Cats start Dolan era with win – in overtime
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Sophomore running back Brady Bolton is shown following a big block by senior Lakeus Franks on his way to the first touchdown of the young season for Greene County High School Friday night at Hurley. The Wildcats added two touchdowns by Franks, including the game winner, and one each by his classmates Jase Mathews and Cordarius Molten to defeat East Central 34-27 in overtime in the season opener for both teams.
Photo by RUSSELL TURNER | Herald Editor
By RUSSELL TURNER
Herald Editor
Greene County High School football fans have been anxious to get a peek at what their Wildcats would look like under the direction of first-year head coach Larry Dolan. The large group of GCHS fans that traveled to Hurley for the Cats’ season opener last Friday saw more than they expected as Dolan’s team earned a come-from-behind overtime win over East Central to give the veteran coach his 178th career win and first in Wildcat blue.
“It was good to get the win,” Dolan said. “We made a lot of mistakes and have work to do, but we would rather be doing that work coming off a win.”
“I am pleased overall for the first game, because the team played hard, they hustled. We can work on technique and assignments and fix things like that as long as we keep getting that same effort.”
Dolan knew his team had a challenge ahead of them at H.D. Shirley Field. East Central had the advantage of playing a spring game and a jamboree the week prior to hosting the Wildcats, who had neither. Plus, the Hornet program has earned a reputation for fielding hard-nosed teams that will get after opponents for four quarters. They did exactly that, starting from the opening whistle.
East Central took the opening kickoff and put together a 10-play, 58-yard drive to take an early lead. Junior running back Adrian Marsalis scored on a 7-yard run with 6:56 left in the first quarter. With the PAT by junior Caz Wyatt, the Hornets led 7-0.
A host of Greene County defenders, led by junior tackle Cole Nicholson, are shown wrapping up a Hornet running back for no gain on the home team’s opening drive. The Wildcat defense came up with big stops when they needed them the most en route to a 34-27 win over East Central to start the season.
Photo by RUSSELL TURNER | Herald Editor
The Wildcats didn’t flinch and answered with a 57-yard scoring drive to tie things up. Big runs by seniors Cordarius Molten and Jase Mathews move the Cats into scoring position and sophomore Brady Bolton earned the touchdown with a 3-yard run. Maisan Tribble hit the PAT with 5:23 remaining in the opening quarter to knot the score at 7-7.
The Wildcats looked to take the lead on their next possession, but a drive deep into East Central territory ended with a turnover on downs. A rare pass attempt by the Hornets resulted in a big play down inside the Cats’ 10-yard-line. Junior Kayden Booty punched it from there and with the PAT by Wyatt ECHS was back up 14-7 with just over five minutes left in the first half.
Greene County High School senior Jase Mathews is shown laying out for a reception in the fourth quarter of the Cats’ win. He followed that up with two more big catches, including the touchdown pass from senior Gage Stinson to send the game into overtime.
Photo by RUSSELL TURNER | Herald Editor
Jase Mathews fielded the ensuing kickoff and returned it to Hornet’s 15. A few plays later, senior Lakeus Franks ran it in from four yards out and with the PAT by Tribble the game was tied at 14-14 with four minutes left in the second quarter.
A defensive stop by the Cats and a bad snap on a punt attempt gave GCHS the ball at the Hornet 25. However, the Cats could not convert and went into the locker room tied at half.
“We had several trips into the red zone where we weren’t able to punch it in for a score,” Dolan said. “We’ve got to improve on that and be able to finish off those opportunities.”
The Cats had the opportunity to do that in the third quarter and put some space between them and the Hornets on the scoreboard. After taking the third quarter kickoff, senior quarterback Gage Stinson found Molten three times in the passing game, including a 12-yard strike for the go-ahead TD with 8:44 left in the quarter.
The defense then forced another punt and GCHS appeared to take a 2-toucdown lead on a 70-yard halfback pass from Molten to Bolton, but the nice catch and run by the sophomore was negated by a penalty and a few plays later the Wildcats turned it over on downs at the own 44. Marsalis broke free for a 41-yard run on the very next play and quarterback Kash Litton punched it in for the TD two plays later. With the PAT the score was knotted at 21-21 with 3:47 left in the third quarter.
GCHS answered with a nice drive down inside the Hornet 5-yard-line, but fumbled it away on a mishandled reverse attempt. Ten plays later, another quarterback keeper put the Hornets on top 27-21. A bad snap on the PAT kept the score at that point with just over five minutes left to play.
Senior Cordarius Molten (6) is shown following blockers for a nice gain in the win. Molten had a big game for GCHS, totaling 157 total yards on the night, including a nice touchdown catch.
Photo by RUSSELL TURNER | Herald Editor
Two big catches by Mathews and a nice catch and run by Molten carried GCHS back into the red zone on the Cats’ next possession. Then Stinson threaded the needle for a 5-yard pass to Mathews, who made a nice catch for the TD with 29 seconds left on the clock. The PAT was blocked, sending the game into overtime.
GCHS was on offense first to start the overtime period and it only took one play, and a big-time effort by Franks, to push the Cats back on top. At first, it appeared Franks would be stopped for a loss on a short pass out of the backfield, but the shifty senior broke a tackle, shook off another defender and reversed field for a 10-yard TD. Tribble’s PAT gave GCHS a 34-27 lead and the Wildcat defense made it stick with a nice stand on the Hornets’ overtime possession.
The Wildcats struggled to run the football effectively between the tackles, but outside of that the offense was productive with 376 total yards and five touchdowns. But, they had a costly fumble inside the Hornets 10-yard-line and had untimely penalties kill a couple of promising scoring opportunities and take an big-play TD off the board.
Defensively, the Wildcats had a lot of bright spots. Coach Fredrick Miller’s unit forced several punts and bounced back from the long scoring drive after the turnover and got another big stop when it mattered most.
“Overall, I thought we played well, we just made way too many mistakes,” Dolan noted. “We didn’t play a spring game and didn’t have a jamboree game, so this was the first real look we’ve had to really see who we are as a team.”
Senior Lakeus Franks is shown going in for the game-winning TD on the first play of overtime in the season opener at East Central.
Photo by RUSSELL TURNER | Herald Editor
“We know we have a lot to clean up and a lot of work to do. We just need to keep working and getting better each week, starting this coming week with Perry Central.”
GCHS will make the short trip over to New Augusta this Friday to face PCHS.
Perry Central is coming off a 20-0 loss at home last Friday to Loyd Star, last year’s 2A South State Runners-Up.
“I know its coach speak, but you really should see your most improvement from week 1 to week 2,” Dolan said, noting that the familiarity between the players and fans gives the game a rivalry feel. “I know their coaches will have them ready to play. We just need to worry about what we have to do and how we can continue to get better.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at PCHS. Tickets can be purchased in advance via GoFan ( www.gofan.co/event/3919592 ) or at the gate on Friday. Ticket prices are $7 each.
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