WEST FORK -- West Fork took Greenland's best shot for most of the first half Friday.
The Tigers, with a 3A-1 Conference championship on the line, delivered the knockout blow after intermission.
How They Scored
West Fork 22
Greenland 13
Green^7^0^0^6^—^13
West^0^6^8^8^—^22
First Quarter
Green — Sizemore 9 run (Rhodes kick), 4:29.
Second Quarter
West — Burnett 2 run (pass failed), 2:19.
Third Quarter
West — Crawford 23 pass from Wise (Wise pass to Crawford), 1:51.
Fourth Quarter
West — Burnett 3 run (Wise pass to Langston), 4:30.
Green — Sizemore 2 run (pass failed), 1:39.
Colton Wise hit Louie Crawford with a 23-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter to give West Fork its first lead of the game, and the Tigers turned to a physical running game and big-play defense to do the rest in pulling away for a 22-13 win over the Pirates at Tiger Stadium. With the victory West Fork (9-1, 7-0 3A-1) completed a perfect run through conference play.
"It was a hard-fought game between two good teams, and you wouldn't expect anything less in a conference championship game," West Fork coach Brad Lindley said. "Our kids got behind early and battled back, and I couldn't be prouder of them."
Greenland (7-3, 5-2) took the fight to West Fork early, winning the battle on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Tailback Alex Sizemore gave the Pirates a 7-0 lead with four minutes, 29 seconds left in the first quarter on a nine-yard run, and the lead held up as West Fork's only touchdown before intermission was followed by a failed two-point pass.
But as the game wore on, the Pirates slowly wore down.
"We had a turnover where we could have gone up 14-0 and we had a couple of snap problems, and that was huge," Greenland coach Lee Larkan said. "And we got physically dominated.
"That's why they've beat us four of the last five years."
After Wise's pass to Crawford -- followed by a successful two-point play -- gave the Tigers a 14-7 lead with 1:51 left in the third, Brayden Burnett helped seal the deal with a two-yard touchdown run with 4:30 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Greenland would add another Sizemore touchdown with 1:39 left, but a failed two-point pass attempt allowed West Fork to keep a two-score lead in the closing minutes.
"It's a great feeling (to win conference)," Lindley said. "Our seniors, I can't be happier for them and it's a credit to all of our kids for all the work they put in. I just couldn't be any more proud of them."
Extra Points
• Burnett rushed for 136 yards on 22 carries for West Fork.
• Both teams committed one turnover.
• Sizemore led the Pirates with 115 rushing yards on 18 carries.
• The game was delayed approximately 10 minutes in the fourth quarter when the first down chains broke and had to be replaced.
Up Next: West Fork receives a first-round bye as the top seed from the 3A-1 Conference in the Class 3A playoffs. Greenland is the No. 3 seed and will play at Mayflower, the No. 2 seed from the 3A-2, in the first round.
Sports on 11/08/2014