Haralson County (3-0) handed Greene County (0-2) its second loss of the season this past Friday night.
The Rebels traveled to Greensboro seeking revenge after a 25-3 loss to the Tigers at home last year. They left with a 41-7 win on Friday after building up a commanding lead by halftime and easing up in the second half.
At the break, Haralson County led Greene County 34-7, powered by a strong performance from playmaker Khemp Boyd. The only score for the Tigers came when junior Jaquez Hull reached the end zone on the ground.
Greene County head coach Darius Robinson believed his team played better in the final two quarters but said their performance in the first half caused the loss. He also mentioned that this isn’t the team’s first slow start.
“(Haralson County) scored on the second play. The rest was history for that first half,” Robinson said. “Now, we finally settled down in the second half with a 7-0 ball game if you split it by halves, and we probably could have stopped that. But we played better on defense in the second half. Still, we can’t have the start that we had. We have to ignite a fire within this football program, in each game, and then it will take off. But it will be a process, and everyone, including myself, needs to trust it.”
The game plan for the Tigers going into the non-region contest was to stop the Rebels’ potent rushing attack. However, that didn’t happen as Boyd got the ball in space, resulting in a three-touchdown night for him.
Greene County tried everything to stop the run in the first half, but Haralson County was simply too strong up front.
“We had a game plan going in to set the edges with our defensive backs, and we altered that after seeing some things,” Robinson said. “We made adjustments and put some bigger bodies out there on the edge and let the DBs come fit in the interior, and that seemed to have helped in our favor as far as guys taking on blocks. And that was probably the key for the second half, but it just took folks a while to get settled into the game, even though we knew exactly what we were going to do and how they counter different stuff.”
The main issues for Greene County on offense were not putting together scoring drives. There were several instances where the Tigers made simple mistakes, leading to a turnover on downs or punting it away.
“It was about sustaining drives. Even after going down 13-0, we reached the 10-yard line but were stopped, missed a field goal, and they scored again,’ Robinson said. “Before that, we dropped a touchdown pass that could have shifted momentum. We need to focus and be ready for our moment, taking responsibility while knowing we must continually improve as a team.”
Greene County will face another tough test hosting Class 2A’s No. 2-ranked Morgan County this Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Robinson has preached to players not to get down after the team’s first two games.
“It’s transparent that I acknowledge how they feel first because I understand their emotions and thoughts since we’re all in this foreign land together,” Robinson said. “I was just telling my team that this is the first time I’ve entered a football program as a head coach or coordinator without immediate success. This beginning has been tough for everyone, but we must stay united, weather the storm, and continue to grow and learn about ourselves. When the important games, like region play, arrive, we should be a strong football team.”