The Greene County football team defeated the Wilkinson County Warriors 28-7 last Friday night in Tiger Stadium to improve to 3-1 on the season.
The last time the Tigers had a 3-1 record through their first four games of the season was back in 2016 when the team finished 9-4 and lost in the quarterfinals of the GHSA Class A-Public state playoffs.
First-year head coach Terrance Banks attributed the win to everyone via Twitter after the game.
“God gets the glory,” Banks said. “The kids and the assistant coaches get all the credit. [The] goal was 1-0.”
The Tigers started off the game on the right foot.
After missing last week’s contest, senior running back Malik West found the end zone not even a minute into the game on a 15-yard run to put the Tigers up seven early.
Later in the first half, quarterback Steve Miller got the passing game going and found Javaris Harris on a 27-yard touchdown pass to put the Tigers up two scores.
A few drives later, Miller found wideout Quay Burdette on a big 54-yard pass to set the Tigers up deep in Warriors’ territory with about four minutes left before halftime.
Moments later, West scored his second touchdown of the night, this time coming through the air on a 25-yard pass from Miller, and the Tigers headed into the locker room up 21 at the half.
Greene County’s defense dominated once again, shutting out the Wilkinson County offense for 36 minutes straight. Players like Dayshawn Copeland and Arkiyus Wright both showed their leadership by getting the defense lined up and flying around to the ball.
The Warriors finally crossed the goal line after a scoreless third quarter and trailed the Tigers 21-7 at the beginning of the fourth, but that was the last time they would score in the contest.
West added his second rushing touchdown and third total score of the night with just under five minutes left in the contest to put Greene County up 28-7.
The Tigers are now 9-5 all-time against the Warriors and will try to build off of two consecutive wins heading into their game this week against the Oglethorpe County Patriots.
Greene County has played Oglethorpe County 27 times since 1966, and the Tigers hold the overall advantage 25-2.
The Patriots haven’t had a winning season since they finished 6-4 back in 2005, but they have some momentum heading into the Sept. 16 matchup in Tiger Stadium after starting the season off 2-1.
Second-year head coach Mike Holland struggled in his first season, but currently has the offense averaging 24 points per game while the defense is giving up just under 10 points per game.
Up to this point in the season, the Tigers’ offense has scored just two more points, on average, than the Patriots' offense has per game.
Their defense is currently giving up around 18 points per game, but that is slightly skewed after the Tigers gave up 43 points to Morgan County in Week 2. In their other three games, the defense allowed a touchdown in two of those contests, and 18 points in the third.