Doug Means picked a great time to take over Woodlawn’s football program.
The Bears have rewarded the longtime coach with a trip to Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium for Thursday’s state high school 8-man championship game against Cedar Ridge in his first season. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and Arkansas PBS (KETS, channel 2) will televise the game live.
Means previously coached defensive backs at Magnolia and was head coach at Hampton before that. He said prior to the Nov. 21 semifinal victory over Rector he was looking for a place where he could coach about six to 10 more years “and have fun with it” before retiring.
Oh, have the Bears had fun.
“I definitely, somehow, lucked out and got on a pretty good team with just a great senior-leadership class,” Means said. “We’ve got four or five seniors who have been the leaders I just haven’t seen in a long time in football. I’m definitely lucky and blessed for that.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Both Woodlawn (10-0) and Cedar Ridge (10-1) are playing in an Arkansas Activities Association football final for the first time in history. Woodlawn won a club state title in 2018, three years before the AAA sanctioned 8-man football. Cedar Ridge – the product of the former Newark and Cord-Charlotte high schools in Independence County – eliminated Woodlawn 52-44 in the 2024 quarterfinal round but lost to eventual champion Strong in the semifinals.
The Timberwolves exacted revenge two weeks ago in Newark, beating the Bulldogs 38-20.
“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t” give the Wolves a sense of revenge, Wolves Coach Scott Morgan said. “That’s how we went out last year. It was sort of a sore point for us. Strong, they were excellent last year and they were excellent this year. That’s always a little extra motivation for the guys, just like we know it might be a little extra motivation for Woodlawn considering how the season ended for them last year with us winning. It’s kind of a double-edged sword.”
Both teams practiced at War Memorial on Tuesday to get a feel for the championship stage, one day after the threat of icy weather in the Pine Bluff area proved false. Near-freezing temperatures with rainy conditions led the Bears to practice inside Monday.
“Practice has been real good,” Means said. “The kids are fired up and ready to go. The cold weather has kind of hit us hard but, I mean, kids are kids and they are resilient and they haven’t really reacted differently from what they’ve been doing.”
Although Means has been high on the senior class, junior quarterback Ethan Saeler has been big for the Bears during their playoff run.
Saeler rushed 27 times for 353 yards and six touchdowns in a 68-44 home win over Rector that earned Woodlawn its ticket to War Memorial. Saeler has rushed for more than 1,800 yards on the season while setting a school single-season record, according to Means.
“He’s a special kid,” Means said. “He’s pretty much done that all year for us. When times have been tough, he’s said, ‘Give me the ball, Coach. Let me do it,’ and he’s done it all year.”
Saeler exuded toughness in dealing with two injured ankles against Rector. One was already injured when Saeler temporarily went down.
Senior receiver Beau Watson stepped in under center for Saeler, but Means said Saeler’s competitive nature won’t allow him to be sidelined for long.
Sophomore running back Griffin Manes is another proven threat for the Bears, coming off a 120-yard, three-touchdown performance against Rector.
Cedar Ridge, which averages 45.5 points per game, has a dual threat in senior quarterback Jonas Elms, who has rushed for 1,340 yards and 26 touchdowns and passed for 1,401 yards and 22 touchdowns. Elms has a 72.7% completion rate (88 for 121) with four interceptions.
Eleven of Elms’ touchdowns have gone to senior tight end Wesley Horton (22 receptions, 461 yards), the Timberwolves’ leading receiver in yards and the backup quarterback. Four others – senior Bentley Bullington (22 receptions, 317 yards, three touchdowns), junior Dawson Engles (20 receptions, 265 yards, two touchdowns), Elms (nine receptions, 220 yards, three touchdowns) and Colby Fears (eight receptions, 131 yards, two touchdowns) have 100 or more receiving yards in 2025.
Senior Cash Martin (55 carries, 381 yards, eight touchdowns) and sophomore Bradley Pankey (40 carries, 211 yards, two touchdowns) are triple-digit runners for the Wolves this season.
True to the 8-man game, Horton is also a defensive standout, recording 105 tackles including six sacks as a linebacker. Junior defensive end Austin Pautsch leads the Wolves with 110 tackles including seven sacks.
“I think our strength is on both sides,” Morgan said. “Offensively, we just really clicked for the most part all year. We have a lot of experience on both sides of the ball, as we don’t turn the ball over. Of course, any team can say that.”
The Timberwolves may be the most complete team in running and passing the Bears have seen, Means remarked.
“They do a lot of – I wouldn’t call them trick plays, necessarily, but a couple of double handoffs here and there,” he said. “They just make you play a complete game. They’re not only physical, but they make you work the mental part of the game, too.”
Means is confident in his defense, coordinated by Alan Neill with defensive end/linebacker Matthew Green as one of the senior leaders. Woodlawn has held teams to 30.4 points per game while scoring 58.2.
“We’re pretty physical,” Means said. “I like the way we play. Being a defensive coordinator in 8-man football might be the hardest job in America, but I think we do a good job of scheming people up and figuring out what other people do best, trying to be as physical as we can. That’s our goal, to make sure when we play somebody, win or lose, they know they played somebody at the end of the game.”
Woodlawn and Cedar Ridge have reached the pinnacle in other sports in recent years. Cedar Ridge won three boys basketball titles from 2013-16, with current Los Angeles Lakers star Austin Reaves leading the Wolves’ charge each time.
The Bears have won nine state baseball championships under Tommy Richardson since 2008, but Means cautioned against looking at Woodlawn as just a baseball school – as if Thursday’s football championship game was not enough of a case.
“People take offense to it if you say we’re not a football school,” he said. “We understand where baseball is, but our fans have been with us every step of the way. We love every bit of it.”