LITTLE ROCK — Needing maybe 6 inches for a clinching first down from its 34 with 2:14 remaining in the game, Greenwood Coach Rick Jones sent his punting team on the field.
Then Greenwood called timeout. Then Jones changed his mind.
“Our defense was a little tired, and I thought if you can’t make 2 feet, you shouldn’t get the trophy anyway,” Jones said. “I thought we would go get it.”
As usual, the Bulldogs did.
Senior Saul Palmer’s 4-yard run on fourth down moved the chains, and Greenwood held on for a 51-44 victory over Pine Bluff in the Class 6A state championship game before 8,142 fans Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
Greenwood (14-0) won its 38th consecutive game — equaling the third-longest winning streak in Arkansas high school history — and third consecutive state championship. It’s the school’s seventh championship since 2000.
The Bulldogs, who trailed 21-7 early in the first quarter, also became the first school since the modern playoff era began in 1968 to win three consecutive state championships on two occasions. Jones also led Greenwood to the Class AAAA state championship in 2005 and to Class 5A titles in 2006 and 2007.
Greenwood won the past two state championships in Class 5A before being placed in Class 6A for the 2012-2014 cycle.
“We ask a lot of our kids,” said Jones, who is 107-16 at Greenwood since 2004. “Our Pit Bull program in the third grade sort of begins the training process of teaching them how to be Bulldogs. We just try to grow those guys up so that some day they can look out here and, hopefully, end up their season or career like these guys did.”
Senior utility back/safety Drew Morgan earned his second consecutive MVP in a final by rushing 9 times for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns, catching 4 passes for 87 yards and 1 touchdown, returning 3 kickoffs for 55 yards, making 7 unassisted tackles and intercepting 1 pass.
Morgan, who has orally committed to Arkansas State, normally plays outside linebacker but started at safety because junior Taylor Hasley, the team’s leading tackler, had a shoulder injury.
Morgan was hurting, too.
Morgan, 6-0, 170 pounds, said he dislocated his shoulder in the semifinals against El Dorado and dislocated his hip after catching a pass midway through his first quarter Saturday.
“If he would have been 100 percent, he would really have been good, huh?” Jones said with a laugh.
Greenwood finished with a 528-393 advantage in total yards.
Junior quarterback Jabe Burgess overcame two firstquarter interceptions to complete 14 of 22 passes for a career-high 396 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Senior wide receiver Austin Harris had 4 receptions for 166 yards and 1 touchdown (91 yards). Senior wide receiver Jansen Stein had 3 receptions for 102 yards and 1 touchdown (12 yards).
Morgan gave Greenwood its biggest lead, 51-37, when he ran 33 yards for a touchdown on an inside screen with 30 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs never trailed after Morgan ran 2 yards for a touchdown, and a 31-28 halftime lead, with 2:10 left in the second quarter.
Greenwood punted only once and its Spread attack, heavy on screens and slants, applied constant pressure to a defense that hadn’t allowed more than nine points in its previous eight games.
Greenwood scored touchdowns on two consecutive possessions after Pine Bluff junior place-kicker Austin McGehee made it 37-37 on a 30-yard field goal with 5:30 left in the third quarter.
“We had a little momentum out there, but we really never did anything defensively to give us a chance to win the game,” Pine Bluff Coach Bobby Bolding said. “We’re not as proficient offensively as they are, but our offense really played well today. We played well enough to win offensively. Hats off to their offense. We hadn’t had guys that open all year on us.”
The Zebras (12-2) finished with 249 of their 393 yards on the ground.
Senior quarterback Rickey Clements ran 15 times for 143 yards and 1 touchdown and completed 13 of 26 passes for 144 yards and 3 touchdowns. Senior tailback Walter Ashley ran 24 times for 90 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Clements’ third touchdown pass, a 10-yard throw to senior wide receiver Devarius Rice, pulled Pine Bluff within 51-44 with 4:28 left to play.
It was the only touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Zebras converted fourth down twice on a 17-play, 84-yard drive that consumed 8:02, but they never had another offensive snap.
Two plays after Palmer’s fourth-down run, Morgan had a 44-yard burst up the middle, intentionally sliding down at the 18 to kill the remaining seconds because Pine Bluff was out of timeouts.
Morgan had thrown his arms up a few moments earlier when it appeared Greenwood was going to punt.
“I was like, ‘Coach Jones, come on. Help me out a little bit. We can go for this. We can get this. Trust us,’ ” Morgan said. “He goes, ‘I trust you.’ And you saw we got it.”
As usual.
Scoring summary
Pine Bluff ..........21 7 9 7 — 44 Greenwood ........14 17 20 0 — 51
FIRST QUARTER
PBHS — Ashley 4 run (McGehee kick), 11:11 GHS — Morgan 28 run (Jones, kick), 10:00 PBHS — Mack 37 pass from Clement (McGehee kick), 6:04 PBHS — Payne 9 pass from Clement (McGehee kick), 4:53 GHS — Stein 12 pass from Burgess (Jones kick), 4:00
SECOND QUARTER
PBHS — Ashley 11 run (McGehee kick), 11:54 GHS — Harris 91 pass from Burgess (Jones kick), 11:11 GHS — FG Jones 39, 8:57 GHS — Morgan 2 run (Jones kick), 2:10
THIRD QUARTER GHS — Palmer 3 run (kick failed), 9:23 PBHS — Clement 39 run (kick failed), 7:19 PBHS — FG McGehee 30, 5:30 GHS — Burgess 1 run (Jones kick), 3:43 GHS — Morgan 33 pass from Burgess (Jones kick), :30
FOURTH QUARTER PBHS — Rice 10 pass from Clement (McGehee kick), 4:28 Attendance — 8,142
Sports, Pages 30 on 12/02/2012