Greene County will host Hancock Central this Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the first round of the GHSA state playoffs.
The Tigers have already seen what the Bulldogs have to offer after crushing them on the road by almost 40 points in their third game of the year.
Greene County head coach Terrance Banks now has to prepare the team for the second installment against Hancock Central, and he thinks it will be a tough game, regardless of the last outcome.
“We went back and watched our game early on in the season with them, and then watched the last game they played to see if there were any differences,” Banks said. “The one thing I still noticed is that they play hard, and that can’t be discounted. If we don’t take care of business and don’t wrap up when we tackle, we could put ourselves in bad situations and make us pay. Defensively, they’re going to come after us and try to make us make mistakes.”
The Bulldogs finished with a 4-6 regular-season record and earned the No. 3 seed from Region 5 after defeating Glascock County and Twiggs County.
Hancock Central is currently on a two-game losing streak and hasn’t defeated Greene County since 2020.
The Bulldogs’ offense has struggled this season, only averaging 16 points per game on offense while giving up 27 on defense.
The Tigers’ defense held this team to six points the first time around this season and could be a similar result for the Bulldogs this Friday.
Hancock Central is led by sophomore running back Dontriel Grable, who leads the team with 433 rushing yards. The Bulldogs are a run-heavy team with six other players in the triple digits in rushing yards.
Luckily for the Tigers, their front seven has been one of the best in the state this season. Greene County’s defense has only given up a little over seven points per game and will look to keep that up heading into this Friday’s contest.
Banks acknowledged how important the last win of the regular season was, as it gave the Tigers home-field advantage to start the postseason.
“It means everything having this game at home,” Banks said. “The school day is in rhythm, and that’s important. After that, you know the home fans are going to be showing up to support you while being behind you and encouraging you. I think that’s huge for any program, but especially for one like ours who hasn’t been out of the first round of the playoffs in a while. None of these boys have made it out of the first round, and I think it would be a huge confidence boost for them and the program to potentially make it past and see what’s next.”
Greene County hasn’t made it out of the first round since 2018, so Tiger Stadium is sure to have a great turnout for the team’s game later this week.