Greenville overcomes obstacles to down Pirates in Miami Valley League action
GREENVILLE – The Greenville Green Wave defeated the visiting West Carrollton Pirates 21-14 in a Friday night MVL matchup.
“I am just proud of our kids,” said Greenville coach, Bart Schmitz following the home game.
Miami Valley League rushing leader Brock Short went to the Greenville sideline early in the game and would not return bringing changes on the offensive side for the Wave as well as the defensive side of the line.
“That’s football,” said Coach Schmitz said of the night’s coaching challenges. “It’s unfortunate but we preach it all the time – you never know when it’s going to be your turn.”
“Nathan Shaffer had to step up and play defense for us and he did a phenomenal job,” Schmitz continued. “Ryan Crampton had to carry the load in the backfield, Nolan Curtis had to block for him, Hayden (Bush) had to be a little bit more of a runner tonight than he has all year and at the end of the day defense played outstanding.”
Greenville put together a 49-yard 8-play drive chewing up 3:32 on the first quarter clock to take a 7-0 lead with Wave senior Hayden Bush scoring on a 1-yard quarterback keeper and Avery Ernst spitting the uprights out of the hold of Bush at 2:02 on the first quarter clock.
The second play of quarter No. 2 Alex Baumgardner intercepted a Pirates pass turning the ball over to the Green Wave just 0:51 into second half play
Greenville’s Dominick Baker intercepted a West Carrollton pass at the Pirates 38 and returned the ball to the visitor’s 26-yard line setting up the Wave’s second score of the night; a 3-play 26-yard drive with a 25-yard TD strike from Bush to Million Bryant.
West Carrollton returned Greenville’s kickoff 64-yards for a score cutting the Wave’s lead to 14-7 where the score would stand at the break.
The Pirates took advantage of an early third quarter 4-play 64-yard scoring drive to even the score at 14-14 at 10:06 in the third.
Greenville answered with a 2-play scoring drive with a 58-yard touchdown pass to Bryant sprinting down the right side of the field to score the go-ahead point. With Ernst splitting the uprights for the third time of the night the Green Wave took a 7-point lead that would hold up for the final 21-14 score of the night.
“Our offense didn’t turn the ball over,” stated Schmitz following the victory. “We didn’t make any big mistakes”
Crampton led the Wave’s ground game with 44-rushing yards on 16-carries while Bush was passing for 148-yard completing 8/14 passes good for 2-touchdowns and no interceptions. Bryant paced GHS with 4-receptions good for 104-yards and 2-touchdown catches.
Crampton led Greenville’s defense with 9-tackles, DJ Zimmer accounted for 4-tackles, Baumgardner added 3-tackles and Jacob Barr had 2-tackles on the night.
