Jim Mashek

WILLIAM HOWARD’s GHS SQUAD TRAVELS TO BARREN COUNTY NEXT WEEK; DRAGONS WILL SQUARE OFF WITH BOWLING GREEN

Greenwood High School’s football team unleashed a swarming defense against Warren Central and junior quarterback Tavy Dunn on Friday night at Joe Hood Field.

Dunn and the Dragons fell behind, 23-0, in the first half against the Gators but had a chance to make a game of it in the third quarter. Warren Central was on the verge of making it a one-score game before losing a fumble at the goal line, and Greenwood never looked back in cruising to a 30-6 victory in its opening district game.

Greenwood improved to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in KHSAA Class 5A, 2nd District play, while the Dragons dropped to 3-3 and 0-1, respectively. Both teams have short work weeks on the horizon, with Thursday night games scheduled before fall break. Bowling Green (1-5, 1-0 in 2nd District play) will play host to Warren Central, while the Gators will hit the road to tangle with Barren County (3-3, 1-1). The Trojans crushed Grayson County, 43-0, in a district game on Friday night in Glasgow.

“We were able to get some pressure on the quarterback (WCHS junior Tavy Dunn) and force him to make some bad throws,” Greenwood coach William Howard said. “Our defensive front did a good job this week … We’ll adjust our practice schedule and get ready for Barren County.”

Warren Central’s defense recorded seven sacks while coming up with three interceptions.

The Gators’ running game was efficient, with senior tailbacks Davis Chaney and Nathan Self getting the bulk of the carries. Greenwood’s passing game remains a work in progress, but senior QB Levi Wyatt has given his team stability at that critical position.

Wyatt got the ball to Chaney on five consecutive plays midway through the first quarter, with the senior battering ram scoring the first of two touchdowns from 6 yards out with 4:12 left in the quarter. Graham Smothers added the PAT, extending the Gators’ lead to 15-0.

Chaney was particularly effective out of the Wildcat formation, as the Gators established control at the line of scrimmage on their way to a 23-0 lead through two quarters.

“We use (the Wildcat) in a lot of short-yardage and goal-line situations,” Howard said. “It’s not real sophisticated or complicated … we’re trying to create a new line of scrimmage (from the Wildcat formation).”

The Gators used Nathan Self’s nifty punt return to get into Warren Central territory for the final two minutes of the first half, and Maxwell Isenhower’s 20-yard jaunt on a sweep to the right side got Greenwood back in the red zone before the half. Chaney took over from there, finding the end zone from 1 yard out in the Wildcat formation, before Smothers scored on a two-point conversion on a trick play to make it 23-0.

Warren Central capitalized on a Greenwood mistake in the opening moments of the second half.

Greenwood quarterback Levi Wyatt looked for a receiver in the left flat and the Dragons’ Derwin Carter made a decisive break on the ball. Carter intercepted Wyatt’s pass and scored on a 30-yard return, and after a failed extra-point attempt, Warren Central trailed 23-6.

Warren Central’s defense forced a three-and-out on the Gators’ next possession, and Tavy Dunn and the Dragons’ offense punched out a couple first downs before Greenwood’s Benjamin Chaffin came up with an interception in the middle of the field. In the opening moments of the fourth quarter, Dunn again got Warren Central back in the red zone, before disaster struck for the Dragons at the goal line.

Dunn tried to reach for the goal line on a quarterback sneak, and the ball slipped out of his hands before skipping into the back of the end zone. Greenwood linebacker Stuart Scott, the Gators’ leading tackler, came up with the ball for the touchback, and Levi Wyatt closed the scoring for Greenwood with a 20-yard scoring dash on a quarterback draw.

Greenwood coach William Howard had a chance to look at some young players before it was over, and the Gators extended their winning streak over Warren Central to 11 games.

It was a special night for Greenwood linebacker Cooper Hines, a 6-foot, 210-pound senior who scored his first touchdown at any level of football with 9:37 left in the first quarter.

Warren Central’s Tavy Dunn threw into zone coverage and Hines made an interception in the middle of the field. Hines followed his blockers to the right sideline and scored on a 21-yard return, before Wyatt passed to Gators tight end Griffin Howard in the end zone for a two-point conversion. That extended Greenwood’s lead to 8-0.

“I was an offensive tackle last year, but I saw the play developing,” Hines said. “I couldn’t get all the way outside, so with their last guy, I thought to myself, ‘I’ve just got to go through him.’

“I wanted it, bad.”

Hines said the victory should serve as a building block for the Gators’ final four games in regular-season play. After the Barren County game, Greenwood will face crosstown rival Bowling Green on October 17. The Gators are still looking for their first victory over the Purples in school history.

“We have some things to work on,” Hines said. “We’ve just got to keep this momentum going.”