Tigers tame Bobcats, clinch playoff spot

The Green Forest Tigers are the undisputed champions of Carroll County football. And their prize is a trip to the state playoffs.

The Tigers shook off a slow start to beat the Berryville Bobcats 37-13 in a rain-soaked edition of the annual Carroll County Super Bowl on Friday, Nov. 8, at Bobcat Stadium.

Senior running back Ridge Gordon-Swofford ran for 172 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries for the Tigers, while senior quarterback Mason Meador completed all seven of his pass attempts for 46 yards and two touchdowns, both to classmate Brityn Gilliam. All told, Green Forest rang up 312 yards of total offense.

It was the Tigers’ second consecutive victory against their archrivals and it gave Green Forest its fourth victory of the season for the second year in a row. Before going 4-6 in 2023, the Tigers hadn’t won four games in a season since 2013.

“I thought we played really well,” Green Forest coach Greg Tibbitt said. “We kind of got off to a slow start. The offensive line played really well again for the second week in a row and it was just a good night for us.”

The victory also clinched the fifth playoff seed from the 4A-1 conference for Green Forest. The Tigers will travel to Mena on Friday, Nov. 15, to take on a Bearcats team that won its first nine games of the season. The Class 4A playoff appearance will be the Tigers’ first since 2020. Green Forest “opted into” the playoffs during that season, which was played in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, despite going 1-9. Before that the Tigers hadn’t been to the state playoffs since 2014, when they were in Class 3A.

The Tigers won handily despite losing their defensive leader, junior Colton Fancher, to a broken leg midway through the first quarter. Fancher lay on the field for several minutes being attended to by medical personnel before being taken off on a stretcher and transported to a hospital by ambulance. On his way off the field, Fancher pumped his arms toward the Green Forest sidelines, encouraging his teammates.

“Losing Colton that second series, we kind of took an emotional low right there just because he’s our team leader, our emotional leader,” Tibbitt said. “But we rallied and went out and scored. And then I just thought after that we played really well.”

Tibbitt said Fancher, who combined with teammate Wescley Lopez for five sacks in the Tigers’ victory at Huntsville a week earlier would have surgery this week.

Green Forest struggled to move the ball early against Berryville, and the Bobcats took an early lead on a 19-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback CT Hicks to junior receiver Kale Smith. Valentin Trujillo’s extra point gave Berryville a 7-0 lead with 2:29 remaining in the first quarter.

“We definitely controlled the game at first,” Berryville coach Macklin Chermak said. “We were moving the ball and got a stop on defense. We controlled the first quarter, for the most part, and they kind of woke up and took over.”

The Tigers got untracked in the second quarter, scoring three touchdowns in the final eight minutes to start a spree of 37 consecutive points.

Junior Jonathon Rivera started the outburst for Green Forest with a 1-yard touchdown run at the 7:51 mark of the second quarter. On the two-point conversion, 312-pound senior center Isiah Lopez lined up at quarterback in a Shotgun formation, took the snap and ran through a Berryville defender into the end zone to put the Tigers ahead to stay at 8-7.

“He was supposed to hit it a little tighter,” Tibbitt said with a chuckle. “I think he thinks he’s faster than what he is. He went outside. I really think that was an emotional spark for us. Everybody was so excited he got to score and it just kind of carried us over right there.”

It didn’t take long for Green Forest to add to its lead. On Berryville’s second play from scrimmage after receiving the kickoff, the Bobcats fumbled the ball back to the Tigers at the Berryville 34. From there, Green Forest needed just three plays to score, with Gordon-Swofford carrying on each play. The touchdown came on a 17-yard run up the middle with 5:54 left in the second quarter. Senior Gabe Serna ran for the two-point conversion to extend the Tigers’ lead to 16-7.

Green Forest’s defense then forced Berryville to punt on the Bobcats’ next possession, and a short kick set the Tigers up inside Berryville’s 35.

From there, Green Forest drove to the 3, where the Tigers faced third-and-goal. Mason Meador rolled to his left and threw a pass that bounced off the intended receiver’s hands to Gilliam for another Green Forest touchdown. Gordon-Swofford took a Shotgun snap and bulled his way into the end zone for the two-point conversion and a 24-7 lead with 1:14 remaining in the second quarter.

The Tigers ended any remaining suspense with a dominating drive to open the second half. Green Forest held the ball for more than four minutes, driving 89 yards in 10 plays for its fourth touchdown of the night. Gordon-Swofford got things started by picking up 28 yards on the first three plays of the drive. After a 4-yard run by Rivera, Meador and Gilliam connected on an 18-yard pass to the Berryville 39. Meador kept the ball for a 10-yard gain on the next play and Rivera’s 12-yard run two plays later gave the Tigers a first down at the 12. Gordon-Swofford ran for 7 yards to move the ball to the 5. From there, Meador passed to Gilliam short of the goal line and Gilliam twisted his way into the end zone for the touchdown. A two-point try failed, but Green Forest was in firm control with a 30-7 lead.

Berryville put together a promising drive on its next possession, moving from its own 20 to the Green Forest 39. On fourth down, however, Green Forest senior Diego Martinez intercepted a Berryville pass and the Tigers took possession at the 36.

Martinez had seven tackles and an interception for the second consecutive week, while teammate Jaden Kaler had 10 tackles and Jace Meador added eight.

“A lot of younger guys stepped up,” Tibbitt said. “We had a bunch of young guys rolling in there and they really played well. Coach (Brandon) Stone had a great game plan defensively and we executed it. (Berryville) really struggled moving the ball most of the night.”

After the Martinez interception, the Bobcats forced Green Forest into fourth-and-6 from the Berryville 43. The Bobcats were flagged for jumping offsides, however, putting the Tigers in a fourthand-1 situation.

Meador picked up the first down on a quarterback sneak and the drive continued, ultimately resulting in a 1-yard touchdown run by Serna. On that play, Serna lined up to Meador’s left in a Shotgun formation, took a handoff and followed Gordon-Swofford toward the right corner of the end zone. Finding no room there, Serna cut back to the left, then ran backward to the 12 and covered almost the entire width of the field before getting into the end zone. Rivera kicked the extra point to put the Tigers up 37-7 with 10:33 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Berryville kept fighting until the final horn, with sophomore Jason Alvarado scoring on a 5-yard run on a fourthdown play with 11 seconds remaining to set the final score at 37-13.

After celebrating their big win, the Tigers now turn their attention to Mena. The Bearcats suffered their first loss of the season on Friday, Nov. 8, falling to Dardanelle 46-13 in a game that decided the 4A-4 conference championship.

Tibbitt, a former assistant coach at Mena, says the Bearcats (9-1) will be a tough opponent.

“They’re a good football team, a good program,” he said. “It’ll kind of be a little bit of a homecoming of sorts. But they’re a good football team.”

Berryville, meanwhile, will head into the offseason hoping to build on valuable experience gained this fall by several young players who saw extensive playing time because of the Bobcats’ lack of depth.

“The biggest thing for us will be getting our numbers back up,” Chermak said. “It definitely went down this year. So, yeah, getting numbers back up and getting these guys to compete a bit. We have a bunch that go to different sports, which is good because then they’re competing somewhere else, too. The ones that are left over, we’ve got to get bigger, faster, stronger and find ways to help them compete as well.”