Greene County head coach Terrance Banks left Tigers Stadium on Friday with a gut-wrenching feeling.
Oglethorpe County (3-1) trailed by 12 points at the start of the fourth quarter, although the Patriots quickly erased that margin, defeating the Tigers (3-2) by a score of 34-33.
Greene faced a lot of adversity early, especially after blowing a 14-point lead in the first quarter, but the Tigers had a counter-attack to every Oglethorpe punch until the fourth.
“The first thing I told the kids was that it was my fault,” Banks said. “I made the calls offensively, and we gambled on our side of the territory. We didn’t get the calls. Watching through film, we could have made another call, but those decisions were on me. I could have probably also managed the game better using our timeouts.”
Greene had all the momentum heading into the fourth quarter, resulting from a 12-point lead. The Tigers also made a goal-line stand on the last play of the third quarter. Oglethorpe didn’t give up, though. The Patriots started their rally in the fourth quarter. Their defense forced Greene to a three-and-out to start the final period of regulation.
Oglethorpe began the next possession on the Tigers’ 26-yard line after a shanked punt. The Patriots moved inside the Greene 10-yard line after a facemask penalty. Quarterback Will Sampson then connected with Darius Heard for a 4-yard TD.
Senior kicker Joseph Turner tacked on the PAT, but Greene still led 34-28 with 10:34 left in the game. The Tigers fielded Oglethorpe’s ensuing kickoff on their 27-yard line, although a crucial unsportsmanlike penalty backed them up 15-yards.
The Patriots’ defense didn’t budge, not allowing Greene running back Malik West any space. The senior was tackled in the backfield twice, forcing a 4th-down situation.
Banks elected to go for it on 4th-and-2 on the Tigers’ 22-yard line with nine minutes left.
Tigers’ sophomore quarterback Steve Miller lined up in a shotgun formation, hoping to draw Oglethorpe defenders offside. The Tigers then burned a timeout, but still elected to go for it. Miller was then ruled short of the first-down marker on the next play.
“I’m not a huge punt the ball on 4th-and-2 situation (type of coach). I feel confident in what we do … which is running the ball,” Banks said. “If you look at it, we have been running the ball the last four weeks over 150 yards every game. We’re dealing with some injuries, but that’s no excuse, and so we felt comfortable with going with a run-base play. We got some (plays) on the sheet that we could have called. We’ve practiced for those situations, but we felt comfortable thinking we could get some push (upfront) calling what we did. Unfortunately, we couldn’t.”
It wouldn’t be long until the Patriots scored again.
They exploited Greene’s mistake, and senior Jake Turner crossed the goal line in just a few plays for his third TD. The PAT gave Oglethorpe a 34-33 lead with 7:46 remaining in the game.
The Patriots had all of the momentum, although the Tigers didn’t cave.
Greene began its next possession on its 27. Miller connected with Javaris Harris for a 7-yard gain to move the chains. The Tigers then got near midfield before facing another 4th-down. The Patriots forced another turnover on downs with 4:17 left.
Banks’ defense held strong, leading to an Oglethorpe three-and-out.
The Tigers got the ball back in a last-chance effort to retake the lead with 2:27 remaining in the contest.
However, a Miller pass was picked off by Patriots’ defensive back Michael Fleming on the first play from scrimmage. The ball was intended for Harris, but the senior defender made a leaping effort for the INT, which sealed Greene’s fate.
“Again, I told the kids this one was on me,” Banks said. “We’ll correct it, although hats off to coach (Michael) Holland. He and his staff made the better adjustments at halftime than we did, so they were able to take care of business in the second half.”
Jake Turner led the Patriots in rushing, totaling 124 yards on 28 attempts with three TDs.
Sampson was mobile throughout the contest, picking up 48 yards on nine rushes. The senior also completed 11-of-19 passes for 161 yards, two TDs and an INT.
Greene’s defense and special teams played well. These two Tiger units came up with three turnovers combined (an INT and two fumbles).
Regardless, the Patriots made a few key defensive stops and took advantage of every short-field situation.
Miller had a career-best game, despite his late-game pick on the Tigers’ final possession. He completed 19-of-25 passes for 300 yards and five TDs with one INT.
Harris also played well against Oglethorpe on Friday night. He was nearly unstoppable, hauling in a career-high 14 receptions for 221 yards and four scores.
“Steve (Miller) is only a sophomore, and especially in this offense, you get the highs and the lows. But lately, in the passing game, he’s been on the high. So, we were able to catch them in a couple of different situations,” Banks said.We know going into every game (from this point on) that everybody’s main focus is to eliminate Boobie (Javaris Harris) from our game plan. We’re doing some stuff to hide him and make teams be aware of where he lines up (on the field). By doing that, I tell our other receivers, that means at some point in a game, you’re going to be in a one-on-one situation, which is when you’re going to have to make a play.”
Greene’s Quay Burdette had the game’s first TD. The junior wide receiver hauled in a 40-yard strike from Miller near the end zone as he had a diving effort for the pylon. Senior tight end Radarius Miller and junior wideout BJ Mullens also had receptions.
“I think all of our receivers stepped up last night. Quay made a great grab on the first touchdown,” Banks said.
“We blocked better (on the perimeter) and I think all of them caught an important pass. BJ (Mullens) and Radarius (Miller) also played well.”
Greene heads into this week with a bye on Friday. The Tigers will open up Region 8A-Division II competition at Towns County (1-3) on Friday, Sept. 30 in Hiawassee.