ALMA -- There were plenty of cheers from the Alma side during pregame introductions on Senior Night at Airedale Stadium.
After that, it was mostly downhill for the Airedales.
Greenwood 56, Alma 14
Alma^7^7^0^0^—^14
Greenwood^14^28^7^7^—^56
First Quarter
Green — Green 12 run (Cooper kick), 8:47
Alma — Dotson 6 pass from Friddle (Walker kick), 5:49
Green — Morgan 15 pass from Noland (Cooper kick), 2:36
Second Quarter
Green — Hales 4 run (Cooper kick), 11:37
Green — Green 54 run (Cooper kick), 7:39
Green — Hales 2 run (Cooper kick), 3:38
Alma — Friddle 22 pass from Dotson (Walker kick), 0:44
Green — Hales 4 run (Cooper kick), 0:15
Third Quarter
Green — Hales 1 run (Cooper kick), 1:24.
Fourth Quarter
Green — Hood 86 run (Cooper kick), 6:42
Greenwood scored four consecutive touchdowns to break an early tie and defeated Alma 56-14 in 7A/6A-Central Conference action Friday night. Greenwood (10-0, 7-0) clinched the conference championship while beating Alma (6-4, 4-3) for the 11th consecutive season.
The unbeaten Bulldogs will receive a first-round bye to begin the playoffs in Class 6A.
Junior Luke Hales scored four touchdowns while rotating at quarterback with sophomore Connor Nolan. Grant Morgan caught a 15-yard touchdown pass and set up another score with a 50-yard reception.
"(Hales) has become a bruiser, that's for sure," Greenwood coach Rick Jones said. "He weighs about 225 and he finds the hole. He's making progress every week and I'm proud of him."
Greenwood led 42-14 at halftime against the Airedales, who finished as a No. 3 seed for the playoffs.
"Our conference and nonconference schedule has us ready for the playoffs," Alma coach Doug Loughridge said. "I think we can make some noise because we've played some really good teams."
Alma came in with some momentum after rolling past Van Buren, 33-14, last week. The Airedales quickly fell behind against Greenwood, then tied the score on a double reverse handoff that resulted in a 6-yard touchdown catch by Noah Dotson.
The trick play didn't much phase Greenwood, which countered with 28 consecutive points to lead 35-7. Hales scored on touchdown runs of 4, 2, and 4 yards while Jordan Green broke loose for a 54-yard touchdown run.
Alma received a late opportunity when Greenwood started a series by trying to pass with 1 minute, 14 seconds left before halftime. Kevin Schultz intercepted a pass to set up a 22-yard touchdown catch and run by Heath Friddle.
Greenwood wasn't done scoring after gaining possession with 44 seconds left in the second quarter. The Bulldogs were helped by a short kickoff and personal foul penalty and Hales scored again to increase the lead to 42-14.
Hales added a 1-yard touchdown run after Alma failed on fourth down to begin the second half. That score initiated a running clock because of the 35-point mercy rule.
"Greenwood is very good," Loughridge said. 'They keep reloading every year and I think they're going to go deep in the playoffs."
Sports on 11/07/2015