Greene County used a solid second-half effort to defeat crosstown rival Lake Oconee Academy 33-10 last Friday.
With the score tied 7-7 at the half, the Tigers (7-1, 2-0) outscored the Titans (5-4, 0-3) 26-3 in the second half, overcoming a slow start and coasting to a crucial victory.
“We played outstanding in the second half, but I’ve got to figure out the speech to get us to not be so emotional in the first half, man. Trying to not overthink and make it happen,” Greene County coach Terrance Banks said. “Credit to Coach [Patrick] Stewart at LOA. They had a great game plan.”
The first quarter of last Friday’s game was a scoreless battle, with sloppy penalties and each team playing great on defense. But midway through the second quarter, things changed in a hurry.
The Tigers took a 7-0 lead as quarterback Landon Garretson fired a pass in the flat to Steve Miller, who raced 47 yards past Lake Oconee Academy defenders out on the edge to the end zone.
The Titans responded on the next possession by eating up the clock with their ground game and scoring a touchdown with just 27 seconds left in the half. Cameron Kelley punched it from a few yards out.
Greene County came out in the second half and dominated both sides of the ball. The Tigers retook the lead on their first drive, which they never gave up. Facing a third-and-goal from the LOA 8-yard line, Travez Gibson broke tackles and scored, putting his team back on top 14-7 after the PAT.
Greene’s defensive unit forced an LOA three-and- out on the next drive. Garretson followed that up by tossing a long touchdown to fullback RJ Monford, extending the Tigers lead to 20-7.
The Titans cut the deficit to 10 points with an 18-yard field goal by Leo Inostrosa after their special teams unit recovered a bad snap off a punt.
Their offense never got going, though, leading to the field goal.
Regardless, Tigers tailback Amari Durham put the game away with a 41-yard touchdown run with 8:32 left. Garretson added insult to injury later in the fourth quarter with a 30-yard scoring bomb to Miller.
“We do a good job of running the ball, man.
That’s who we are,” Banks said. “I love throwing it, but we do a good job of getting the O-line tight and running the ball. I always tell the boys you can’t be weak and timid and play here, so it’s just all about the weight room, man. We’re going to run the ball here. It isn’t any secret.
“As I said, LOA had a great game plan. They hit us in the mouth and played us well early. We did what he had to do once we calmed down and ran it downhill.”
Greene County’s defensive performance shouldn’t be overlooked. The Tigers limited Lake Oconee Academy’s offense to 26 total yards. The Titans also rushed for negative yardage last week.
Outside of one drive, LOA never managed to get anything going offensively. Greene County senior defensive lineman Kevin Wynn was a menace, totaling three shackles and six tackles for loss.
“We try to go 1-0 every day,” said Wynn, who was named Homecoming King at halftime. “We try to play to the best of our ability. I feel like once our team locks in on offense and defense, we can go far.”
Greene County’s biggest test will come Friday at Lincoln County, where the victor likely will win the region, too.