FARMINGTON -- Through three quarters, Greenbrier quarterback Harold Ross completed 24 of 27 passes for 236 yards. Trailing by a touchdown in the fourth quarter, Panthers coach Randy Tribble did something unorthodox. He pulled Ross.
With the game nearly on the line, junior Carter Burcham, who had been playing wide receiver, lined up in shotgun for the Panthers at their own 32. Burcham immediately flipped the field for Greenbrier (3-2, 2-0) with consecutive runs of 11 and 34 yards, the latter a sideline-to-sideline, tackle-breaking scramble to the Farmington 23.
Greenbrier 36, Farmington 28
Greenbrier^8^14^0^6^-^36
Farmington^8^14^0^14^-^28
First Quarter
Farm – Huff 39 pass from Waggle (Hobbs run), 5:02
Green – Howard 5 run (Ross pass to Coats), 2:44
Second Quarter
Farm – Hobbs 4 run (Stevens kick), 7:33
Green – Ross 1 run (Hall kick), 5:16
Farm – Hobbs 2 run (Stevens kick), 2:05
Green – Howard 1 run (Hall kick), 0:32
Fourth Quarter
Farm – Huff 22 pass from Waggle (kick failed), 10:41
Green – Hopper 14 run (Hall kick), 9:15
Green – King 6 pass from Burcham (Hall kick), 6:17
Scoring summary goes here
"Ross wasn't hurt, it was just something we wanted to do," said Tribble. "They can do different things, and we thought we identified an opportunity to run on their weak side, so we took a chance. Burcham made some big plays quickly, so we kept going with it."
Cody Hopper scored on a 14-yard run three plays later, and the extra point from Ethan Hall gave Greenbrier its first lead of the game with just over nine minutes remaining, and it was a lead the Panthers would not give up.
Farmington (2-3, 3-0) running back Justice Hobbs was dominant, rushing for 209 yards on 30 carries, but on third-and-2 on the ensuing drive, the Cardinals attempted to pass but it fell incomplete.
Farmington punted, and with a great roll the punt traveled 57 yards to the Greenbrier 14.
The Cardinals forced the Panthers into a third-and-6 and had a chance to get the ball back in good field position, but Ross was back in the game, and the senior uncorked a deep ball to Alex Massey in-stride streaking down the right sideline for a 72-yard gain to the Farmington 10, which allowed him to finish with 308 passing yards.
"They were playing soft coverage early," Tribble said. "But they started to play their corners up tight, so we wanted to take a shot. Ross can really throw the ball."
Greenbrier scored in two plays on a pass from Burcham to Denton King to push the lead to eight points.
Hobbs began Farmington's last-chance drive with a 6-yard carry, but that was the last time he touched the ball. The Cardinals nearly hit a big completion on third-and-seven but Brice Waggle's pass to Trenton McChristian was just off his fingertips and fell incomplete. Greenbrier took the ball back soon after and ran out the clock for the 5A West victory.
The first half went back and forth. Greenbrier never led but did match Farmington score for score.
The Cardinals scored first on a 39-yard pass from Waggle to Nick Huff, but the Panthers responded a with an eight-play drive culminating in a five-yard score by Shawn Howard, who led the Panthers with 107 rushing yards.
Each team scored twice in the second quarter, with Hobbs rushing for both of Farmington's touchdowns.
Ross ran one in for Greenbrier and led the Panthers on a nearly perfect two-minute drill to tie the game just before halftime. Five consecutive completions, including a 24-yard pass to Burcham, set up the Panthers inside the five-yard line. Howard punched the ball in with 32 seconds left to knot the game and set up the decisive second half.
Sports on 10/03/2015