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Saturday, October 04, 2008
(Last modified: 2008-10-04 02:06:27) Source: The Greeneville Sun By JOE BYRD Sports Writer CHURCH HILL -- A 34-13 road victory over Volunteer on Friday night keeps Greeneville undefeated in the region and at the top of the Five Rivers standings, but Devils coach Steve McCurry knows that if his team wants to stay there, it's going to take work. "I'm not real happy," McCurry said after the game. "We have to get better. We have to play harder. We have to eliminate mistakes or we are not going to be this lucky. It about makes you sick the way we played. We've got to get a lot better." It's hard to imagine the Devils' offensive numbers getting much better. Greeneville rolled up nearly 530 yards of total offense. Trevon Hall rushed for more than 200 yards and two touchdowns. Jordan Greenway rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown and passed for more than 150 yards and two touchdowns. Ryan Fillers had 54 yards and two touchdowns receiving on six catches. The areas where McCurry seemed most concerned were Greeneville's turnovers -- a fumble and an interception in the second half that each had a direct impact on the score -- and the Devils' inability defensively to stop the Falcons up the middle. Part of Greeneville's problems on the defensive front can be attributed to Hugo Sanchez being out of the lineup Friday night because of injury. The Devils gave up 250 yards of total offense, most of it coming from Volunteer's Devin Rogers, who had a 100-yard night. Still, Greeneville's defense made some big plays. Kip Grooms had three sacks in the first quarter and recovered a fumble in the fourth to virtually end the game. Brock Church had an interception and B.J. Spradlin recovered a fumble, both of which set up Greeneville scoring drives in the second half with the game very much still on the line. Greeneville jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 19-yard touchdown catch by Fillers, capping an 11-play, 88-yard drive where the Devils looked unstoppable. For most of the rest of the first half, neither team really did much until the Falcons tied the game late in the second quarter when Cody Riner walked pretty much untouched in from the 1-yard line. The Devils recovered and went into halftime with the lead. Greenway led his team on a solid drive, ending with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Fillers with 1.6 seconds left on the clock. Ben Ogle's extra point (4-of-5 in the game) gave Greeneville a 14-7 halftime advantage. Second half turnovers played as much a part of the outcome as did touchdowns. Greeneville fumbled the ball away mid way of the third on about the Falcons' six-inch line. Volunteer couldn't take advantage of the big stop as Church ended the Falcons' ensuing drive with an interception that set up a touchdown drive for the Devils when Hall later broke loose from 11 yards with :43 on the clock in the third. Volunteer pulled the Devils back in with an interception of its own in the fourth when Michael Franklin picked off a Greenway pass and returned it more than 70 yards for a touchdown. The Devils got a hand on the point after try, but now only led 21-13 with more than nine minutes to play. Another turnover by the Falcons (1-5, 1-2) helped the Devils put a little light between the two sides. Spradlin's fumble recovery was huge because it halted what looked like a Falcons scoring drive on the Greeneville 8 and turned the momentum for good. After Greeneville regained possession, Hall had the biggest play of the night on a 74-yard touchdown run that put the Devils up 27-13. A big defensive stand by the Devils on Volunteer's next possession earned Greeneville a short field to work with, and Greenway iced the game with an eight-yard touchdown run with just under two minutes remaining to secure the win. The win improves Greeneville to 4-2 overall and keeps the Devils unbeaten in the region at 3-0. Greeneville and Morristown East, who knocked off rival West on Friday, are tied atop the Five Rivers standings with a big clash between the two on the horizon. McCurry said at the end of the night Friday, he was just happy to get out of here with a road victory and keep the Devils' region record intact. "Hat's off to Volunteer and their coaches," McCurry said. "They came ready to play, and they played hard. We made just enough plays to win it." Copyright © 2009, The Greeneville Sun |