The West Greene football team fought to the finish on Friday night, but they came up short of finding the first win of the Caleb Slover, falling 33-25 to Cosby in their season opener.
“It started out really good for us. We got a couple of turnovers early. We were able to finish drives and score. Our kids battled back and kept fighting back. We scored two more times in the second half to get us back in the ball game. I’m just really proud of our kids. The thing about them is, everybody talks about we lay down and don’t play hard. I think those guys proved everybody different tonight. I’m just so proud of the way they played tonight.”
After receiving the opening kickoff the Buffaloes started the night in good field position at their own 45-yard line and sophomore quarterback Aiden Thompson guided his team down the field on just six plays. Thompson had runs of seven, 12 and 16 yards on the drive plus an eight-yard pass to Alexander McMurray.
Kyler Patterson finished off the drive with a nice little misdirection run for the score. Tristian Banks split the uprights for the extra point to give West Greene the early lead at 7-0 and started the Caleb Slover era off with a score in less than four minutes.
Cosby didn’t waste any time answering with a score of its own, driving 67 yards in less than four minutes. Quarterback Spencer Moore did most of the damage and scored from five yards out. Moore kicked the extra point to knot the score at 7-7.
Still in the first quarter, the Buffs were on the move again, but with a shorter field this time. Thompson went for 13 yards on the QB keeper, then hit Caden Archer for a 24-yard gain down to the one-yard line. Thompson called his own number, crossed the goal line and put the Buffs back out in front at 13-7 as the PAT attempt was blocked.
Roman Seay spoiled the ensuing drive by the Eagles when he pounced on a fumble. The Buffs were unable to capitalize on the turnover and punted the ball back to the Eagles.
Archer then stepped in-front of a Moore pass for an interception. The Buffs once again failed to capitalize, but the two turnovers did keep the Eagles off the field.
Cosby got going again when Moore found Gage McCarty for a 17-yard completion. Moore then ran for 24 yards and finally tossed a touchdown pass to McCarty from 12 yards out. Moore’s kick was blocked to keep the score tied at 13-13.
After forcing a punt Cosby had one last gasp with three seconds remaining in the first half. Moore made a great throw and Cornelius Carr made and even better diving catch in the back of the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown on the Hail Mary. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful, but the Eagles took a 19-13 lead into the locker room.
“We gave up a real cheap one there right before halftime,” Slover said. “We kind of gave up on our coverage a little bit, their quarterback has a great arm and made a huge throw. (Carr) made a great play diving for the ball in the back of the end zone, and that was the difference in the ball game.”
Cosby came out in the third quarter with tempo to march down field. Moore hit Carr once again for the touchdown, but the 2-point conversion was short keeping it a 12-point game at 25-13.
The third quarter ended with the Buffaloes trailing 25-13.
As the fourth quarter began it was the Aiden Thompson show for West Greene. Thompson moved his team 75 yards and accounted for 70 of those yards himself. That included the final six yards around the right end to the pylon. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Buffs were within striking distance at 25-19 with just over nine minutes to play in the game.
The Buffaloes opted for the onside kick, but the Eagles were not surprised and recovered the ball near midfield. It only took Cosby about three minutes to add another score on Moore’s fourth touchdown pass of the game, this time it was a 15-yard strike to Bo Cutshaw. The two-point conversion was good on a run by Baker and the Eagles enjoyed a 14-point lead at 33-19.
The Buffs weren’t done yet. Thompson hit Jagger Dearinger for a six-yard gain and horse collar penalty added 15 yards to the play. Thompson then had consecutive runs of 12, 11and 12 yards to put the Buffs at the Eagle one yard line.
On first and goal, the ball was fumbled into the end zone and recovered by offensive lineman Avery Johnson for the score. The two-point conversion was just short, but West Greene had it back to a one score game with 3:38 showing on the clock.
The Eagles were able to eat up the clock and hold on for a 33-25 win.
Thompson was the workhorse for the Buffs, carrying the ball 21 times for 162 yards and two touchdowns. He threw for another 74 yards.
Coach Solver praised Thompson after the game, saying, “That kid has so much heart, he wants to be perfect at everything he does. He has been coached so hard this summer about doing the right thing and making the right choices and I think he did a really good job with the football tonight. When he’s got the ball in his hand he becomes a different animal and he’s got some shake out in space and has some speed to him.”
Moore passed for 174 yards and four TD’s while adding 111 more yards on the ground and another score to lead the Eagles.
The Buffs prepare for another home game next week as they host cross county rival North Greene.
