MARYVILLE – West Greene didn’t match up with a high-powered Eagleton Academy offense on Friday night and left Maryville with a 47-15 loss.
“They out-athleted us. They’ve got some guys with some D1 looks. They’ve got a guy that’s going to Tennessee’s junior day tomorrow. When you’ve got athletes like that it makes it a little easy. They were big and they were physical,” West Greene Head Coach Evan Monroe expressed.
The Buffaloes were in search of their first win on Friday night, but it was nowhere to be found. Eagleton’s quick offense and suffocating defense were too much to handle.
Eagleton got the ball first and only used two minutes on the clock before reaching the end zone. Jackson Caylor finished off the 69-yard drive with a 5-yard rushing touchdown. The PAT was blocked by Ethan White and the score was 6-0 with 9:56 left in the first.
West Greene marched into enemy territory, but failed to convert on their second fourth down play of the drive and stalled out at the 29-yard line.
This time Eagleton only needed one play to score with Colton Relation sprinting to the end zone for a 71-yard rushing touchdown on the first play of the next drive. The Royals led 13-0 with 6:19 left in the first.
The Royals scored again only a minute-and-a-half later with a 48-yard receiving touchdown from Lane Cope on the first play of that drive.
The lead grew to 20-0 and then grew to 27-0 with another touchdown toss by Mason Mitchell. This one connected with Noel Meza-Flores from 19 yards out.
Eagleton led 27-0 after the first quarter.
Cope picked off a pass early in the second quarter and gained the ball back. Meza-Flores created separation for a 42-yard receiving touchdown to bump the lead up to 34-0 with 7:39 until the half.
A bad snap on West Greene’s punt attempt inside their own red zone gave Eagleton the ball on the five-yard line and Colton Relation scored on the next play to give the Royals a 41-0 lead at halftime.
Kingston Burns-Jenkins began the second half with an interception, but it proved to be hurtful for Eagleton. An early snap led to confusion between both players in the backfield and Shawn Bailey took the running back down for a safety. The Buffs trailed 41-2 with 2:57 remaining in the third.
“I told our young guys to just fly around and play. Have fun. Our young guys have worked hard and got the crap kicked out of them at practice all week. They deserve to have a little fun on Friday night too. It was encouraging to see them fly around and make plays,” Monroe stated.
On the free kick Kyler Patterson set West Greene up with good field position with a return to the 32-yard line. Austin Brown managed to reach the end zone, but officials ruled him out of bounds at the 2-yard line and it resulted in a 30-yard gain. Brown pushed through the middle of the line for a two-yard rushing touchdown on the next play to make it 41-9 with 30 seconds left until the fourth.
Eagleton added one more score in the fourth and West Greene’s Michael Brown scored on the final play.
West Greene headed home with a 47-15 loss.
“That’s a darn good football team. I think they can make some noise come playoff time,” Coach Monroe said.
The Buffaloes host South Greene next week in the annual Milk Can Game. Kickoff is set for 7:00 PM. It will be aired as next week’s Bachman Bernard GSZ Game of the Week Presented by Tommie’s Plumbing.
