Greenwood right at home in 5A-West title chase

— Are you ready for some Thursday night football that doesn’t include directional schools or mediocre teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference?

High school football fans will receive an early treat tonight when Greenbrier (7-1, 4-1) plays at Greenwood (6-2, 4-1) in an important 5AWest Conference matchup.

The two teams, along with Alma, are tied for the conference lead, and tonight’s loser will likely be out of the running for the 5A-West championship.

The game will be televised in the central Arkansas area by KARZ-TV, Channel 42, but it won’t be shown in Northwest Arkansas.

Greenbrier, which lost 44-29 to Siloam Springs two weeks ago, forced a three-way tie in the 5A-West by beating Alma 48-23 last Friday.Greenwood continued its impressive turnaround last week by beating Vilonia 49-21 on the road for its fourth consecutive victory.

Greenwood has won four state championships since 2000, and Greenbrier is on an upswing after winning nine games and reaching the semifinals of the state playoffs last season.

Greenbrier has a top quarterback in Neal Burcham, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette ’s sophomore offensive player of the year last season.Greenwood has been able to run the ball effectively this season behind Justin Sunde, who has rushed for more than 400 yards and eighttouchdowns in his past two games.

Greenwood plastered Greenbrier 49-14 last season, but this game promises to be much closer. Still, Greenwood doesn’t lose at home too often, and we expect the Bulldogs will be playing for a conference championship next week against Alma.

RICK’S PICK Greenwood The other picks Other games involving teams from Northwest Arkansas (selections in bold): CLASS 7A Bentonville at Springdale FS Southside at Rogers Heritage Rogers at Fort Smith Northside Springdale Har-Ber at Fayetteville Cabot at Van Buren CLASS 5A Morrilton at Huntsville Siloam Springs at AlmaVilonia at Harrison CLASS 4A Berryville at Gravette Gentry at Prairie Grove Ozark at Shiloh Christian Pea Ridge at Farmington Clarksville at Pottsville Dardanelle at Booneville Mena at Subiaco Academy Waldron at Dover CLASS 3A Greenland at Lincoln Mountain View at Green Forest West Fork at Elkins Yellville-Summit at Marshall Cedarville at Charleston Lamar at Atkins Mansfield at Lavaca Perryville at Paris CLASS 2A Hackett at Johnson County Westside Hartford at Western Yell County Mountainburg at Magazine Union Christian at Decatur Poyen at Danville LAST WEEK 25-4 (86 percent) OVERALL 196-56 (78 percent)

Sports, Pages 20 on 10/28/2010

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