El Dorado could certainly make that case Saturday. The Wildcats blitzed Greenwood and claimed the 6A State Championship 27-17 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
El Dorado was credited with eight quarterback sacks and held the Bulldogs to minus-44 yards rushing.
The Wildcats salted the game away with an 11-play, 66-yard drive, converting a pair of fourth downs along the way. Shadarious Plummer had seven carries on the drive, including a 35-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-3, which put the game away with 2:36 remaining.
Plummer took the handoff and immediately bounced outside right tackle and sprinted into the end zone. Rojemi Aydogdu's PAT gave the Wildcats a 10-point advantage.
"At halftime we put it on the back of our offensive line," said El Dorado coach Steven Jones. "We felt like if we could establish the line of scrimmage, they were playing us light in the tackle box, we could run the football and get out of here on top. He hit it and he just broke free. It was an awesome run."
The 11-play drive featured 10 running plays. The lone pass was on fourth-and-3 when Sharmon Rester hit Jackie Washington on a slant for five yards and a first down.
Rester completed 11-of-25 passes for 109 yards. The senior rushed for 101 yards on 18 carries.
"It started off with defense. Offense was kind of shaky because they were dropping eight back," said Rester. "We came in at halftime and game planned on putting the game on our running back's back. That's basically all we did. We moved bodies up front and let him go to work. They were dropping eight back so we didn't do a lot of passing."
Plummer was the workhorse on offense, carrying 26 times for 181 yards and four touchdowns. He was named Most Valuable Player.
"This meant a lot to me. I really did it for the seniors," Plummer said. "They've been talking about winning a ring since they were little kids. It's a big accomplishment. At the half, we had a conversation about the line and me had to win the game. That meant a lot to me. I had to just muscle up and do my job."
Speaking of muscling up, El Dorado's defense held Greenwood to 223 yards of total offense. The Wildcats blitzed early and often, recording 13 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and forcing five turnovers.
“I am so proud of our guys. I don’t know what the record for sacks is but it’s got to be pretty close to it," said El Dorado defensive coordinator Trey Outlaw. "Super proud of our guys. They flew around. Corners did awesome. Safeties did awesome. The front seven chased quarterbacks all night. I cannot say how proud I am of our guys.”
Outlaw who was asked when he decided to put heat on Greenwood’s quarterbacks.
“They throw so many tunnel screens. We thought it would be kind of tough. But after the first series when we got quite a bit of pressure, we said we’re just going to blitz the rest of the night and see what they do. Thank goodness our kids answered the bell and came out swinging.”
Marquees Waller and Patrick Sixbey had six tackles apiece. Damarian Rester had four tackles, including three tackles for loss and two sacks. Jyrin Steward had three tackles, a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery. Ahymayus Young and two tackles for loss. Mario Ganter and Josh Hill both had interceptions.
El Dorado took the lead on Plummer's 20-yard touchdown run with 8:10 left in the first. Defense set up the score when Danquez Shelton recovered a fumble forced by Sixbey.
The Bulldogs would tie the game at 7-7 when Hunter Houston connected with LJ Robins on a 47-yard screen pass for a TD with 4:37 left in the game.
Greenwood's Braden Skaggs would intercept his first of three passes, which set up Ben Moy's 33-yard field goal with 2:16 left in the first.
The Wildcats answered with a 16-yard scoring drive, capped by Plummer's 2-yard run with 10:40 left in the second. The drive was set up by Hill's interception of a ball deflected by Steward. The PAT was blocked, leaving El Dorado with a 13-10 advantage.
That was the halftime score.
The Bulldogs took the ball to start the third and threatened to score. Backup quarterback Slade Dean hit Robins for, what appeared to be a long touchdown pass. But El Dorado's Rakel Williams ran Robins down and stripped the ball away at the 1-yard line for a touchback.
El Dorado would score again after a 48-yard drive set up by Ganter's interception. Rester hit Kamron Bibby for 16 to convert third-and-7. On third and goal, Plummer burst into the end zone from 1-yard out. Aydogdu's kick pushed the lead to 20-10 with 5:53 left in the third.
Greenwood fought back and cut the margin to 20-17 after Dean's 2-yard run with 9:25 left in the game.
But, El Dorado answered with its clinching smashmouth drive to the end zone and the school's first state title since 2013.
"The seniors have been talking about this since we were little, itty bitty," said Rester. "It's kind of exciting to set an example for all the younger kids. Come Monday, they're going to start off-season and start working because they plan on going back."