Greene 37, Oxford 0
GREENE – Greene lost a key component from last year’s team to an untimely death, and honored his memory Friday night with an impressive shutout win over local rival Oxford.
Kyle Petcash, who passed away in a one-car accident last January, would have been a senior offensive and defensive lineman on this year’s powerful lineup. His mates up front pushed Oxford around for four quarters, and overcame early miscues to dominate.
Three Greene turnovers and a touchdown called back due to a penalty kept Oxford within six points after two quarters. “The guys were probably overstimulated in the first half, and maybe (the ceremony) had something to do with it,” said Greene coach Tim Paske. “I think we were trying to do too much in the first half instead of just playing.
Nate Whittaker, who started the game at quarterback, was moved to tailback in the second quarter, and he promptly put the Trojans on the board for the first time with a 55-yard scoring jaunt. Business picked up on the offensive end in the third quarter with Garrett Hickey and Dan Carlin plunging in on matching one-yard runs. Nick Wilcox along with Scott Gorton had short scoring runs in the fourth.
Whittaker had 100 yards rushing, Carlin 84, and Hickey 75 to pace the Greene attack. “Defensively, we hung in there and made some plays in the first half,” said Oxford coach Mike Chrystie. “The bottom line is that Greene came out in the second half and just whipped us. The biggest difference was moving Whittaker to running back (from quarterback). We had no answer for him on defense.”
Oxford was limited to 47 yards of total offense, and its best scoring opportunities came in the first half when the Trojans committed all but one of their turnovers. “Overall, we were pretty solid up front, and our guys opened holes where the backs weren’t touched for five or six yards,” Paske said.
Greene linemen doing the dirty work for the backs were Tyler Kehl, Nic Puglisi, Alex Kenyon, Austin Cuchenhofer, and Evan Engler.
Score by quarters
Oxford 0 0 0 0 –0
Greene 0 6 16 15 –37
Second quarter
G: Nate Whittaker 55 run (run failed)
Third quarter
G: Garrett Hickey 1 run (Dan Carlin run)
G: Carlin 1 run (Whittaker run)
Fourth quarter
G: Nick Wilcox 9 run (Carlin run)
G: Scott Gorton 1 run (Hickey kick)
Oxford Greene
Team Summary
O G
First downs314
Rushes-yds 30-33 41-336
Passing yds 14 30
Comp-Att-Int 2-8-1 5-12-1
Punts-avg. 10-23.2 1-15
Fumbles-lost 4-1 5-3
Penalties-yds 5-20 5-35
Individual Statistics
Rushing: (O) Travis Frank 20-23; Dylan Cole 5-2; John Wonka 4-5; David Dunagan 1-3. (G) Garrett Hickey 13-75; Dan Carlin 9-84; Nate Whittaker 7-100; Scott Gorton 4-43; Tyler Beckwith 3-25; Booker Davis 2-6; Brian Day 2-4; Nick Wilcox 1-9.
