PENDLETON — Turnovers, special teams mistakes, penalties and a banged-up roster.
The things you don’t want to go wrong in the postseason, all did for Greenfield-Central Friday night.
Four first-half turnovers and a 21-0 halftime deficit were too much for the visiting Cougars (8-3) to overcome, falling to Pendleton Heights (6-5) 31-21 on John Broughton Field.
“Hats off to Pendleton, they came out fired up. This has developed into a rivalry game. When I got here six years ago, things were at a low point, and these weren’t competitive games. We’ve turned it into something now,” Greenfield-Central head coach Travis Nolting said. “Hats off to coach [Jed] Richman and his staff, and good luck to them the rest of the year.”
The Pendleton Heights win was the first in the last six matchups, including sectional losses to the Cougars the last two seasons.
“The kids were resilient. We’ve had our chances the last few years, but they’re a good program and they don’t usually beat themselves. Tonight, they did a bit, and we caused some of that,” Richman said. “We’re moving on and that’s the goal. Just proud of our kids and how hard they fought.”
The issues for Greenfield-Central began prior to the 7 p.m. kickoff.
Injuries to a number of players, including an ankle sprain to quarterback Dallas Freeman affected the Cougars from the jump.
“You’ve got to win our conference twice to win a sectional. It’s a tough conference and we’re beating each other up every week,” Nolting said. “There’s really no gimme games, so it’s kind of who’s got guys left.”
The on-the-field problems began from the start as well.
After the Arabians returned the opening kickoff to the 45-yard line, two plays later, running back Keaton Jones broke free for a 50-yard touchdown run.
“That’s just immediate energy,” Richman said. “It was a tone-setter.”
On the ensuing drive, the G-C offense got past midfield, but the first of their six total turnovers stalled the drive.
A fumble turned into a 10-play, 59-yard scoring drive for Pendleton Heights, capped off by an 8-yard pass from Colton Frank to Jackson Grile.
The next Greenfield-Central possession ended in the red zone on another fumble, and later in the half, the Arabians third touchdown was set up by a muffed punt.
“The turnovers really killed us. We just got hit at the right spot,” Nolting said. “Those were just football plays. They made those plays and were able to capitalize.”
Following the mishandled punt return, Frank connected with Cooper Sims on a 9-yard touchdown strike to push the Pendleton Heights lead to 21-0 going into the half.
The Cougars offense – led by a hobbled Freeman – struggled through the opening 24 minutes, accumulating only 87 yards of total offense. The run game had 21 first-half attempts for 70 yards.
“We’re an option team and that relies heavily on the quarterback being mobile. Last week, Dallas showcased a lot of that running ability, but the high ankle sprain limited that this week,” Nolting said. “Him not being able to run really limited what we wanted to do.”
Out of the break, the Cougars put together their best offensive drive of the night.
An 11-play, 74-yard scoring drive cut the deficit to 21-7. Ten of the 11 plays were runs for a total of 55 yards, and the drive was capped off by a Freeman 19-yard pass to Cooper Hinton.
A quick stop by the G-C defense flipped momentum back to the Cougars, but another costly fumble gave it right back to the Arabians.
Wyatt DeBertrand knocked through a 24-yard field goal to push the lead to 24-7 late in the third quarter.
“They’re a very, very physical team, so we had to match that and I thought our kids did,” Richman said. “We were able to capitalize on those turnovers. Just very complimentary football.”
With just under eight minutes to play, a Freeman 1-yard touchdown run made it a 10-point game, but once again, the momentum didn’t last for long.
On the next Pendleton Heights offensive snap, Jones took a pitch from Frank 58 yards for the score.
“He’s a great player,” Nolting said of Jones. “We knew that the first time we played them, and some things went our way in the first game.”
With 5:36 remaining, Hinton ran in a 4-yard touchdown to give the Cougars some late life, but back-and-forth turnovers over the final few possessions kept it 31-21.
Down 10 with just over three minutes to play, Freeman connected with James Learey on what seemed to be a 40-yard touchdown pass but holding on the Cougars took away the points. The penalty was one of seven against the Cougars on the night.
Back-to-back sacks on the hobbling Freeman on the next two plays ended the final G-C threat.
“Dallas rolled his ankle pretty badly and couldn’t run, so I just want to speak on his toughness. That’s an injury that most kids wouldn’t be able to play through, and he gave it everything he had for his team,” Nolting said. “It’s sad that it’s the last game that he’s going to play for us because he was such a prolific player for us and our program. He’s a great kid, and I love him. He’s going to go onto college and do great things and he’s going to help our basketball team hopefully fight for a state title.”
The Cougars ended the season 8-3. Over their four-year stretch, the senior class went 31-13.
“Best group to ever come through Greenfield-Central. They won more games than any other class before them and four consecutive winning seasons,” Nolting said. “This game doesn’t diminish any of that stuff and that’s what I told them at the end of the game. It’s sad it ended the way it did.”
–
Pendleton Heights 31, Greenfield-Central 21
Greenfield-Central (8-3);0;0;7;14; —;21
Pendleton Heights (6-5);14;7;3;7; —31
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
PH — Keaton Jones 50 run (Wyatt DeBertrand kick), 11:16
PH — Jackson Grile 8 pass from Colton Frank (DeBertrand kick), 3:14
2nd Quarter
PH — Cooper Sims 9 pass from Frank (DeBertrand kick), 2:02
3rd Quarter
G-C — Cooper Hinton 19 pass from Dallas Freeman (Andrew Trabel kick), 7:06
PH — DeBertrand 24 FG, 1:59
4th Quarter
G-C — Freeman 1 run (Trabel kick), 7:56
PH — Jones 58 run (DeBertrand kick), 7:45
G-C — Hinton 4 run (Trabel kick), 5:36
