GATLINBURG – The West Greene Buffaloes traveled to Gatlinburg for a Friday night contest with the Gatlinburg-Pittman Highlanders and left the Mountain Thicket with a 51-10 defeat.
“We just played really sluggish in the first half and didn’t play very good at all. It’s on me and the coaches we’ve got to do a better job at making sure they’re ready to go play. This is 100% on me,” West Greene Head Coach Caleb Slover said.
It was a rough night for the Buffs. From the opening kickoff it was evident that West Greene was in for a long night. The defense struggled to contain GP’s rushing attack and the offense stalled on every possession of the first half.
The loss moved West Greene’s record to 1-5 (1-0). Gatlinburg-Pittman extended the series winning streak to 11-straight wins and improved to 15-1 in the all-time series. Gatlinburg-Pittman improved to 4-3 after the win.
The opening kickoff was certainly a sight to behold. The Highlanders kicked off first, but managed to recover the ball and score from scrimmage five seconds into the game. The kick was a squib style kick and took a crazy hop and bounced over the Buffs head and rested inside the 10-yard line. The Highlanders raced to recover the ball and successfully did with no time coming off the clock.
“If you do it 100 times it never happens again. The ball is two feet off the ground and it’s bouncing and as soon as it gets to our guy it bounces 15 feet in the air and goes over his head and they score on the first play. Took a whole lot of wind out of our sails, but we’ve got to bounce back from that and play,” Coach Slover explained.
After an offsides penalty moved GP closer, Marshal Gay scored a 3-yard rushing touchdown five seconds in and the Highlanders led 7-0 with 11:55 left in the first.
West Greene never found any success on offense in the first half and punted on all seven possessions.
Gatlinburg-Pittman started from their own 19-yard line on the second possession. Jonathan Garcia moved the sticks on a big 24-yard catch and run and set up Marshal Gay for another touchdown. The sophomore running back shrugged off multiple tacklers and made his way to the end zone for a 39-yard rushing touchdown. The score was 14-0 midway through the first.
Another punt ensued and the Highlanders got the ball on their own 34-yard line. The drive ended with Gay’s third touchdown in as many drives. This time from 12 yards out on the ground. Highlanders led 21-0 with 10:40 left in the half.
The next Highlander drive began at the 40-yard line and only needed one play before resulting in another six. Jackson Savarese hauled in a 60-yard touchdown and sent GP ahead 28-0 with 8:38 remaining in the second.
The Buffs were backed up with their feet against the goal line on the next drive and stalled on third down and were forced to punt again. A high snap in the end zone forced the Buffs to settle for a safety. The score was then 30-0 with 6:52 until the break.
Hayden Shultz was left wide open over the middle and caught a 20-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 37-0 with 5:50 remaining until the half.
Marshal Gay scored once more in the half and tallied his fourth touchdown with a 79-yard touchdown run with 2:21 left in the half. Gatlinburg-Pittman led 44-0 at halftime.
Gay’s fifth, and final, touchdown of the night started the second half. Gay sprinted 70 yards and found the end zone to extend the score to 51-0 with 10:45 left in the third.
West Greene senior running back Shawn Bailey scored West Greene’s only touchdown of the night with a 5-yard rushing touchdown to make it 51-7 with around a minute left in the third. The Buffs managed to make a 21-yard field goal as time winded down in the fourth on the final drive.
The Buffaloes suffered a 51-10 loss on the road to Gatlinburg-Pittman on Friday night.
Coach Slover described the significance of tonight’s game playing a tough competitor with one of the biggest games ahead in two weeks. “It was good for our guys to see this right now before Happy Valley in two weeks so we’re not stunned in a region game. So hopefully we bounce back and play a lot better, tackle a lot better, and keep ourselves in that one.”
West Greene fell to 1-5 overall with the loss and have a bye week next week.
