After winning two in a row, the Greene County football team met its match last week. The Tigers (5-3, 2-1) lost to the Lincoln County Red Devils 31-21 in the team’s third region game of the season, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort.
Greene County head coach Terrance Banks took to Twitter after the tough loss last Friday night and assured the Tiger faithful that the players’ heads are still up and ready to take on the rest of the season.
“If we win, let it be by the code, faith, and honor held high. If we lose, let us stand by the road and cheer as the winners go by,” Banks quoted from the Husker Prayer. “Always believe in the #BoroBoyz. This one sucks, but our goals are still in front of us.”
The humble Tigers’ squad fought the Red Devils until the very end and made it competitive through four quarters.
Greene County quarterback Steve Miller started off the game on offense by finding his favorite target: junior Javaris Harris. The two connected on a big 49-yard pass to get things going, and then later on a 33-yard pass that ended up finding the end zone for the Tigers’ first touchdown of the night.
The Tigers’ defense forced Lincoln County to punt multiple times throughout the first half, but the Red Devils' offense got the better of them and led 21-7 going into the locker room at halftime.
Banks’ players didn’t let the 14-point deficit hinder their attempts to make a comeback.
Tigers’ running back Travez Gibson opened up the second half with a long kickoff return, and Miller was able to find the end zone later that drive on a nine-yard touchdown run to cut the Red Devils’ lead to seven.
With the help of a little trickery, Greene County was able to recover an unexpected onside kick and use that momentum to tie the game up. Miller found two-way athlete Arkyius Wright on a 10-yard pass to make the contest 21-21.
The Tigers’ defense made multiple great plays, including an interception made on the Red Devils’ 2-yard line by Wright to keep Greene County in the game late in the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, the Tigers were unable to find the end zone again and lost to the Red Devils in a game that could have gone either way. To try and get back on track, Greene County will have to face Aquinas High School (5-3, 2-1) this Friday.
The Tigers have played the Fighting Irish eight times since 1980 and lead the all-time series 5-3; however, Greene has beaten Aquinas only once in the four games that have been played since 2000. That victory came back in 2018 when the Tigers went on to win the region championship.
With a win over the Fighting Irish this week, the Tigers would put themselves in position to compete for the Class 1-A, Division 2 Region 8 title against Washington-Wilkes on Nov. 4.