It was a rough night at Tiger Stadium for Greene County and head coach Terrance Banks.
No. 3-seed Christian Heritage defeated the No. 2-seed Tigers 37-6 last Friday night. The loss eliminates them from contention in the Class A Division II playoffs.
The Lions got a valiant effort from running back Eli Thomason. The senior rushed for nearly 200 yards, scored four times on the ground and had a TD-saving INT in the win. They also played stingy on the defensive side of the ball for most of the contest.
However, Greene started out the game with some offensive fireworks on its second drive. The Tigers got to work on their second possession and scored in a total of three plays.
Greene quarterback Steve Miller connected with wide receiver Javaris Harris for a 41-yard gain, which set up the Tigers inside Christian Heritage’s 10-yard line. They scored on the next play as running back Malik West punched it in from five yards out.
Banks’ squad led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter, but the Lions would quickly respond. They scored 37 unanswered points, with 16 of them coming in the second period.
Greene punted away to Christian Heritage at the start of the second quarter. However, a tipped ball by the Lions on the kick gave them field position at the Tigers' 33-yard line, but Greene held them to three points
Miller would commit his first of three turnovers on the next drive with a fumble, which was picked up by Christian Heritage at the 50. A few plays later, Thomason scored from 25 yards out. The PAT was good and the Lions led 10-6 with 6:44 left in the half.
Greene couldn’t get anything going offensively on its next series and went three-and-out. Christian Heritage started its next possession on its 38-yard line and quarterback Carter Tripplett kept the chains moving on a 2nd-and-8 play by evading several defenders. His long scramble set the Lions up at the Tigers’ 5-yard line.
Thomason would add to the lead with his second TD a few plays later. Christian Heritage’s effort on both sides of the ball gave it a 17-6 lead with 2:10 left in the second quarter.
However, Greene would try to put together a drive before the end of the half.
Miller and the Tigers finally kicked it into overdrive. They started their final possession of the second quarter on their own 40. Miller quickly got the offense inside the Lions’ territory with first-down passes to Harris and Quay Burdette. A few plays later, Miller dropped back and aired the ball out, but it was picked off in the end zone by Thomason.
Christian Heritage’s defense stood tall after the first TD and held the Tigers to only three more first downs the rest of the first half. On the other hand, they were able to rack up over 180 yards of offense after not scoring in the opening 12 minutes of the contest.
Greene couldn’t find an answer offensively after its only score of the game. The Tigers’ drives went: punt, TD, punt, fumble, punt and INT. Still, they had some hope as they only trailed Christian Heritage 16-6 heading into the second half.
Nevertheless, a disastrous third quarter led to 21 more points for the Lions’ offense.
Christian Heritage received the ball first to start the second half. Thomason burst through an open gap up the middle for a 60-yard score on the Lions' second play from scrimmage. That quick TD and PAT put them up 23-7 with 10:14 left in the third quarter.
Greene, again, couldn’t get anything going on the offensive side of the ball and was forced to punt. That’s when Thomason scored his final TD of the night for Christian Heritage. The Tigers accessed several penalties following the score.
So, on the ensuing kickoff, the Lions attempted an onside kick. They then came up with it and started their next drive at the Tigers’ 17-yard line and would quickly score again.
This time, however, it was Tripplett connecting with tight end Sam Wooten in the end zone for six. Greene’s next possession resulted in a botched snap, causing Miller to fumble, although the score remained the same throughout the rest of the fourth quarter.
Banks tweeted how proud he was of his players on Saturday following the loss to CHA.
“Losing sucks. Point blank. Period. However, I am proud [of my players],” Banks said in the tweet. “Before this year, my seniors had won seven games total and [had] never [been] to the playoffs. [We finished] 6-5, made the playoffs [and were] region runner-up. [I am] proud of the 2022 edition of the #BoroBoyz and my seniors.”