Greer defeats Berea

By Leland Burch

Friday was Chicken Soup Night at Dooley Field. A 56-0 win over Berea was the chicken
soup cure that the battle-scarred Yellow Jackets needed to end a four-game losing slump.
“Obviously it was good to win, but I had rather have had a middle ground game,”
declared Greer Coach Will Young afterwards. “Going to Travelers Rest will be a middle ground
game as they are much improved this year,” he explained, looking forward to the Yellow Jackets
upgrading their comfort food to mac and cheese.
There were many shining moments while the Jackets were slurping down the Bulldogs.
Calvin McCoy was among the brightest stars, rushing for 242 yards on 16 carries and scoring
five touchdowns in the process. Young noted the junior running back, “has been a good player
for us all year. He has been in some tough games and run really hard in them. His speed made a
big difference for us tonight.”
Equally brilliant was Greer’s defense that pitched a shutout, which was especially
pleasing to Coach Young. He pointed out, “we were going up against an offense that you don’t
see any more, but we were able to stop it.” In fact, the Yellow Jackets held Berea to a net 41
yards.
Another bright spot was the younger players who saw action. Among nine freshmen that
dressed out was quarterback Xavier Sammet who ran and passed for a pair of fourth quarter
touchdowns. “Xavier has been looking good in jayvee games on Thursday nights, and you
always wonder if that will translate to Friday night. It did. He came in and did a good job,”
Young said.
He added, “Zy Foster, our sophomore running back, ran hard when he got in there. On
the offensive line, we had a freshman Nathan Wilcox, who played some at center as well as did
sophomore guard Owen Clark at guard. Overall, our offensive line played pretty well.”
“Our kids had a good week of practice, but we still have a lot of things to improve on
offensively. We are just not as crisp as we should be,” Young continued. Greer’s only possession
that failed to put points on the board occurred in the second quarter when the Bulldogs
intercepted a pass to stop a drive. “We had a kid wide open in the end zone but the ball was
thrown into double coverage. We have to go back and work on getting that straightened out,”
Young said.
Penalties were another issue. The Yellow Jackets were hit with 15 flags that cost them
125 yards and left Coach Young at a loss. “The last thing we talked about before coming on the
field was not having dumb penalties. Then we had a bunch of them including one on a receiver. I
don’t know what we are going to do unless it is handing out worse punishment to the kids who
get penalties,” he said.
Greer got off to a fast start with a pair of first quarter touchdowns that McCoy turned in
on short runs through the right side of the line. That pattern continued in the second period when
McCoy scored a third time through the right side. He switched to the left side for a one-yard
plunge to make it 28-0 at intermission. Quarterback Dawson Fowler sparked that drive with
passes of 16, 13 and 17 yards to D.J. Hicks, Tucker Hudson and Zay Moseley, respectively.
McCoy opened the second half with a 76-yard touchdown sprint up the middle. He went
on to set up another touchdown with a 40-yard dash, and Fowler completed the quick march with
a 20-yard pass to Noel Sitton in the end zone. That started a running clock with 8:26 remaining
in the third quarter and led to an early end of the contest.

Sammet opened the final quarter with a nine-yard touchdown toss to Moseley. He went
on to score on a 24-yard keeper that capped a 78-yard drive on the Greer’s next possession.
Wills Ryan kicked six extra points and Parker Burns added two more to cap the Yellow
Jackets offensive explosion of 399 yards on the ground and 153 yards through the air.

By Leland Burch

“Mental Health Awareness Night” was observed Friday at Dooley Field. Which was appropriate after Byrnes crushed the Yellow Jackets 49-9 - leading one to ask “who in their right mind scheduled these powerhouse teams to start the football season.”  Coach Will Young’s response always has been, “no one else would play us” after being drubbed by the likes of Byrnes, Boiling Springs and Hillcrest which have fielded some of their better teams in recent years. In the five years since the Covid-shortened season, the Yellow Jackets have a collective record of 5-15 for their first four games.

 “It’s been a tough month. We have played some really good football teams,” Coach Young noted. “Hopefully these games will challenge us and get us ready down the road in region play, but we still have a long way to go.”

Greer’s defense had no answer for the Rebels’ budding mega star running back Tre Segarra. The converted soccer standout rushed for 121 yards on 11 carries including touchdown runs of 34, 22 and 26 yards. He also turned a pass reception into a 45-yard score. When the Yellow Jackets did manage to catch Segarra, four or five tacklers were usually needed to bring him down.

Greer’s downfield tackling was also almost non-existent. When they did hang onto kicks, the Rebels gashed the Yellow Jackets for a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown and an 80-yard kickoff return that sent Byrnes on the way to start the game.

On Greer’s the bright side, the Yellow Jackets cruised 75 yards to score in a six-play drive on their first possession. A 38-yard pass from Dawson Fowler to Tucker Hudson set up Calvin McCoy’s five-yard touchdown run. But a poor center snap on the extra point attempt left Greer down 7-6.

 Having scored on the first play from scrimmage, a 15-yard pass from Caine Rogers to Buckley, the Rebels needed five plays to reach the end zone on their second possession. The 34-yard scoring gallop was the first of Segarra’s four house calls.

 Greer came right back with another threat, advancing to the Byrnes 13-yard line before a penalty stopped them cold. “We did get some offense going tonight, like last week, but we just don’t do a good job of punching it in when we got in the red zone,” Coach Young reflected.

Down by a 28-6 margin with 5:07 remaining in the first half, Greer muffed opportunities to get back in the game with a pair of fumble recoveries. The Yellow Jackets recovered a bobbled punt and advanced to the 13-yard line on a 26-yard pass from Fowler to Hudson. Byrnes’ defense held there, and Wills Ryan came on to kick a 26-yard field goal that made it 28-9.

The Rebels fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Artavious Gwynn recovered at 17-yard line with 1:25 remaining in the half. A six-yard McCoy run plus a penalty advanced Greer to the four with a first-and goal. McCoy hit the line for two yards, but was stopped cold on three more running attempts as the half ended.

Young related, “we were down there with no time outs remaining and we can’t change personnel. We had an offensive lineman playing tight end, and he is new at that position. The first power run went well and got us to the two, so we ran the same play again. We should have done something different in hind sight.”

Greer never threatened again. “We played very poorly offensively in the second half, and that was disappointing,” Young declared.

Meanwhile, the Rebels scored on their first possession of the second half, a 21-yard pass from Rogers to Kaylin McDowell and never looked back in improving to 2-1 on the season.

The Yellow Jackets got up after being hit by a bus on their road trip to Belton-Honea
Path. Trailing 35-0 after three quarters, Greer outscored the Bears 19-7 in the fourth period
leaving a 42-19 loss to carry on the long ride home.

There was little else to cheer about in what Coach Will Young described as a "really poor
game." He explained, "We got whipped up front on the offensive line. We are really really
young on offense, and that put our defense at a disadvantage, although the defense gave up some
big plays." Young added, "B-HP is a very good team, and we aren’t right now. Hopefully we will
get there."

Greer’s offense suffered a miserable first half, posting only two first downs on a net 31
yards. Meanwhile, the host Bears broke through the Yellow Jackets defense like swatting a
spider web. B-HP drove 55 yards to score in nine plays on their first possession and took the 7-0
lead into the second period. B. J. Anderson got the points on a two-yard run.
B-HP opened the second frame with quarterback Noah Thomas’ 62-yard scoring sprint
on a sweep. Malachi Hester later made it 21-0 at intermission with a 27-yard touchdown burst up
the middle. Benji Ward kicked all three first half extra points.

The Bears added insult to injury by taking the second half kickoff and scoring in three
plays, a 40-yard touchdown pass from Thomas to Tajeh Watson-Martin to make it 28-0. Before
the third quarter ended, B-HP capitalized on a turnover when Averie Bishop intercepted a Greer
pass. Evan Gaines got the points on a one-yard dive that capped the 40-yard march.
The Yellow Jackets’ offense caught a spark after the ensuing kickoff when quarterback
Dawson Fowler found D.J. Hicks on a 30-yard pass across midfield. From there, Calvin McCoy
found a few holes in the Bears’ defense and gained 28 yards on five carries leading up to his
two-yard touchdown plunge. B-HP blocked the extra point kick, however, leaving the score at
35-6 to open the fourth quarter.

Greer’s defense forced a short punt that set up a 44-yard scoring drive launched by an 18-
yard pass from Fowler to A.J. Jackson. Fowler later delivered a nine-yard touchdown pass to
freshman Zay Moseley, and Wills Ryan’s extra point cut the Bears lead to 35-13 with 5:50
remaining in the game. Having been poked, the Bears roared back with a five-play, two-minute scoring drive highlighted by a 44-yard pass from Thomas to B.J. Anderson. Thomas scored on a 10-yard
keeper.

The Yellow Jackets continued battling, however, when Moseley returned the kickoff 20
yards to open a 68-yard drive. Fowler completed passes of nine and 12 yards to Moseley and
Hicks, respectively. He eventually found Mosely on a 38-yard touchdown toss with 1:15 left on
the clock. But the unbeaten Bears stuffed Greer’s two-point conversion attempt to come away
with a 23-point victory.

Although falling to 0-2, the Yellow Jackets did not have any costly offensive procedure
penalties that hurt them in the opener. Otherwise, B-HP dominated the stats as well as the score.

Time. It was the only thing Greer didn’t have enough of. Given one more moment of time, the Yellow Jackets would have won their first season opener in eight years on Friday night.

Greer had Boiling Springs on the ropes with a fierce comeback and reached the visitor’s 30-yard line for a first down when the scoreboard clock hit all zeros. Greer had outscored Boiling Springs 18-0 in the second half that felt like a win until it wasn’t. The Bulldogs put 23 points on the board in the first half that proved to be barely enough to win.

Some teams would have folded when being down three touchdowns at halftime, "but we didn’t. Ours are Greer kids, and they don’t quit," declared Coach Will Young. "I was pleased with the way we fought back in the second half, but we just made too many mistakes tonight," he added.

Young was referring to the kicking game where the Yellow Jackets shot themselves in the foot with three failed extra point attempts. "Extra points should be automatic, and we weren’t anywhere close," he said.

He said the Bulldogs are of the same caliber as three teams Greer faced in pre-season scrimmages: Gaffney, Powdersville and Shelby, NC. "Boiling Springs has a great defense, and we lack size and experience in our offensive line. We had way too many procedure penalties that hurt. Obviously we have a lot of work to do there."

Greer’s defense was no slouch either, putting points on the board when Paden Armstrong picked up a fumble in the Bulldog backfield and rambled 17 yards to the end zone. The Yellow Jackets also halted seven other Boiling Springs drives to force five punts and two field goal attempts.

The Bulldogs went up 3-0 with a 29-yard Preston Reel field goal that capped an 80-yard game opening drive. After forcing a short punt later in the quarter, Boiling Springs cruised 49 yards for a touchdown. Kyron Tobler scored from 11 yards out on a run up the middle, and Alan Labra’s conversion made it 10-0. The Bulldogs opened the second period with a pass interception to launch a drive that the Yellow Jackets halted at the 17-yard line where Zay Moseley blocked a field goal attempt. Boiling Springs soon scored, however, when Tyvion Hall intercepted a pass and raced 35 yards to the end zone to make it 17-0.

With just nine seconds remaining in the half, Josh Kahl unloaded as 25-yard pass to Deion Suber for a touchdown. The conversion attempt failed, leaving Boiling Springs ahead 23-0 at intermission.

Greer’s defense held the Bulldogs to just three first downs in the second half, setting the stage for the Yellow Jackets rally. The comeback started when Armstrong scored with the recovered fumble with 2:11 remaining in the third quarter. But Jeremiah Favorite blocked Parker Burns’ extra point attempt.

The Yellow Jackets struck again at the three-minute mark of the fourth quarter when Dawson Fowler connected on a 28-yard pass to Tucker Hudson. Greer trailed 23-12 after another failed conversion attempt.

After forcing a punt, Greer covered 60 yards to score again in six plays. Fowler completed three passes and then rambled into the end zone with :47 seconds left. A two-point conversion try was unsuccessful, but Greer had pulled within five points.

Having used all of their time outs to stop the clock, the Yellow Jackets still managed to get the ball back with an on-sides kickoff recovery. Fowler quickly delivered a 23-yard pass to D.J .Hicks and then found Moseley on a 13-yard pass as the game ended.