BINGHAMTON – Of all the firsts that Greene football coach Tim Paske has led his team to, Saturday’s first is probably the sweetest.
“This is the first playoff win in Greene history,” Paske told his team. “No one can take that away from you.”
The Trojans steamrolled Trumansburg over the first three quarters, and rolled to a 44-20 Section IV Class C playoff win at Binghamton Alumni Stadium. Unbeaten Greene (9-0) will play Elmira Notre Dame Saturday at 4 p.m. at Ty Cobb Stadium in Endicott for its first section title.
“This is my third year in the playoffs, and we have never won a playoff game in Greene history,” said Greene senior quarterback Nate Whittaker, who ran and passed for one TD. “Everyone was fired up for this game because we knew we had a great shot to do this.”
The Trojans started slowly punting on their first possession – the team’s only punt of the game. What followed was four straight TD drives. Sticking exclusively with the running game, Greene moved 50 yards on five plays to open the scoring. Garrett Hickey popped a 24-yard run, and added two more runs, the last a four-yard scoring burst. Hickey led Greene with 105 yards rushing, and the Trojans finished with 236 yards on the ground.
“The game plan was to come out and run the ball,” Whittaker said. “We didn’t score a rushing touchdown the last three weeks, so we knew we had to establish the run, and we were able to do that.”
While the offense was establishing the ground game, the Trojans’ defense did its part in closing down Trumanburg’s rushing attack. The Blue Raiders finished with 90 of their 172 rushing yards in the fourth quarter when the game was no longer in doubt.
“We came in with a little different defensive look,” Paske said. “We wanted to take away their cutback lanes, and the guys executed the way that we wanted.”
Brian Day intercepted Trumansburg quarterback Kyle Fellows on the first possession of the second quarter, and that led to Greene’s second touchdown.
Scott Gorton, in for Whittaker at quarterback, directed the 56-yard TD march, and completed the excursion when he lofted a 31-yard TD strike to Brendan Kinne. Whittaker’s two-point run made it a 14-0 game.
Trumansburg helped Greene’s next offensive possession with three penalties for 19 yards, the crusher a 15-yard pass interference penalty that moved the ball to the T-burg 27. Gorton hit Dan Carlin on a 15-yard first-down pass to the 12, and Whittaker scored on a second-down run from two yards out.
Greene picked up its fourth and fifth sacks of the first half to quiet the Blue Raiders’ next drive, and the Trojans regained possession with 1:11 left in the half. Digging deep into the playbook, Greene executed a double-reverse pass to perfection with Whittaker finding Josh Clink all alone for a 54-yard scoring toss.
Trumansburg’s Justin Stranger returned the ensuing kickoff 79 yards for his team’s opening score, but the lead was a nearly insurmountable 30-7 at halftime. “Based on what we saw on film, we felt if we came out and played the way we were supposed to, this is the way (the score) should end up,” Paske said.
The end-of-half trickery was the second time in as many years the Trojans went to a gimmick play in the playoffs to yield a touchdown. “We practiced that play all week and we knew we would run it, we just didn’t know when,” Paske said. “It worked out at the right time.”
The Trojans (9-0) poured it on in the third quarter with two more rushing touchdowns. Hickey scored his second TD of the day from one yard out, and junior Dan Jenks weaved his way through the T-burg defense dashing 54 yards to paydirt on his only carry of the game.
The 236-yard rushing total and four rushing touchdowns was the best output for Greene in several weeks, who average 38 points a game this season. “We wanted to set the tone up front, and we have the guys to do that,” Paske said.
Score by Quarters
T-burg 0 7 0 13—20
Gre. 6 24 14 0—44
Scoring Summary
First quarter
G: Garrett Hickey 4 run (run failed)
Second quarter
G: Scott Gorton 31 pass to Brendan Kinne (Nate Whittaker run)
