Tiger Cubs swarm Cadets, wrap WCC schedule with win

Greencastle senior Alec Pettit looks for a seam to run through against Cascade on Friday. Pettit finished with 129 yards and three touchdowns. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

CLAYTON -- The Greencastle football team wrapped up its West Central Conference schedule with a dominant win at Cascade on Friday, 42-13.

Led by senior tailback Alec Pettit on the ground and junior receiver Nathan Tesmer in the passing game, the Tiger Cubs had everything going. GHS netted 260 rush yards on 43 carries and picked up another 190 yards in the air.

"This is the second time all year I feel we've played a complete game," GHS coach Josh Buis said. "The seniors played great tonight. Our upperclassmen came here and wanted the win.

"It's fun to watch us play a complete game. ... When we play a complete game, we're pretty tough. We're a good football team."

The Tiger Cubs' defense was nearly as dominant as their offense. The unit forced four turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble) and allowed just 238 total yards, only 47 of them in the first half.

Greencastle (7-1, 4-1 WCC) has been looking for a game like this to give them some momentum -- a taste of what it feels like to play great --as the postseason approaches, and it started up front.

GHS struggled with pass protection during last week's win over Cloverdale and focused on it this week in practice, Buis said.

Senior quarterback Tyler Scott was sacked twice in 33 dropbacks against Cascade and, more importantly, had more time in the pocket to read the defense and make accurate throws. He had three touchdown passes -- all to Tesmer.

"The offensive line did a great job this week," Buis said. "We focused on pass rushing, and pass protection, this week in practice."

Defensively, seniors Dustin Williams and Grant Mundy were unblockable. Williams had two sacks, and Mundy one, against Cascade junior quarterback Sawyer Donovan.

"We opened up a little bit on defense this week," Buis said. "We normally don't blitz. ... We had 10 blitzes in the game-plan this week, so we're starting to be more dynamic defensively to help get a rush to the quarterback.

"The last couple weeks we've been giving up some deep balls. We had some guys step up tonight and solidify some positions. Luke Brotherton played a heck of a game. ... Calvin Hughes played a great game for us."

The Tiger Cubs got to work quickly. After receiving the opening kickoff, GHS worked a 12-play, 74-yard touchdown drive that took more than five minutes off the clock and wore down the Cadets before they even had a chance to touch the ball.

Pettit finally gave the defense some relief, rumbling in from 10 yards out for his first of three touchdowns. He had 129 yards on 15 carries but fumbled twice.

The Tiger Cubs forced a three-and-out, then marched right back down the field for another Pettit TD late in the first quarter.

Tesmer scored his first two touchdowns during a two-and-a-half minute span late in the second quarter, giving GHS a 28-0 lead at halftime.

"Tesmer is a tough guy to game-plan against," Buis said. "He can go out there (near the sideline) and it's a matchup problem for a corner. You put him inside and it's an athletic miss-match with a linebacker."

It wasn't all roses for the Tiger Cubs. Cascade opened the second half with a 63-yard pass to senior Zach Batts, dragged down at the goal line by Scott. Donovan punched it in the next play.

Cascade (5-3, 2-2 WCC) took the ball right back when a pass got through the outstretched arms of senior Seth Brown and into the intercepting-hands of sophomore Brock Stephenson.

Tyler Scott makes an interception for the TIger Cubs during the second quarter. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

GHS turned the ball over four times (two interceptions, two fumbles) but never seemed to be hurt by them. Scott threw two picks, but also grabbed two of his own as a cornerback.

Scott finished 22-for-30 for 190 yards and rushed for 39 more. Tesmer had four catches for 59 yards, sophomore Brandon Gierke had four catches for 52 yards and Brown had four catches for 41 yards.

Junior Ryley Cook led the team with seven receptions. Senior Evan Coble led the team with 16 carries and had 66 yards on the ground. Junior Zach Secrest led the team with 10 tackles.

The sectional drawing on Sunday will decide the Tiger Cubs' postseason fate, but Buis said he isn't ready to worry about the playoffs yet. There is still one game left in the regular season, a trip to take on the Patriots.

"I'm worried about Owen Valley right now," Buis said.

Grabservations

There's two of them

Seth Brown has been dominant all season, picking up large chunks of yardage with each reception, whether on a go route or by shimmying around after a catch on the sideline. To compensate, defenses have started rolling coverage to his side.

That might not work anymore.

Nathan Tesmer took a few games to find his rhythm but he's now scored in three straight, thrice against Cascade. A massive target at 6-foot-4, the junior is nearly impossible for any No. 2 cornerback to stop one-on-one on fade routes.

Film overwork

With sectional play coming up in just a couple weeks, the Tiger Cubs are putting extra pressure on their opponents in the film room by running surprise formations and trick plays, giving future matchups more to look at than just their prolific receivers.

Last week against Cloverdale, GHS ran a hook-and-ladder play late in the first half. Against Cascade, the Tiger Cubs ran an split-tackle swing play -- a center and guards up front, Scott and Pettit back in shot gun formation and tackles Tanner Wood and Grant Mundy split out to the hashes.

The Cadets blew the play up for a short gain, but even if the play didn't work at all the idea of it will still make Owen Valley or their sectional opponent take time to study it.

Are you big-timing me?

The Greencastle rush defense -- the line and linebackers -- were so effective against Cascade on Friday the Cadets finally decided to abandon their basic package and try to grind up yards with a jumbo backfield.

Any time the offense has a 77 or 55 carrying the ball, it's pretty clear the defense is doing something right. Jeremy Gipson and Michael Bodeker combined for six yards on three carries.

Nobody can match the Tiger Cubs size up front, but for a few plays on Friday it was clear nobody can match their size in the backfield either.

"How bout our front four on defense?" Buis said. "Grant Mundy, Austin Mitchell, Dustin Williams and Nathan Tesmer. They did a great job getting in the backfield."

Dustin Williams fends off a blocker to sack Cascade quarterback Sawyer Donovan. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

At Cascade
Greencastle.........14 14 7 7 -- 42
Cascade................0 0 7 6 -- 13