Someone has to stop Sidney’s 15-game winning streak, and Greene’s Tim Paske hopes his team is the one to do it in a matchup up unbeaten Section IV Division IV opponents tonight at Sidney.
The Warriors rolled to a Class C state title a year ago with a nearly unstoppable offensive attack. The wins have continued this year, although they needed to rally in the second half to beat Walton last week, and the week before needed a 40-yard field goal from Andy Foote in the fourth quarter to prevail over Delhi.
“Sidney is the big dog on the block, and if you look at their games this season, they have learned from last year,” Paske said. “To come from behind the last two weeks like they have, it shows a lot of character.”
Quarterback Parker Umbra leads an extremely balanced offense with 424 yards passing so far this season to go with 159 yards rushing. And the rushing yards are meted out judiciously, with four backs totaling rushing yards ranging between 137 and 224 yards. The leader, Jarred Mertz, has three rushing TDs, while fullback Mike Burpoe (189 yards), has a team-high four rushing scores.
The Trojans are off to their best start in Tim Paske’s four-year tenure, and its the best beginning to the season for any Greene team since the inception of the Section IV Football Conference almost 15 years ago. “The kids that were coming back saw the success we had last year (6-3 record) and the work kids put into the weight room during the offseason,” Paske said. “We talked about building a foundation for this program and taking it to the next level. We’re a stronger team and it goes all the way down through the lower levels.”
A win for Greene would ensure a winning season, clinch at least a tie for the division title, and almost lock up the Trojans’ third postseason berth in the program’s history. Incidentally, it would also even Paske’s career log as head coach at 16-16. “Sidney is an opportunistic team that takes advantage of its opponents’ mistakes,” Paske said. “This is uncharted water for us going into this type of a big game. Last week we showed how to keep our composure after we fell behind, we made adjustments, and the kids responded. Sidney will try to come out and punch us in the mouth; we just need to be consistent for 48 minutes.”
Below are capsules of this week’s local football games:
Bainbridge-Guilford (3-1) at Groton (1-3), Friday, 7 p.m.
Groton did not score a point until the third week of the season when it defeated Odessa-Montour. In its three losses, the host club has given up more than 40 points and 300 yards a game, and the offense has averaged less than 150 yards a game all told. “We figure this is a chance to get back on track, and we know Groton will probably commit a lot of men to the line of scrimmage to stop our running game,” said B-G coach Tim Mattingly. “We really want to stick to that (running the ball) and we’re going right at them. It’s our strength, and we think we can do it.”
Willie McGinnis, in his first year at running back, leads the B-G attack with 395 yards rushing and eight touchdowns.
Groton’s Kyle Reed has a 100-yard rushing game under his belt, and quarterback Peter Jackson has thrown for 155 yards.
Oxford (2-2) at Newfield (3-1), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.
Newfield is not the same powerhouse team that battled Oxford for division titles year in and year out in the early part of this decade, and last year the Blackhawks exerted their dominance winning an 18-0 final in the Class D playoffs and holding the Trojans to just 31 yards of offense.
