ONEIDA – West Greene and Oneida were scheduled for their Class 2A Playoff opener on Friday night, but incoming inclement weather pushed the action to Saturday afternoon.
The Buffaloes made the trip to Scott County for a 2:00 PM start time on Saturday and suffered a 36-7 loss in the first round to end West Greene’s season.
“I thought we came out and played a great first half. We forced some turnovers, we had a big stop down there on the goal line. We had some guys get dinged up early which threw a wrench in our plans. We had to go next guy up. I’m proud of the guys who stepped up and played,” Buffaloes Head Coach Evan Monroe stated.
It was a 24-hour period full of adversity for West Greene. A change of date and time and three key injuries made life a little harder for the herd of Buffaloes. In the end, defense did enough to keep them in the game, but the offense couldn’t find a rhythm and hurt them at times.
The Buffaloes end their season with a 1-10 (1-2) record. Their lone win was on senior night over Cumberland Gap.
From the first play from scrimmage West Greene let everybody know they had some fight left in them and weren’t going down easy. Damion Sentelle came away with an interception on the first play of the day. The Buffs would start the day from the 44-yard line, but not with Sentelle. The senior lineman suffered an injury on the play and was sidelined from action for the rest of the game.
Coach Monroe spoke about Sentelle’s time under his tutelage and how fitting it was for the senior to make one more big play on his final play in uniform. “I hate how that happened for him because he was locked in and fired up and ready to play today. But what a cool way to go out. Not only did he hurt himself, but he hurt the other kid too. The other kid went out also.”
Austin Brown completed a 17-yard pass to Peyton Hilton, but the drive stalled out inside the 30-yard line after an unsuccessful attempt to convert on fourth down. Hilton would be one of three players to suffer game-ending injuries on Saturday. His absence on offense was a glaring hole that West Greene never filled.
Both teams traded punts before Oneida drew first blood. They capped off a three-and-a-half-minute drive with a three-yard touchdown run from Ben Gilbert. The Indians led 7-0 with 3:02 left in the first
Another West Greene punt on the first play of the second quarter put Oneida on the 45-yard line. The Buffaloes seemed to stop the Indians short of the line to gain on both 3rd-&-short and 4th-&-short, but the officials gave Oneida a first down to the dismay of the small crowd of Buffaloes. A 28-yard pass from Brock Ryon to Grady Keaton set them up in the red zone. A holding penalty took them backwards and Ryon was stopped at the 7-yard line on 3rd down. Oneida set up for a short field goal, but Kenneth Debord elevated to block the kick and keep three points off the scoreboard.
“We’ve had eight or nine blocked kicks on the season. Kudos to Coach (Clinton) Haun for that one he’s done a great job with that,” Coach Monroe stated.
The Buffaloes were making plays on defense, but had no success on offense. After an unsuccessful three-play drive they set up for a punt. The snap sailed over and out of the back of the end zone for a safety. Oneida led 9-0 with 4:06 left until the half.
West Greene was fortunate to come up with another stop on defense next. A huge return landed Oneida at the 29-yard mark and one big play from Gilbert put them at the five-yard line. The Buffs went for the ball on the next play and successfully stripped it away before it crossed the plane. The fumble was recovered in the end zone by Debord.
Kyler Patterson picked up 21 yards with one reception and moved the sticks. Austin Brown dropped back to pass, but lost the ball and Oneida recovered on the West Greene 40-yard line.
The Indians marched down the field and scored quickly before the half. William Hill hauled in a 34-yarder and Ben Gilbert toted the rock to the one. Holding on Oneida backed them up to the 11-yard line, but that just gave Ryon the opportunity to add more yards to the stat sheet. Waylon Hill caught an 11-yard touchdown reception to give the Indians a 16-0 lead at halftime.
West Greene received the second-half kick with a chance to cut their deficit to single digits, but a sack on third down forced them to punt the ball away and Oneida made quick work of their first possession in the second half. The Indians scored a 68-yard touchdown, but it was called back due to a holding call. Grady Keeton snagged a 53-yard touchdown catch a few plays later to make it 23-0.
Oneida extended their lead to 30-0 with a two-yard rushing touchdown from Cole Meredith.
The Buffaloes had a great set of back-to-back plays halfway through the fourth. Kyler Patterson batted a pass into Avery Johnson’s arms for an interception. Then Shane Wilhoit was left wide open along the left sideline for a 33-yard receiving touchdown on the next play.
West Greene killed the running clock and cut the score to 30-7 with 7:01 remaining. “He had a chance last week to go get him one and it went right through his hands. So I asked if he wanted one and he said yeah. I threw him one and I’m glad he came down with it. It’s a good memory to go out with,” Monroe stated.
The Indians scored one more time with a 63-yard bomb to Waylon Hill with 4:27 left. Debord blocked his second kick of the day and set the score at 36-7.
West Greene walked off Dr. M.E. Thompson Field with a 36-7 loss to Oneida to end their season.
Austin Brown was 10-for-20 for 150 yards and a touchdown. Aiden Thompson led them with six tackles on defense. The Buffs gained 148 yards as a team.
