GREENWOOD — A lopsided game between Greenwood and Greenbrier was the last thing most expected Thursday night at Smith Robinson Stadium.
Then again, no one could have predicted Greenbrier would have six turnovers, either.
Greenwood took advantage of Greenbrier’s mistakes and rolled to a 33-0 victory over the Panthers in a key 5A-West Conference game. Greenbrier committed turnovers on four of its first five possessions, and Greenwood took advantage of it to take a 17-0 lead into halftime.
Greenbrier’s problems continued early in the third quarter when Marco Vota recovered a Panthers fumble in the end zone to put Greenwood ahead 24-0. Adam Mc-Fain added field goals of 33 and 37 yards for the Bulldogs (7-2, 5-1), who posted their fifth consecutive victory.
Greenwood had a chance to invoke the 35-point mercy rule on Greenbrier (7-2, 4-2) in the second half, but the Bulldogs failed on a two-pointpass after a 5-yard touchdown run by Stephen Hogan.
“We executed, and our defense was unbelievable,” Greenwood Coach Rick Jones said. “Our kids took a big step forward because Greenbrier is a good, solid football team.”
Hogan completed 18 of 23 passes for 184 yards, while Justin Sunde added 102 yardsrushing. Greenwood finished with 428 total yards to 221 for Greenbrier.
The Panthers were held scoreless Thursday after surging into a three-way tie for first place in the 5A-West by beating Alma 48-23 last week.
“We had some turnovers early and they just whippedus,” Greenbrier Coach Randy Tribble said. “They blocked us and ran the ball on us, but the turnovers were the key.”
Greenbrier’s troubles began on the second play of the game when Seth Parker recovered a fumble and McFain kicked a 33-yard field goal to put the Bulldogs ahead 3-0.
Greenbrier had three morepossessions that ended in interceptions by Derek Morgan, Will Styles and Hayden Smith. Morgan’s interception came near the Greenwood goal line after the Panthers had reached the Bulldogs’ 21.
Greenwood was forced to punt after taking over at the 6, but the Bulldogs got the ball right back when Vota recovered another Greenbrier fumble near midfield.
“That punt that we dropped seemed to change things a bit,” Tribble said. “We just had too many of those mistakes.”
Greenwood took advantage when Drew Morgan scored on a 19-yard run with 2:33 left in the first quarter. Morgan scored his second touchdown on a 8-yard shuttle pass just before halftime to increase the lead to 17-0.
The drive started at the Greenwood 9-yard line and consisted of 15 plays.
Sports, Pages 20 on 10/29/2010