Not much can be surprising in sports these days.
But one thing that would be a shock would be the Greenwood Bulldogs not playing for a state championship.
Greenwood is playing for the 6A championship Saturday at Noon against Pine Bluff in hopes to secure its second three-peat in recent history. Greenwood also turned the trick from 2005-07.
The Bulldogs have won 37 straight games but a 38th consecutive win will be tougher to come by.
“Pine Bluff is very talented,” Greenwood receiver Austin Harris said. “They are big, fast and execute really well. We are just going to have to play really well.”
Slowing down the Zebras on the ground is an obvious area of concern.
“To be able to have success we are obviously going to have to stop their run and then on top of that we are going to have to see what they do and do our best to execute there to,” Greenwood receiver Jansen Stein said.
Even though Greenwood is playing in its seventh title game in nine years, Pine Bluff is no stranger to this point of the season either. The Zebras have won 21 state titles in school history but none since 1995. They are also in the title game for the second time in four years.
Despite all the recent success, this is not a point in the season that Greenwood coach Rick Jones despises.
“It absolutely doesn't get old,” Jones said. “Every year is a book in and of itself. It's a struggle even though it might not look like it from the outside. Our kids and coaches have worked since January of last year to get to this point and it never gets old. I can promise you that.”