RWA’s John Coleman (4) plows over a Greenwood Christian defender Friday. (Photo/Martha Ladd)
RWA-51, Greenwood Christian-34
GREENWOOD – The Eagles of Richard Winn traveled to Greenwood knowing a victory against the Hawks of would put them in the driver’s seat to capture the SCISA 8-man Region II title next week at home. The Eagles made sure they did not disappoint with a 51-34 victory against the very talented Hawks of Greenwood Christian School.
Richard Winn started the game off with a great first opening series, using the ground to command the tempo. Senior Matt Taylor connected with senior Hunter Gibbons on a 14-yard touchdown pass for the first touchdown of the game. Greenwood Christian countered right back with a productive run game. Hawks junior Ben Pettit scored on a 28-yard touchdown run to help Greenwood Christian tie the ball game at 6 as both squads failed on 2-point attempts after their first scores of the game.
Richard Winn responded after a great return on the following to kickoff to set up in Greenwood Christian territory. Junior John Coleman scored on an 11-yard touchdown run to regain the lead after a successful PAT for a 13-6 lead.
“(Mitchell Gibbons’) kicking tonight helped us win the field position battle,” RWA head coach Dan Dickerson said. “We were able to make sure Greenwood Christian started in terrible field position while we were able to start majority of our drives close to our opponent’s side of the field.
The Hawks started the second quarter with a physical drive led with their run game as sophomore Jacob Bonetti led the way with a 2 yard touchdown run. The Hawks converted their 2-point attempt to take the lead 14-13 early in the second quarter.
The defenses from both teams commanded the majority of the second quarter as neither team was able to gain any momentum on one another as the game went from a finesse game to a physical game. Richard Winn finally broke the hold of the Hawks defense with a 4-yard touchdown run by junior Webb Yongue with 0:33 seconds left before the half. Coleman converted the 2-point attempt for a 21-14 lead at halftime.
The Eagle defense began the third quarter struggling to contain the Hawks ground game. Pettit helped the Hawks draw within a point with a 2-yard touchdown run, but another failed 2-point attempt by the Hawks left them down 21-20 early in the quarter.
Richard Winn came back on the next drive to score quickly after Taylor connected with Yongue on a 15-yard touchdown pass. Taylor converted the 2-point attempt to increase the Eagle lead to 28-20.
The Hawks chewed up 497 yards of rushing against the Eagles, and Greenwood Christian came right back on the next drive with the ground game as they continued to beat the Eagles upfront with their talented backfield. Junior Bryson Boggs scored an 11-yard touchdown run to cut their deficit to 28-26. The Hawks converted their 2-point attempt to tie the ball game at 28-28 and many were led to believe that a shootout was underway for the rest of the game.
Taylor on the next drive dropped a bomb to Yongue for a jaw-dropping 51-yard touchdown to retake the lead deep into the third quarter. Taylor converted the 2-point attempt for the Eagles for a 36-28 lead. Greenwood Christian countered the Eagle score with a 7-yard touchdown run by Pettit early in the fourth quarter but failed once more on the 2-point attempt, leaving the Eagle lead at 36-34.
Taylor once again countered the Hawks score with a 25-yard touchdown run on the Eagles next possession. Yongue converted the 2-point attempt pushing the Eagle lead to 10 at 44-34.
The Hawks would not recover the rest of the game as the Eagle tempo once again eroded hopes for a comeback. Coleman put the nail of the coffin with a 9-yard touchdown run to give the Eagles the final 51-34.
“Our conditioning began to kick in,” Dickerson said. “We thought we were going to be in a shootout the rest of the game but Greenwood ran out of gas late into the third quarter.”
Richard Winn hosts King Academy Friday as the Eagles try to claim the Region title.
“This is a very exciting time for our team to be 9-0 and giving us a chance to wrap up the region at home next week,” Dickerson said.
RW: 13-8-15-15 – 51
GC: 6-8-14-6 – 34
Scoring
First Quarter
RW – Hunter Gibbons 14 pass from Matt Taylor (run failed). 8:35.
GC – Ben Pettit 28 run (run failed). 5:57.
RW – John Coleman 11 run (Mitchell Gibbons kick). 5:03.
Second Quarter
GC – Jacob Bonetti 2 run (J. Williams run) 10:49.
RW – Webb Yongue 4 run (J. Coleman run). 0:33.
Third Quarter
GC – B. Pettit 2 run (run failed). 11:01.
RW – W. Yongue 15 pass from M. Taylor (M. Gibbons kick). 9:02.
GC – Bryson Boggs 11 run (J. Smith run). 6:41.
RW – W. Yongue 51 pass from M. Taylor (M. Taylor run). 3:40.
Fourth Quarter
GC – B. Pettit 7 run (run failed). 11:53.
RW – M. Taylor 25 run (W. Yongue run). 10:43.
RW – J. Coleman 9 run (M. Gibbons kick). 2:28.
Team Stats
RW GC
First Downs 18 26
Total Yards 405 524
Rushes/Yards 42-281 66-497
Passing Yards 124 27
C-A-I 8-10-0 2-11-2
Fumbles/Lost 0-0 0-0
Individual Stats
RUSHING: RW – John Coleman 10-75, Matt Taylor 21-140, Webb Yongue 9-57, Gunnar Hensley 2-9.
RECEIVING: RW – Gunnar Hensley 1-2, John Coleman 2-17, Hunter Gibbons 1-14, Blake Pauley 1-4, Webb Yongue 4-87.
PASSING: RW – Matt Taylor 8-10, 124 yards, 3 TDs.
