WHITE HOUSE There was more on the line than just a cross-town rivalry game when Greenbrier traveled to White House Heritage Friday night.
Bailey Young ran for a touchdown and threw for two more in Greenbrier’s 27-20 win over Heritage.
Both teams were also looking for their first regional win of the year so they could hopefully work their way into the top four spots.
The Bobcats and the Patriots went toe-to-toe for most of the game, but with the game tied 20-20 and only a 1:17 remaining on the clock, Greenbrier went 47-yards for the winning score, most of that eaten up on Bailey Young’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Cole Matherly, giving the Bobcats the 27-20 victory.
“This was the second time in as many games that we’ve had to put together a winning drive in the final minute of the game,” Greenbrier coach John Elmore said. “We were able to do it last week, and this week we did it under a minute, our guys really showed what we were made of tonight.”
The win moves Greenbrier to 4-3 on the season and 1-2 in Region 5-3A, and Heritage is now 3-3 on the season and 0-3 in the region.
Here are the five things we learned after Greenbrier’s narrow victory Friday night.
1 – Greenbrier showed it has heart and is resilient. The win is the second in as many weeks where the Bobcats have won the game with less than a minute remaining on the clock.
2 – Greenbrier played ground and pound Friday night to get the win, throwing only when necessary. The Bobcats ran 13 more plays than Heritage in the first half and was able to eat the clock keeping the ball on the ground Friday night. Heritage’s offense wasn’t able to get into any kind of groove because of that.
3 – The Greenbrier defensive line was able to apply pressure all night with just its front four. The Bobcats ended the night with four sacks and five more plays for a loss without having to blitz linebackers. This allowed them to drop defenders and help with Heritage’s passing game.
4 – Heritage was unable to keep late momentum gained off of a fake punt. With only 1:43 remaining in the game, the Patriots were able to convert on 4th-and-3 when Chris Rippy ran for the first down. However, after the first down they had two incomplete passes and a five yard loss on a sack by Preston Edwards. Elmore said that was probably one of the most important series of the game and gave Greenbrier the ball with 1:17 remaining allowing the Bobcats to score the go-ahead score.
5 – Heritage has big play potential, but the Patriots offense was never able to get into any kind of flow Friday night. Heritage had two passing touchdowns, one on the first series of the game, a 77-yard strike to Nick Demarais, and the final touchdown in the fourth quarter when Demarais again caught a touchdown pass from 47-yards out.