On a soggy and slow-paced night in Mosheim South Greene stayed focused on its number one goal, starting Region 1-2A play 1-0.
The Rebels took down home-standing West Greene 42-20 to start league play with a win. In the process they made sure the Milk Can trophy stayed on the south side of the Nolichucky River and they took ownership of the Greene County Cup.
“It was ugly, but we won this ball game. West Greene had a great game plan and we got frustrated. But I’m proud of the guys from playing through it and getting a win,” South Greene coach Shawn Jones said. “Overall, we got that first conference win and that was the big thing coming in. Getting the Milk Can is great and I’m glad we can celebrate that, but we want to win the conference and to do that we had to win tonight.”
The win was South Greene’s fifth in a row as it improves to 5-1 on the year while making it 1-0 in Region 1-2A. The win also marks the Rebels seventh win over the Buffaloes in their last eight tries.
West Greene falls to 0-6, and 0-1 in region play.
South Greene completed the clean sweep of its Greene County foes, and did so in dominant fashion with a combined score of 140-27 against West Greene, Chuckey-Doak and North Greene.
“We haven’t had a chance to play for the Cup for a couple of years, but to get to sweep all three county schools and get this back feels real nice,” South Greene running back Tripp Neas said while holding the Greene County Championship trophy.
West Greene came into the game focused on running the clock and trying to keep the score low. It started the night lined up in the Power-I with offensive lineman Damion Sentelle in as an extra fullback. Quarterback Austin Brown waited for the play clock to get under 10 seconds before breaking the huddle, and Buffaloes saw some early success. On the night’s first drive the Buffaloes ran nearly seven minutes off the clock, but turned it over on downs on the Rebels’ 38-yard line.
Quarterback Nash Rader waited patiently for his chance to get behind center and wasted little time putting his team in front. On South Greene’s second play from scrimmage the senior bobbled the snap, but quickly recovered, spinning out of the pocket and racing up the left boundary for a 62-yard touchdown.
“I dropped the ball and scored on botched snap,” Rader said. “It bounced off my chest and when I picked it up I was already heading to the left. There was one corner and Simon (Burns) was blocking him, so I cut off of that and just ran.”
West Greene fumbled away its next possession and the Rebels went to work again. The Buffaloes did not make it easy and South Greene ran five plays from inside the 11-yard line, but eventually Rader plunged in from the one-yard line. On the two-point try he hit Lucas Couch to make the lead 14-0.
The two teams traded turnovers before South Greene running back Tripp Neas provided the packed house with the highlight of the night. On third down Neas released out of the backfield to the right and Rader hit him on a screen pass. The junior speedster made his way to the sideline and walked the tight rope before he found West Greene’s Aiden Thompson standing in his way. Neas lowered his shoulder and sent the defensive back flying before he finished off his 66-yard touchdown sprint. Brant Wilhoit’s extra point put South Greene on top 21-0 with 3:45 left in the first half.
“I saw the sideline was open, and I thought, ‘Oh I’m taking this, I’m faster than everyone’. Then I saw number 15 there and I didn’t really want to juke him. So I laid the boom on him and I scored,” Neas said.
Angel Sanchez got the ball back for South Greene’s offense with his first of two interceptions on Friday. One play later Rader handed to Charlie Lane on a counter and the slot back traveled 55-yards for a touchdown that gave the Rebels a 28-0 lead.
West Greene’s offense finally found a spark in the final three minutes of the first half. Tristan Banks moved them downfield with runs of 15 and 26 yards.
Then with 30 seconds on the clock Brown lobbed a ball to Peyton Hilton in the corner. The big tight end pulled the ball in despite the Rebels’ double coverage and went down at the one-yard line. Brown capped the scoring drive with a quarterback sneak that cut South Greene’s lead to 28-6 going into the break.
During halftime lighting and rain moved into the western part of Greene County and the game was paused for more than an hour.
Coming out of halftime South Greene’s offense went back to work and strong runs by Neas and Lane on the now slippery track quickly had them in the red zone. From the one-yard line Neas crossed the goal line standing up.
Jones then made the befuddling decision to send Wilhoit in for the extra point instead of going for two and invoking the mercy rule with its running clock on the soggy night. Nevertheless, Wilhoit’s kick was true and South Greene led 35-6 with 8:38 remaining in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth quarter Sanchez did force the clock to run continuously when he darted into the Buffaloes’ backfield and intercepted a toss sweep. The speedy defensive back returned it 45 yards for a touchdown that put the Rebels in front 42-6.
Late in the game West Greene got touchdown runs from Sentelle and Michael Brown to narrow the final margin to 42-20.
South Greene finished the night with 257 rushing yards and 333 yards of total offense. Rader led the way with 10 carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Through the air he added 66 yards and a score. Neas ran for 48 yards and had 66 receiving yards with a pair of scores. Lane ran for 81 yards and a touchdown.
West Greene ran for 230 yards on Friday. Banks led that effort with 66 yards, Brown ran for 51 yards on his lone attempt and Sentelle finished the day with 41 yards and a touchdown.
