GREENLAND — Dozens of fans lined one side of the chain-link fence surrounding Greenland’s football field. Some dressed in camouflage jackets, and one particularly interesting character wore a trench coat and cowboy hat.
They huddled underneath blankets and layers of clothes, hoping to stay warm as they watched the Pirates do something coach Lee Larkan can’t recall ever happening in school history.
“The fat lady ain’t singing!” Larkan hollered to his players Friday night.
It was his way of letting them know their second-round playoff game against Osceola wasn’t over yet. He wanted to get another goal-line stand from his defense as Greenland protected a 14-point lead with 43 seconds remaining.
He got it.
Cornerback Blade Snider made a diving interception at the 1 with 27 seconds left, giving much of Greenland’s population a reason to celebrate as the clock wound down on a 28-14 upset of Osceola at Jonathan Ramey Memorial Stadium.
Get the turkeys ready and make sure there is plenty of stuffing available. To the surprise of even Greenland’s players, they’ll be spending Thanksgiving on the football field, preparing for a Class 3A quarterfinal game against Prescott (10-2).
“We told them we’re having the team Thanksgiving dinner Thursday at 11:30 right out here right after practice, and I don’t think they believed it,” Larkan said. “But now they know it.”
There is nothing surprising about Bentonville (11-0) still being alive in the playoffs. The Tigers are nationally ranked and went another fall without losing a game in the regular season.
No one is shocked to see Fayetteville (8-3) remains in the postseason, either. The Bulldogs are the defending Class 7A state champions and have a roster that includes three players committed to Arkansas.
Even Prairie Grove’s appearance in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A state playoffs was expected. Sure, the Tigers (11-0) needed to rally from a 16-point deficit late in the third quarter to edge Pottsville 34-28 on Friday, but they had smothered everyone else this season with their stingy defense.
But Greenland (8-3) still playing the week of Thanksgiving? Who saw that happening?
Hootens.com had the Pirates as a six-point underdog to Osceola despite the fact the game was played at Greenland. Heading into last week, Hootens had the Pirates ranked as the 25th-best team in Class 3A, only two spots ahead of a pair of 2-8 teams.
In full disclosure, only one of nine reporters in NWA Media’s weekly prediction poll took Greenland to beat Osceola. It wasn’t me.
To be fair, it’s easy to see why most people avoided jumping on the Greenland bandwagon. The Pirates had never advanced beyond the second round of the Class 3A playoffs to Larkan’s knowledge.
But Greenland did so Friday by forcing Osceola into committing seven turnovers, including a pair of them in the first four minutes of the game. The Seminoles were held scoreless in the second half and completed only one pass all night. At the same time, Larkan opted to keep attempting onside kicks instead of kicking it deep to Osceola’s speedy return men.
“They’re too fast, and they’re too good. Their skill people are just too good,” Larkan said. “We were going to give ourselves chances. We weren’t going to be stupid. That’s like pitching to (Albert) Pujols. I’m not doing it.”
Larkan instead savored the moment. Greenland’s cannon had reason to fire at the end of the night, and the hometown crowd was rewarded for standing in temperatures that reached the low 40s.
The Pirates’ ship sails on.
Alex Abrams is the assistant sports editor for NWA Media.