Greenwood scores easily, rips Benton

6A-WEST

NO. 4 GREENWOOD 41, BENTON 25

GREENWOOD -- Luke Hales ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more as Greenwood kept its record perfect with a 41-25 victory against Benton on Friday in 6A-West play.

[HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL SCOREBOARD: Full results + recaps, photos and more]

Hales, who orally committed to Central Arkansas last week, did not put up dazzling statistics, but his four touchdowns were more than enough to help the No. 4 overall Bulldogs stay in control of the conference race with two weeks remaining.

The Bulldogs (8-0, 5-0 6A-West) capitalized on four Benton turnovers to build a big lead. Greenwood's average starting field possession on 15 drives was midfield. Still the Bulldogs piled up 475 yards of offense on 85 offensive plays.

Benton had two explosive plays in the first half, coming on its first and last plays. Senior running back Brandon Hunter accounted for both, rushing 73 yards for a touchdown on the Panthers' first play, and 64 yards for another score on the final play of the half. But in between, the Panthers struggled with turnovers.

"Other than those two plays there, I thought our defense played really well," Greenwood Coach Rick Jones said. "But when you look at the total, they did a great job."

Greenwood bounced back after the Benton early strike, marching 68 yards in 9 plays to tie the score at 7-7. Junior quarterback Connor Noland led the drive, hitting 4 of 5 passes, and capping the march with a 22-yard touchdown run with 8:35 left in the first quarter.

Benton (5-3, 3-2) later trailed 14-7, but it could have been much worse. The Panthers defense came up with a goal -line stand late in the first quarter, stopping the Bulldogs four consecutive plays inside the 5.

"We gave up 41, but I'm proud of their effort," Benton Coach Brad Harris said of his defense. "We gave them bad field positions, short fields, but they stepped up inside the red zone and came up with some big stops and forced some field goals. I thought we played a lot better defensively than we did last year. They did what they wanted to to us. This year they had to fight for that they got."

Greenwood took a 31-7 lead with just four seconds left in the first half when Hales hit 5 of 6 passes for 36 yards, the last a 4-yard touchdown to Peyton Holt.

The ensuing kickoff went out of bounds at the Benton 36, giving the Panthers the ball at that spot. Hunter took an option pitch and weaved his way from one side of the field to the other for a 64-yard scoring run to pull the Panthers within 31-14 at halftime.

Benton got a field goal to open the second half to pull within 31-17, but Greenwood struck for a quick touchdown and field goal to go up 41-17.

Hales finished the night 13 of 20 for 105 yards and added 49 rushing yards on 13 carries. Benton quarterback Nate Beck was 24 of 41 for 184 yards and one touchdown. Hunter finished with 184 yards on 16 carries.

Sports on 10/22/2016

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