South Greene entered Friday night’s matchup looking to turn the corner after opening the season with losses to Morristown East (6A) and Daniel Boone (5A). The Rebels found just what they needed against a Johnson County team that was also searching for its first victory of the season.
Both teams entered the contest relying heavily on their ground games, centered around workhorses Braydenn Dickens and Tripp Neas. Dickens led the Longhorn offense with 20 carries for 92 yards, but the night belonged to Neas—and the Rebels—as he rushed for 221 yards on 19 carries and accounted for six touchdowns in South Greene’s 48-6 victory.
“We really needed that coming out 0-2,” stressed Neas. “We needed a win before heading into the county games. This was really good for us, and it shows we can actually run the ball.”
South Greene gained control early after forcing Johnson County to punt on the game’s opening possession. The Rebels then drove down the field before Neas punched the ball in from one yard out. Sammy Jones’ PAT made it 7-0 with 6:01 remaining in the opening quarter.
Neas and the Rebels appeared ready to run away with the contest, scoring once more in the first quarter and again with 6:57 remaining in the second to extend their advantage to 20-0. However, things began to get sloppy for the home team late in the half.
The Longhorns put together a lengthy drive and eventually found the end zone when Dickens powered his way through the Rebel defense from nine yards out. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score at 20-6 with 1:55 remaining in the half.
South Greene attempted to add to its lead as the first half wound down, but disaster struck, and it appeared Johnson County was on the verge of making a dramatic turnaround. A mishandled exchange in the backfield resulted in a loose ball that Brody Golden recovered in stride before racing toward the end zone. Neas, however, chased him down and made the touchdown-saving tackle at the four-yard line.
Coach Shawn Jones described his senior’s performance, especially the touchdown-saving tackle that helped preserve South Greene’s 20-6 advantage heading into halftime.
“Everybody’s going to talk about Tripp’s six-touchdown performance, but that wasn’t the play of the game. The play of the game was when he ran the guy down to keep them out of the end zone there at the end of the first half. They had it first and goal at the four, and if Tripp doesn’t run him down, it’s 20-13 or 20-14.”
The Rebel offense opened the second half as if it had something to prove. Neas took over at quarterback and sparked a scoring drive out of the Wildcat formation, finishing it himself with a three-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion pushed the lead to 28-6.
Eli Fillers added to the Rebel advantage with 7:07 remaining in the third quarter, taking his only rushing attempt of the night 15 yards to the house.
Neas rounded out the scoring with a 40-yard touchdown run later in the third quarter and a six-yard score in the fourth as the Rebels pushed their winning streak over the Longhorns to 13 consecutive games.
“The first half was ugly. We would make something good happen and then we would come down and try to make too much happen. That was all on me in the last two minutes. I put too much pressure on our quarterback when we should have just run the ball. They were just bringing more than we could block, but we had a come-to-Jesus meeting at halftime and came out and did what we needed to do. The line did what we asked them to do tonight and played hard, and this was a big confidence boost for us tonight after the first two losses that we have had.”
South Greene finished the night with 335 yards of total offense, including 265 yards on the ground and 69 through the air, while Johnson County was held to 140 total yards.
The Rebels (1-2) will now turn their attention to crosstown rival North Greene (2-1), which is coming off a 55-0 victory over Hancock County.
“North Greene’s playing well right now, so we’re just going to have to prepare like we have and come out and do what we do.”
