Greene County suffered a devastating loss to rival Washington-Wilkes for its Homecoming game on Oct. 18.
Despite a closely contested game, the Tigers of Greensboro came up short in a 35-28 decision.
Washington-Wilkes quarterback Mayson Mingle put his team ahead with a 7-yard touchdown run with three minutes left in the game. Trailing 35-28 after the PAT, Greene County started its next drive and drove into the opponent’s territory, although the Tigers came up short after turning the ball over on downs.
Despite the outcome, Greene County head coach Darius Robinson believes it was a great game for his team. He says that Tiger Stadium had a positive atmosphere because of the fans in attendance.
“It was a great atmosphere, and I hate that we couldn’t get the job done,” Robinson said. “But we’ll learn from it, grow from it, and be better for it down the line.”
Robinson’s team hasn’t played a “complete game” all season, but he said he believes this past week’s loss to Washington-Wilkes was a step in the right direction.
“That [confidence] comes from actually buying into the experience that they have, and I said to them early on in the season when we started region play, that at some point in time, you go from being inexperienced to having experience,” Robinson stated.
Greene County initially put the game’s first points on the board with its opening drive, but it was quickly nullified due to a holding penalty. The Tigers later scored on a 13-play drive, and Washington-Wilkes responded shortly after.
Robinson mentioned that Greene County later had a 21-play drive on offense, and he talked to his players about how special that was.
“I told the guys, like, hey, even in college NFL, people don’t run 15-20 play drives. [I said] ‘You guys don’t realize the potential that you have,’” Robinson said.
The matchup featured a close score throughout the evening, with both teams tied at 21 points by halftime.
Robinson says that overall, he saw great things on both sides of the ball. He mentioned that both junior wide receiver Kalil Dorsey and senior running back Travez Gibson had solid efforts in the matchup and scored touchdowns.
“Defensively, we had some bright spots; the young guys were starting to come up and have a little bit more confidence as far as making tackles go, and then understanding how they’re supposed to fit in the scheme of things,” Robinson said. “We got some stops late in the game, but we just couldn’t get that last stop when we needed it.”
Next, the Tigers (1-8, 0-2) will play their crosstown rival, Lake Oconee Academy (2-7, 0-3), this Friday night.
Robinson hopes to see his players put together a “clean game” against the Titans, who are coming off a 41-3 region loss to No. 1 Lincoln County. The Red Devils and Tigers will meet in the regular-season finale on Oct. 31.
“One thing I commend the guys [at Greene] on is that they’ve been playing hard this entire season, and so I’m expecting that,” Robinson said. “You gotta be locked in, focused, and play clean from start to finish, and so we’ll see what the scoreboard says when the clock hits zero.”