Hales bulls way past Airedales

ALMA -- There were plenty of cheers from the Alma side during pregame introductions on Senior Night at Airedale Stadium.

It was mostly downhill for the Airedales after that.

Greenwood score four consecutive touchdowns to break an early tie and defeat Alma 56-14 Friday night to close out the regular season in the 7A/6A-Central Conference. 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 next week in the Class 6A state playoffs.

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.

"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 faze Greenwood, which answered with 28 consecutive points to take a 35-7 lead. Hales scored on runs of 4, 2, and 4 yards and Jordan Green broke loose for a 54-yard touchdown run.

Alma had a late opportunity when Greenwood started a series by trying to pass with 1:14 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 a 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

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