Friday night was Homecoming on Rebel Hill, and South Greene not only welcomed back the classes of 2001 and 2016 but also hosted Cumberland Gap in a Region 1-2A showdown that many had labeled a must-win game for the Rebels after falling to West Greene just one week ago.
Unfortunately for South Greene, the Panthers’ rushing attack proved to be too much to handle. Cumberland Gap rolled to a 52-26 victory, dropping the Rebels to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in region play. The Panthers improved to 5-2 on the season and, more importantly, 1-0 in the region.
The game had been hyped as a showdown between South Greene’s Tripp Neas and Cumberland Gap’s Gabriel Daniels, who both entered the contest leading their respective teams offensively.
Neas entered the game with 882 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns on the season. Still battling a lingering injury that limited his playing time the previous week, Neas saw limited action Friday night, finishing with 67 yards on six carries and one touchdown.
Daniels, meanwhile, entered with 870 rushing yards and five touchdowns and proved to be a handful for the Rebel defense. He finished the night with 321 yards on 35 carries and two touchdowns.
The Panthers took the opening kickoff and promptly marched 80 yards in eight plays for the game’s first score. Layton Hinkley punched it in from two yards out, and the two-point conversion made it 8-0 with 8:07 remaining in the opening period.
The Rebels took over on their first possession at their own 38 and used small gains from Neas, coupled with two pass completions from Dawson Ripley to Simon Burns, to move the ball all the way down to the Cumberland Gap 20. That’s where disaster struck.
Faced with a fourth-and-1, a bad snap got away from the Rebels and was promptly recovered by Cumberland Gap.
The Panthers took over at their own 26 and moved the ball down to the South Greene 22 in seven plays, where they faced a fourth-and-2. Daniels accepted the challenge, picking up the first down on the final play of the opening quarter with a 17-yard run that ended at the 5-yard line.
The second quarter got underway with Daniels plunging forward to the 1 before quarterback Noah Myer snuck it in for another Panther score. The two-point conversion made it 16-0 with 11:17 remaining in the half.
The Rebels responded quickly on their next possession. After returning the kickoff to their own 41, Neas was stopped for no gain on the first play before breaking loose for a 41-yard sprint and finding the end zone. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the Rebels trailing 16-6 with 10:22 remaining.
South Greene tried to catch Cumberland Gap sleeping with an onside kick, but the Panthers recovered at their own 44. They then put together an eight-play scoring drive that took nearly four minutes off the clock. Curtis Hunley punched it in from six yards out, and the two-point conversion extended the lead to 24-6.
Cumberland Gap continued to build momentum after the score by recovering another onside kick, this time at its own 48. The Panthers marched all the way down to the South Greene 3 before Hinkley punched it in for his second score of the night, giving Cumberland Gap a 30-6 advantage with 1:16 left in the half.
South Greene immediately went into its two-minute offense, trying to get some points on the board before halftime. A false-start penalty backed the Rebels up to their own 16, but two completions from Ripley to Eli Fillers moved the ball to the 41. Four straight incompletions, however, sent the teams to the locker room with Cumberland Gap holding a 30-6 lead.
South Greene came out of the locker room slinging the pigskin, with Ripley connecting with Burns for a 42-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. The two-point conversion made it 30-14 with 11:43 remaining in the third quarter.
The Rebel defense appeared to make some adjustments at halftime, limiting the Panthers to just six yards on their first three plays of the second half before standing firm on fourth down to regain possession.
Ripley continued the second-half surge, completing passes to Fillers and Burns to move the ball from the Cumberland Gap 48 to the 34. Trent Hayes then broke through for a 19-yard gain before Ripley hooked up with Jaxen Taylor for an 11-yard touchdown strike with 6:25 showing on the clock. The two-point conversion failed, but the Rebels had pulled within 10 at 30-20.
The Panthers wasted little time extending the lead back to 16, marching 75 yards in five plays with Daniels breaking loose for a 63-yard touchdown run.
South Greene answered right back, as Ripley connected with Burns for a 38-yard touchdown two plays later to make it 36-26.
Cumberland Gap took over at its own 39 on the next possession and, behind a steady dose of Daniels and Hinkley, moved the ball all the way down to the South Greene 15 as the third-quarter clock expired.
Faced with a fourth-and-2 at the 12, Hinkley powered forward for three yards, setting up first-and-goal at the 9. Two plays later, Hunley broke loose for his second score of the night, extending the Panther lead to 44-26 with 9:53 remaining in the game.
Both teams exchanged turnovers on the next two possessions. Daniels picked off a Ripley pass on a fourth-down play, but Dawson Rosenbalm came up with a fumble recovery at the South Greene 14 with 5:41 remaining.
Unfortunately for the Rebels, Ripley would exit the game with an injury following an intentional-grounding penalty. South Greene was forced to punt after a completion from Alex Marriem to Noah Shelton covered just nine yards on a third-and-21 situation.
Daniels provided the game’s final scoring play, breaking loose for a 19-yard touchdown run with 2:10 remaining to put the game away.
Cumberland Gap controlled the ball for more than 33 minutes and piled up 434 yards of offense, all on the ground. South Greene had possession for approximately 19 minutes and finished with 240 yards of offense, including 152 through the air and 88 on the ground.
South Greene will enter its BYE week looking for some much-needed time to heal from injuries before traveling to Concord Christian Academy on October 16.
Cumberland Gap will travel to Happy Valley on October 7 for its second region game in as many weeks.
