Just a week removed from scoring 52 points in an opening week victory, the no-huddle, option offense of the Stewart County Rebels was effectively held in check by the Greenfield Yellowjacket defense. But, that did not prove to be enough as the Rebels were able to escape Greenfield with a 16-6 win on Friday night.
    Greenfield’s offense was able to move the ball down the field from the get-go. A pair of runs by Tyler Dunning accounted for 12 yards and a first down. After a short loss, 11 more yards on two more Dunning runs gave the ’Jackets a first down. Two plays later, the Yellowjackets went for a big play, but the Ty Smithson pass was intercepted at the Stewart County 22-yard line, ending the drive.
    On the first two plays of the ensuing drive, the Yellowjackets were able to keep the Rebels in check, but, on third-and-three, quarterback Matt Earhart broke a 45-yard run that only a hustling tackle by Dunning ended before he could reach the end zone. Bo Riner followed with a 13-yard run, but the Greenfield defense toughened up and forced the Rebels to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Will Adamec will 5:57 left in the opening frame, giving Stewart County an early 3-0 lead.
    A short return on the ensuing kickoff pinned the ’Jackets deep within their own territory. A 6-yard run by Chase McMullen and a 3-yard pickup by Dunning opened the drive, but that was all the ’Jackets got as the third down play went for no gain. However, Greenfield caught a huge break on the following punt attempt as a fumble by the return team gave the Yellowjackets the ball back near midfield. Again, the ’Jackets turned to Dunning who picked up 10 yards to help get the Greenfield boys a first down. Greenfield continued to move down the field with Dunning leading the way, as three straight carries accumulated 17 yards. A penalty pushed the ’Jackets back five yards, but two plays later, Dunning found his way into the end zone to put the ’Jackets ahead 6-3 with 11:31 left in the second frame.
    But, the Rebels went back on the offensive themselves. Using a balanced running attack of Riner, Adamec and Earhart, Stewart County was able to move the ball 63 yards down the field to answer the Yellowjackets score. A 10-yard run by Earhart took the Rebels to the 10-yard line where, two plays later, the quarterback found an open Caleb Rozet for a 10-yard scoring strike. The Greenfield defense forced a bad kick on the PAT, leaving the score 9-6 with 6:56 left in the first half.
    While the ’Jackets had benefited from a Rebel special teams’ mishap on their previous drive, Greenfield’s kickoff return team made a costly blunder as the ensuing kick was recovered by Stewart County at the Greenfield 32-yard line.
From there, a 16-yard run by Eric Pritchett and a 10-yard gain by Earhart set up a six-yard quarterback keeper to extend the Rebel lead. Adamec’s extra point made the score 16-6 with 6:29 left in the half.

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    Just days after saying his team had worked on its “mental toughness” during the week’s practice in order to eliminate self-induced mistakes, frustratedGleason High School football head coach Noah Lampkins saw his team againshoot itself in the foot with turnovers, penalties and obvious mental miscues.
    The Halls Tigers (1-1) took advantage of the Bulldogs’ errors to take a 32-27 victory over host Gleason (0-2) Friday night at Parks Edwards Field.
    Offensively, the Bulldogs hurt their own cause with turnovers in the red zone and too many penalties. Defensively, the host Orange and Black again gave up big play after big play on third and fourth downs. In the first two games of the season, the Gleason defense has allowed 88 total points and 720 total yards.
    Even with those miscues, the Dawgs regained the lead with 7:41 left in the game. The GHS defense came up with a big stand thanks to defensive end Ben Sumner storming into the Halls backfield on two of three plays and forcing a punt. Sumner had a huge game, batting down four passes, sacking Halls QB Craig Davis for an 11-yard loss, tackling four ball carriers behind the line for a total loss of 21 yards and blocking a PAT.
    Trailing 26-19, Gleason set up its go-ahead scoring drive thanks to a 34-yard punt return by Zach Wallace to start the Bulldogs at the Halls 40-yard line. Shadow Roney, who had a big game for Gleason both rushing and receiving, ran around the left end and fought off Tiger tacklers for a 21-yard gain. Cody Ezell ran for 3 and then caught a swing pass good for 10 yards to set up first-and-goal from the 6. Fullback Alex Verdell roared forward for five yards and then dove over the goal line from the 1 for six points. Trailing 26-25 after Verdell’s second touchdown of the game, Ezell took a handoff and raced around the right end to convert the two-point try and give Gleason a 27-26 lead with 7:49 left in the game.


(Read the rest of this story in this week's edition of the Dresden Enterprise!)