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Tiger Cubs cruise again, overwhelm Clovers
CLOVERDALE – After starting 0-2, Greencastle had ripped off four-straight wins heading into Friday’s county matchup at Cloverdale, a team heading into the opposite direction after losing three-straight heading into the game.
The Tiger Cub offense wasn’t as smooth as it was at Brown County the prior week but the defense kept the Clover offense to 47 yards in the first half, allowing the points to pile up at a steady pace in a 68-7 win.
“It’s hard, with back-to-back weeks like this, for guys to maintain focus,” Greencastle head coach Dave Stephens said about the slower start on offense against Cloverdale. “You can talk about it all you want but the hardest thing to fight is the human condition.
“It’s hard to keep that razor’s edge focus. Cloverdale did a good job. We knew they would overload the box, play some Cover-1 and Cover-0, challenging us to beat them on some man-breaking routes.
“It took a while for us to get there and get into the flow, but once we got there, we were fine after that,” Stephens added.
“Our defensive plan was to get pressure on the quarterback and not let him sit back there all day,” Cloverdale head coach Tyler Lotz said. “(Greencastle) has a great offensive line, great receivers, a good running back and they’re a talented team.
“I was happy with the effort in the first half. We played hard and made some plays but also missed some opportunities with dropped balls and missing some open receivers, though that also goes back to our line not giving our quarterbacks enough time to make reads.
“The first half was OK but the second half was an embarrassment with effort and stupid mistakes,” Lotz added.
Both teams began by holding the other to a three-and-out before Greencastle struck first as Lamar Moore, who wasn’t among the scorers against Brown County, found the endzone from 27 yards out for a 7-0 lead.
Tayt Jackson completed a pass to Ben Campbell for 23 yards and a first down before having a pass tipped by Alex Grove and intercepted by Garrett Cooper.
The Tiger Cubs couldn’t capitalize, turning the ball over on downs, before forcing a punt that took a Clover roll down to the visitors’ 16-yard line.
Greencastle needed one play to undo the damage as Cole Stephens hit Moore across the middle and the back did the rest, galloping 84 yards for a score and a 14-0 lead.
Following a touchback, Jackson was sacked on third down and the snap on the following punt attempt went out the back of the endzone for a safety.
The Tiger Cubs needed one play to score again after the free kick, Moore taking a Stephens pass on a wheel route 41 yards for a 22-0 lead with four minutes of the first quarter to play.
Greencastle’s next series was one play for a third-straight time but not with the same result as Stephens was intercepted by Carson Caulkins, though again the Cloverdale offense couldn’t get any traction and punted away.
“Coach Lotz coaches pretty much the same kind of system we use and he was an offensive lineman, so he knows what works against the system,” Stephens said about taking to the air more than originally planned. “To (Cloverdale’s) credit, they forced us to play a bit left handed.
“They were putting an extra player in the box, no matter what setup we had. They forced our hand by playing at the line and forced us to pass more out of circumstance.”
The longest drive of the night for the Tiger Cubs began with a holding penalty that negated a first down but eventually picked up four of the team’s seven first downs in the game.
Stephens completed 5-of-6 passes on the drive, setting up Moore for his fourth score of the game, a 10-yard run that made it 29-0 three minutes into the second quarter.
Artrevion Henderson took over at quarterback for the hosts but his first pass went into the hands of Anthony Adams, who returned the ball to the Cloverdale 10-yard line.
Adams was given the ball on the next snap and finished the job, running to the right for the 10-yard score and a 35-0 lead.
The hosts picked up a pair of first downs on the next drive but failed to convert on fourth-and-four, turning the ball over on their own 42-yard line.
Brendle Brennan initially scored on a 24-yard pass that was wiped out on a holding call but was called on again and scored on a 34-yard pass on third-and-20, following it up on the next drive with an 18-yard strike, the final of the half as Greencastle led 49-0 at the break.
The second half started off on the wrong foot for the hosts as Ian Williamson’s kickoff landed and died at the 15-yard line yet neither kick returner went to gather it and Moore swooped in to snag the live ball.
While the ball was considered dead on the recovery, meaning Moore did not get to take it in for a score, the senior would get it into the endzone two plays later from 15 yards out.
Cloverdale would pick up a first down but turned the ball over on downs as Henderson, who finished the game at quarterback for the hosts, saw a pass fall incomplete on fourth down,
Dillon Hughes came in to spell Stephens at quarterback and his first job was to hit Trevin Long, the receiver beating out a pair of tackles on the way for a 73-yard score.
The last play of the third quarter was a Connor Mager interception of Henderson, though Greencastle turned the ball over on downs with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Cloverdale would eventually get on the scoreboard as Henderson hit Jackson three times on the next drive, the last being a 14-yard touchdown pass that initially looked like it would be intercepted by Caden Brenner but the ball bounced out of his hands and Jackson snatched it out of the air before finding his way into the endzone.
“We were down pretty good in the second half and decided to see how it goes with Tre at quarterback,” Lotz said about moving Henderson to the position. “We’ve tried it at practice a couple of times and he did a good job; it might be something we might use in the future.”
The penultimate play of the night would be the final score as Cayden Blodgett ran back the ensuing kickoff 75 yards for a score as Greencastle won its fifth-straight game and Cloverdale fell for a fourth-straight outing.
| Greencastle | 22 | 27 | 13 | 7 | 68 |
| Cloverdale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
Scoring
1st Quarter
G — Moore 27-yard run (Williams kick) 9:27 0-7
G — Moore 84-yard pass from Stephens (Williams kick) 5:41 0-14
G — Safety 4:15 0-16
G — Moore 41-yard pass from Stephens (XP no good) 4:02 0-22
2nd Quarter
G — Moore 10-yard run (Williams kick) 8:57 0-29
G — Adams 10-yard run (XP no good) 7:13 0-35
G — Brennan 34-yard pass from Stephens (Williams kick) 3:09 0-42
G — Brennan 18-yard pass from Stephens (Williams kick) 1:52 0-49
3rd Quarter
G — Moore 15-yard run (Williams kick) 10:25 0-56
G — Long 73-yard pass from Hughes (XP no good) 2:55 0-61
4th Quarter
C — Jackson 14-yard pass from Henderson (Jackson kick) 2:42 7-61
G — Blodgett 75-yard kickoff return (Hites kick) 1:55 7-68
Statistics
| … | Greencastle | Cloverdale |
| Total Yards | 37-428 | 56-162 |
| Rushing | 86 | 39 |
| Passing | 342 | 123 |
| 1st Downs | 7 | 9 |
| 4th Downs | 0-2 | 0-2 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 4 |
| Penalties | 7-55 | 3-25 |
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Greencastle — 14-86, 4 TD — Moore 8-75, 3 TD; Adams 3-16, TD; Hughes 1-2; Stephens 1-(-1); Huff 1-(-6)
Cloverdale — 27-39 — Johnson 12-26; Compton 6-11; Jackson 6-4; Henderson 2-2; Campbell 1-(-4)
Passing
Greencastle — 14-23-342, 5 TD, INT — Stephens 13-21-269, 4 TD, INT; Hughes 1-2-73, TD
Cloverdale — 9-29-123, TD, 3 INT — Jackson 4-20-39, INT; Henderson 5-9-84, TD, 2 INT
Receiving
Greencastle — Moore 4-134, 2 TD; Huff 3-43; Evans 3-29; Brennan 2-52, 2 TD; Long 1-73, TD; Monroe 1-22
Cloverdale — Jackson 4-74, TD; Compton 2-33; Boyd 1-11; Hamilton 1-6; Johnson 1-(-1)