, I have to ask you about Kane (Archer). Going into his senior year, what have you liked about Kane, and what’s your expectations of him this season?
A: With the unreal expectations he had at age 13 and 14, and for him to do what he’s done, it’s just unbelievable. I think the most special thing about Kane is he’s not satisfied. He wants just as good of a year as he had last year. You know, he immediately went back to work and has found a way to improve. Some areas have been with Kane that maybe he wasn’t satisfied with where he was, and it just continually improves.
He has a unique ability that if we call a bad play offensively, he gets us out of it and can make something special happen. So I expect he’s going to have an all-time year. He’s prepared by grace, he’s faster, he’s stronger, his arm strength has improved. Obviously, he has a great understanding of our offense, so he looks pretty special.
Q: And, as you alluded to, it’s not just Kane, but you’ve got some other key weapons on offense as well. Especially at wide receiver, right?
A: You know, we get three of our wide receivers back who started in the state championship game. It starts with Champ Davis, who led the state in receiving last year. But then Cooper Bland, he started a little bit of his sophomore year, and then started all 13 games last year, a possession receiver that was great on the edge without the ball. He’s really come into his own. I think his speed has really increased, and a great off-season. Him and Benton Hossley both started the state championship game for us.
We got another one, Cooper Webb, that’s a 6-(foot) 5 kid. Really smart receiver, does a great job of getting open and finding the holes. And then we’ve got a sophomore that we think has a chance to be the next great wide receiver at Greenwood in Braxton Canada; very athletic, runs really well.
Q: And then, what about your running backs this year?
A: You know, running back was probably the area that we were most disappointed in last year. We were really young there, and Wesley Raggio and Mario Dunbar were sophomores and juniors last year. They’re a year older and have had a great offseason. I tell you what, they’ve been one of the really bright spots at team camps this summer. It’s just how they’ve improved, not only running with the ball in their hands, but blocking on the edge and being physical and pass protection. So we feel really good about the running back spot.
Q: Then we’ve got to mention the offensive line. What are your expectations of them this year?
A: Yeah, really good crew back. We got three starters back, a fourth guy that played a lot. It starts off with Cody Tayler, who’s committed to Charlotte as a Division I left tackle. He’s played guard for us the last three years. I think he’s got a chance to probably set the record for most starts in a career in Arkansas. He’s been in the state championship game as a ninth grader, 10th grader, 11th grader, and I think he’ll be our leader this year. But we also have Akira Fujibayashi at center, who started all 13 games last year.
Landon Billy, our left guard, started for us but tore his ACL in the state championship game. He is back and getting healthy now, so we’re excited about that. And then we’ve got a young kid at right tackle, Jaxson Cepeda. He’s going to be a really good one; he’s athletic, and moves well. Hal Davis at right guard. Hal started the last half of the year for us last year, and he’s back at guard, and then Alex Vanderwatt is another one.
So we feel like we have six guys right now, six starters on the offense up front once we get Landon back from injury. And you know, we just think overall offensively, we’re really strong in all of our positions.
Q: You mentioned the defense is going to look a little different this year. So just kind of your thoughts on what you expect from the defense this year?
A: I think it starts with (defensive coordinator Jason) Gill; he does a great job with our defense, and it’s very multiple. He does a really good job of fitting our defense. We’re going to have two starters, probably on offense, that are sophomores, and I think you can see some more sophomores starting for us on defense. And we didn’t start a sophomore last year, so there will be some growing pains with that. But we think it’s a really athletic group.
Q: What are your thoughts on your schedule?
A: We’ve got a tough schedule We scrimmage Fayetteville, which will show us real quick. They’ve been a really, really good football team. But then we start off with Bentonville West, and we had trouble stopping them last year. They do a great job offensively. Our second game, we’ve got (Fort Smith) Northside. They’ve got a new coach that I know they’re excited about over there, and they’ve got some great skill players over there. And then Springdale Har-Ber, the same deal because they’ve got a new coach in there.
So we like playing really good teams early on, because that can show how serious we need to improve in and I think our non- conference schedule is going to do that for us this year.
Q: You have a chance to win three straight state championships, which would be the third time Greenwood has done it.
A: It’s just a credit to our kids and, you know, the program we have and the culture here; they expect to be playing in War Memorial, so there’s a lot of responsibility comes with that. I think some people just assume we get on a bus and show up there. They don’t see these kids and what they’re doing in the summer and what they did in the spring to prepare themselves and give themselves a chance.
But I’ll tell you what, there are some really good football teams (in 6A). Shiloh Christian’s got most of their team back from last year. That was a state championship game. We know they’re very, very talented, very well coached. Benton has a great team coming back; Lake Hamilton, I know they’re excited, so I think the competition in 6A will be much better this year. Last year, there were a few really good teams, and I think that there’s going to be more teams towards the top this year.
Q: Last year was a great year for you once again. But of course, as you know, it was a tough one because of the tragedy with Isaiah and his family. What did you and the players learn from that tragic situation that you had?
A: I think we’ve learned that football is not that important, to be honest with you, there’s a lot more things important than high school football and you know, we lost somebody that was very, very close to all of us, and it shook us like we’ve never been shook. You know, it’s something that at 47 years old, I’ve never gone through much less 16, 17, 18-year old young men in our program. But it made us thankful, I think, for the opportunity that we do get to spend time with each other.
You know, every time you hug a kid after practice, now it means a little bit more to you. And you know, it started off with tears every time we thought about Isaiah and anger, but I think as the year went on, we began to smile thinking about the good memories of Isaiah and the things he did for our program and his family. And, you know, we’re just fortunate that we got to spend the time we did with him.
Q: What do you think is the most underrated aspect of the Greenwood football in what really makes this team so successful that maybe many people don’t see behind the scenes?
A: Yeah, I think it’s the preparation. You know, we work on Saturdays and Sundays as a coaching staff every week. Once we start, we go 14 weeks without taking Saturday or Sunday off. Our coaches are in their game planning mode and finding ways to put our kids in great position. But then we bring our kids in on Sunday afternoon, and we watch that film with them, and they’re really intelligent. I think for whatever reason, those great kids really understand the game of football.
Q: What are your final thoughts on the upcoming season?
A: Man, I’m excited; I really am. I think we’ve got an opportunity to have a great year. I think it’s going to be a lot more competitive than it was last year. You know, there’s going to be some great early games, with Bentonville West, and Shiloh Christian is our Week 4 opening conference game. We’re going to start off with a doozy right off the bat, so our young guys are going to have to step up, and once we can get them to step up, I think we’re going to be fine, but it will take some time.
Photo courtesy of Chris Young
