It was a rainy Friday night under the lights of Tiger Stadium, and the Greene County Tigers (2-1) persevered through three turnovers in the red zone to beat the Hancock Central Bulldogs (1-2) by a score of 27-18.
Tigers’ head coach Terrance Banks mentioned after the game that he worried about how his guys would respond when there were obstacles ahead.
“We worried about what happens with adversity, and that’s been kind of a theme of what we’re dealing with,” Banks said. “To see them be able to get down, battle back and battle through it was big. I’m happy that they were able to respond in a manner in which we were able to come out with a win.”
It took a little while for the Tigers to get going, and the Bulldogs struck first with a touchdown midway through the first quarter.
After a 48-yard pass to set itself up inside the Greene County 5-yard line, Hancock Central ran two consecutive plays up the middle for the eventual score. The Bulldogs elected to try for a two-point conversion and came up short.
More back-and-forth play led to a big fourth-down stop by the Tigers’ defense with less than a minute to play in the first quarter, and the offense came out with great field position.
Greene County’s momentum faded shortly thereafter. The Tigers were able to get down to the Bulldogs’ 5-yard line, but sophomore quarterback Steve Miller’s pass intended for Javaris Harris was read and picked off by Quinton Taylor.
Taylor returned it all the way to Greene’s 39-yard line, where Hancock Central set up shop to begin the second quarter.
On the ensuing possession, the Bulldogs found the end zone again as this time Kevin Wynn made it into the backfield on another two-point conversion attempt, which led to a 12-0 score close to halftime.
But not before some unexpected faces stepped up and helped lead the Tigers to a touchdown of their own to close the gap heading into the locker room. Sophomore Doremus Alexander and freshman Travez Gibson both broke off runs which resulted in a Greene County touchdown.
Banks acknowledged how much it meant to shorten the deficit (12-7) going into halftime, especially on the backs of young running backs who were in place of senior Malik West, who was out for the contest.
“We missed that senior leadership [from West], so to see the young guys like [Gibson and Alexander play well] was big for us because it helped us get to a win and gave [them] game experience,” Banks said. “In a long football season, you never know what’s going to happen, so you have to be prepared for guys going down and guys needing to step up.”
The third quarter was when Greene County’s defense started to apply pressure on Hancock Central’s offense.
The Tigers forced the Bulldogs to turn the ball over on downs multiple times, and after a few hiccups here and there, Alexander found the end zone from 11 yards out and put the Tigers up 13-12 heading into the final quarter.
A couple of consecutive defensive stops in the fourth quarter put the Tigers’ offense in a great position to strike again, and they did. Miller found Quay Burdette down the right sideline from 26 yards out for a touchdown that put GCHS up, 20-12.
The Bulldogs battled back and scored again with about three minutes left in the contest, but Wynn was able to come up with another tackle in the backfield and keep the Tigers ahead by 2.
After an attempted onside kick, Harris returned the ball all the way to the Bulldogs’ 31-yard line where the Tigers were able to run about two minutes off the clock before scoring the game-clinching touchdown.
On fourth-and-four, Miller recorded his second touchdown pass of the game and found Harris near the back pylon and put the Tigers up two scores with a minute to go.
Even after the miscues on offense, Banks was proud of the way his team showed how they fight in the face of adversity.
“The number one thing we want to be is physical,” Banks said. “I hope that’s a large part about who they say we are, and that we play hard, and we ultimately found that out about these boys.”
Looking ahead, the Tigers (2-1) will host their second home game of the season as they prepare to face off against the Wilkinson County Warriors (1-1) this Friday.
The Tigers come into this contest 8-5 all-time against the Warriors, but Wilkinson has defeated Greene two out of the last three games, once in 2019 and once in 2017.
Banks’ coaching matchup will be fifth-year head coach Keldrick Burke, who took over for the Warriors back in 2018. Burke has accrued a 9-32 record in his time at Wilkinson but comes into this game at .500.