The Greene County football team has started the 2023 season out well, with its most recent success coming against the Morgan County Bulldogs.
The Tigers hosted head coach Clint Jenkins and company at Tiger Stadium for both teams’ second game of the year and walked away with a 24-14 victory.
Greene County head coach Terrance Banks told the Lake Oconee News in an interview after the game he was proud of his players’ resiliency, and that he was happy for the local community.
“I can’t describe in words what this win means to the community,” Banks said. “Putnam and Morgan [County] have already established that winning track record, and we’re just trying to do that. To have only won one of the last 11 games before this against them was a big deal. And as a coach, it’s not about me, it’s about them. So I’m very happy for everyone.”
Morgan County head coach Clint Jenkins gave the Tigers credit for the way they played on both sides of the ball.
“First of all, you have to give credit to Greene for the way they played,” Jenkins said. “I think they turned the ball over three or four times in their first game but played clean tonight. They made some really good throws, and their defensive front might be one of the best ones we face all year, so I’m not sure people are giving Greene enough credit.”
The Bulldogs got on the board first with a touchdown from quarterback Talan Fuller on a sneak up the middle on the goal line. It was a relatively slow start for both offenses, and the score at the end of the first quarter was 7-0.
Tigers’ quarterback Steve Miller matched Fuller with a rushing touchdown of his own at the start of the second quarter. After an encroachment penalty on Morgan County, Banks elected to take the opportunity to go for two and got it.
After going up 8-7, Greene County wouldn’t relinquish the lead for the rest of the contest.
Senior defensive back Chris Lowe picked off Fuller shortly after the Tigers’ first touchdown, which led to another six points.
After a Cristian Reyes field goal, Greene County led 17-7 going into halftime and continued their dominance into the second half.
Aside from the offensive efficiency, Banks emphasized that winning the turnover battle was an important factor in earning the results they wanted.
“We talked about it last week with the number of turnovers we had and the number of turnovers we dropped, and I said if they do that again, they would get run out of their stadium,” Banks said. “This week, we were able to win the turnover battle, which was huge, and I can’t talk about my captains enough and the games that they played.”
The win marked the Tigers’ second victory over the Bulldogs since 2007, and they will hope to stay undefeated after hitting the road for the first time this season.