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Greencastle can't make enough plays
Greencastle's Senior Night was marred by a solid running game by Owen Valley and ended with a 22-6 loss for the Tiger Cubs, who couldn't stop the running game of the Patriots.
The football contest started with a defensive stalemate. Greencastle (4-5) started its offensive attack with a running game led by Zach Secrest and Owen Valley did the same with Michael Hendershot.
Owen Valley struck first with a running game that got the offense all the way down to the one yard line before Hendershot punched it in. The two two-point conversion pass to Lane Trimble made the score 8-0.
Just before halftime, however, the Tiger Cubs were not looking to go into the break scoreless and put together a two-minute drive.
After a big catch by Nathan Tesmer to get the drive rolling, a screen pass from Calvin Hughes to Secrest turned into a 43-yard touchdown.
"We just tried to do some formation things against them," GHS coach Ryan Spoonmore said. "Make them have to work on their defensive side of the ball. They made some plays and Calvin (Hughes) made some plays. Obviously that big screen for a touchdown was huge. We had a chance to run that. We've been working on that."
After halftime Greencastle just couldn't get the ball moving and the Patriots capitalized. A heavy dose of running by Henershot constantly gained big yardage and the second-half drive ended with a score and a successful two-point conversion, making the score 16-6.
Another defensive stand by Owen Valley led to another touchdown by the Pats, who took advantage of their good field position with a nine-yard scoring run by Delbert White with 6:26 to play.
Greencastle just couldn't muster up an offensive drive to mount a comeback attempt as the game ended with Owen Valley near the goaline.
"We worked so hard," Spoonmore said. "We didn't stop. I'm proud of our guys and their fight. We kept playing and that's all you can ask for when you are physically a little less than your opponent."
The lack of scoring was not for lack of effort as play by Hughes, Tesmer, Cook and Secrest really defined the offensive production for Greencastle. At times there were holes and seams for the Tiger Cub team and other times the Patriots covered their bases and bottled up the effort of Greencastle.
With the loss the Tiger Cubs will look to bounce back as sectional play begins at Edgewood (7-1). The Tiger Cubs lost to Edgewood early in the season by a touchdown and will be looking to even up the season series.
"We'll just be going back to work," Spoonmore said. "We played them in week three and we played them tough. Coach (Jerry Bland) has got those guys going and they have a nice squad. I want to compliment them on their season. I'm hoping our guys are motivated to play them. They know that we're close. I told our guys if we get that first one, anything can happen. We'll just take it one day at a time and keep plugging away."
At Greencastle
Owen Valley 8 0 8 6 -- 22
Greencastle 0 6 0 0 -- 6
Team stats
Total yds
GC 148
OV 224
Greencaslte
Rushing (att-yds) 17-38
Passing (comp-att-yds) 11-19- 110
Individual stats
Rushing: (att-yds)
Hyten 4-7; Hughes 3-24; Secrest 5-14; Clar
Passing:
Hughes 11-19-110 TD
Receiving (comp-yds)
Secrest 2-43 TD; Tesmer 5-43; Cook 1-13
Next Game: At Edgewood on Friday