Last Saturday, Irwin County dominated Greene County in the first round of the Class A Division II state playoffs.
The Indians entered the postseason contest as the lower seed in the 32-team bracket but a higher-ranked team and left Greensboro with a commanding 41-7 victory over the Tigers.
“It was tough sledding for us,” Greene County head coach Terrance Banks said after the loss to Irwin County.
Indeed, it was “tough sledding” for the Tigers.
Irwin County, powered by quarterback Luke Snyder, jumped out to a 13-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. The senior signal caller tossed a 63-yard touchdown to wideout Jason Jackson, giving the Indians the lead.
On the ensuing drive, Synder connected with Javon Woodard for a 31-yard gain. Woodard broke tackles and set up Irwin County tailback Shane Marshall, a Minnesota commit, for a 1-yard touchdown a few plays later.
In the second quarter, Marshall, who rushed for 75 yards, scored his final touchdown of the contest from 11 yards out. The Indians attempted a two-point try and converted it to lead Greene County 21-0 at the half.
Irwin County led 34-7 heading into the fourth quarter and added another touchdown to reach its points total. The Indians gave up a third-quarter touchdown to the Tigers, who never got anything going after that drive.
Banks credited Irwin with its dominant performance but pointed out that, due to injuries, he was playing a lot of younger kids due to injuries.
“Not to take anything away from Irwin, but we played a lot of young guys who were starting for the first time,” Banks said. “They weren’t adjusted to the speed of the game, and [Irwin] did what we thought they would do on film. We just weren’t able to do the things we needed to do. We had been very good at making halftime adjustments the last four games, but it’s tough when you get down 21-0 to a team of that stature.”
In the first half, Greene County had a few chances to score points, although penalties hurt the drives. The Indians’ defense also stood tall, not letting the Tigers’ offense move the chains steadily.
“That’s on me, but penalties hurt us, combined with [Irwin] doing exactly what they wanted to do,” Banks added. “They capitalized on our mistakes, and when we had our opportunities, we didn’t capitalize on them.”
Greene County ended its season with an 8-3 overall record after going 10-2 in 2023 under Banks’ direction. The Tigers lose seniors like Steve Miller, Kevin Wynn, Laryous Burt, Armari Durham, and RJ Monford.
After the game, Banks had a positive message for his group, stating that the future is bright.
“We have some young guys coming back, and hopefully, after this season, they’re hungry, but there’s a lot of shoes to fill,” he said. “We’ll be very freshman and sophomore-heavy next year, but our goals will remain the same. If there’s a goal, it will still be to get to the game 11 (the playoffs). I’m hopeful the rising seniors, who have played a ton, will come in focused and lead us back to this point. It’s going to take a ton of work, though.”