(KFSM) Ask Greenwood about Benton...
"They’re big, obviously."
"They’re big and fast, really really good offensive line."
Or vice-versa...
"They’re just wirey, they hustle around."
"They’re a really good team, and you go into their place and they play at a different level at their place."
...and it becomes obvious that these two have met before Saturday's state title clash.
The Bulldogs took down the Panthers 62-33 in Week 8 meeting featuring very little defense, if you ask the coaches.
.We put 33 points on them, but we was not able to keep them down, so we have to play better defense," says Benton coach Brad Harris.
Greenwood head man Rick Jones echoes the sentiment.
"We didn’t stop them very consistently whatsoever."
Greenwood and Benton have very different mindsets going into this one, based partially around what happened last time.
For Peyton Holt and the Bulldogs, it's just a "regular week of practice, go out and focus on the little things."
Zak Wallace, Benton's star running back, wasn't 100% in that first meeting.
"We’re just looking for revenge, I’m back, the O-Line is back and better too, so we’re just looking for revenge."
And while every state title is obviously huge, it’s almost commonplace for a Bulldog team that has won 8 titles since 2000, including last year’s. That explains Holt's outlook.
"I guess it’s just another regular game."
That’s not the case for a Benton squad that hasn’t won since 1977, says Harris.
"It would be huge for us, everyone around here looks at Benton-Bryant, would love to win the Salt Bowl, but everyone would love to have a state championship trophy in our cabinets too."
"Man, me and my teammates have been dreaming about this all our lives, since future Panthers," admits Wallace, "so it would mean a bunch, that we finally did it as a team."
For whichever team gets to carry the trophy off the field tomorrow, that taste of victory will still be sweet. Kickoff is at 12:05 Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.