GRAY – Explosive plays from quarterback Nash Rader gave South Greene the lead in first half, but a stone-wall defense in the second half carried the Rebels to victory on Friday night at Daniel Boone.
A week after letting a fourth-quarter lead evaporate in a loss to Morristown East the Rebels played with grit and determination over the final 24 minutes on Friday and pulled away to a 32-17 win over the Trailblazers.
“We gutted this out, the whole team gutted it out,” South Greene coach Shawn Jones said. “I’m so proud of this bunch. Last week we felt like we should have won, but we came back tonight and played our butts off. These guys wanted this one. We played hard and we found a way.”
Friday’s meeting was the 14th time South Greene has met Daniel Boone, but the Trailblazers had won the previous 12 meetings. Many of the Rebels’ parents were not even born when South Greene last beat Boone in 1971.
The Rebels may not have been able to start the season with a win over their first ever Class 6A opponent, but Class 2A South Greene was able to bounce back and take down the 5A Trailblazers on the road.
“Coach Jones always says the best team makes the biggest improvements between week on and week two. It felt really good to get this win tonight and to show what a little 2A school can do,” South Greene junior Tripp Neas said.
The first half was a showcase of two talented runners as Daniel Boone’s Dru Fleming used his three-yards-and-a-cloud-dust style to churn out 126 yards on 19 carries through two quarters of action. In contrast South Greene’s Nash Rader used shear speed to run away from everybody. He finished the first half with 149 yards on six carries.
“Those runs from Nash were huge, and that is what he can do. I think maybe since he missed the preseason some teams overlooked him. But by gosh when you have (Rader) at quarterback and (Tripp Neas) beside him a lot of good things can happen,” Jones said.
The Rebels started the day with Neas intercepting Boone’s Ry Stone. From there South Greene marched 53 yards in nine plays, all on the ground. From the 10-yard line Rader faked to Neas and the Blazers bit hard, leaving a big hole for Charlie Lane to run through on a counter that scored the day’s first touchdown. The extra point was blocked, but South Greene led 6-0.
Daniel Boone answered with a 12-play, 73-yard drive in which Fleming carried it 10 times, including the final yard for a touchdown. Judah Jackson’s successful extra point gave the home team a 7-6 lead.
The lead barely lasted a minute as Rader showed off his speed by going off tackle to the left and breaking outside. Once he got the edge there was not a Trailblazer that was going to catch him as he raced 74 yards to the endzone.
“It was a read play,” Rader said. “Charlie was the outside threat, but when I saw the end go outside I pulled it and went vertical. Then I saw the cutback lane when I looked over my left shoulder, and I was like, yeah, I’m going take this.”
Fleming and Rader each added to their touchdown totals before halftime with the Blazer scoring on a 21-yard run straight up the middle while the Rebel got to the outside again and for a 64-yard score.
South Greene took an 18-14 lead into halftime.
The second half started with South Greene taking possession first and moving right down the field. Neas used an 18-yard run to get down to the one-yard line and then he punched it in from there. The extra-point was blocked again, but the Rebels led 24-14.
While Fleming seemed to move the ball at will in the first half South Greene’s defense held him to just 12 yards in the second half while also not giving up a single first down.
South Greene’s most impressive stand came after Boone’s Reid McNeely blocked a punt and recovered on the Rebels’ four-yard line. Lane made two huge stops of Fleming in the backfield and forced the Blazer’s to settle for a 23-yard field goal.
“We just weren’t ready in the first half,” Neas said. “We went to halftime and made our just adjustments. Coach (Joe) Case had the right adjustments and we shut them down in the second half.
With 6:43 left Daniel Boone made an important defensive stop and had hopes of putting together a game-tying drive. Neas had other plans when he hit Fleming in the backfield. He both forced a fumble and then recovered the loose ball.
On the ensuing drive Rader effectively sealed the game with 3:09 left when he followed a pair of blockers across the goal line from seven yards. Rader ran in the two-point try to stretch the lead to 32-17.
On the very next snap Stone threw the ball straight to South Greene Angel Sanchez for South Greene’s third turnover of the night. That allowed the Rebels to run out the clock.
Rader finished Friday with 17 carries for 213 yards and three touchdowns. Neas carried it 17 times for 57 yards and a score. South Greene gained 272 yards in the contest, all on the ground.
Fleming ran for 135 yards on 26 attempts and scored twice. The Blazers ran for 167 yards on Friday and threw for 23 yards.
