Sophomore Gabe Rammel was the leading running back in this one picking up chunk play after chunk play.
Photos by Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
The defense shut out Fairborn in the first half, but gave up a few big plays in the second half.
The Green Wave showed vast improvement in this game. They will look to carry that momentum with them to Xenia next week.
By Drew Terhall
DailyAdvocate.com
GREENVILLE — The Green Wave football team played their best game of the season yet during their homecoming game against Fairborn. But a second half surge by the Skyhawks gave them the 20-18 win over the Green Wave.
Head coach Bart Schmitz said the team played with great effort in this one. From the start, Greenville came out with great energy.
“We had our chances. They capitalized, credit to them. We played hard tonight. We showed some fight tonight that we haven’t seen in awhile. I’m really proud of them for that,” Schmitz said.
It was 10-0 at halftime in favor of Greenville. Sophomore Gabe Rammel scored on a nine-yard touchdown on the Green Wave’s opening drive of the game.
The offense moved the ball well during the game. Rammel was effective running the ball. Senior Cody Sagraves made some nice passes down the field and rushed the ball well on quarterback keepers.
The team made two more trips into the redzone. Sophomore Wyatt Thacker made a 22-yard field goal to end one drive and his second field goal attempt was blocked right before halftime.
The defense kept the Skyhawks in check during the first half. They made multiple fourth down stops and didn’t let Fairborn deep into Greenville territory.
The third quarter was a sloppy quarter for both teams. The offenses had trouble moving the ball and committed some costly penalties.
Eventually, Fairborn got on the scoreboard after a nine-yard touchdown run by Zyaire Cavitt. Greenville led 10-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
The empty redzone trips for Greenville slowly started to haunt them. Schmitz said they couldn’t let a team like Fairborn hang around too long in the game.
“It’s the best we’ve looked offensively all year. But, you can’t get the ball inside the redzone twice. We had a chance to extend our lead, we just couldn’t put the final nail in,” Schmitz said.
In the fourth quarter, junior Jay Kidd had touchdown runs of 48 and 53 yards to put the Skyhawks up 20-10 with 1:26 left in the game.
But Greenville didn’t give up that easy. Instead of accepting another loss, senior Evan Manix returned the kickoff after Fairborn scored their last touchdown. Manix then scored the two-point conversion on a field goal fake to make it a 20-18 game.
The Green Wave had many chances to throw in the towel. But like Schmitz said, the team gave it their all against the Skyhawks. They just couldn’t make a few more plays.
Greenville is now 0-8 on the season with a 0-7 conference record. They will have a lot of momentum heading into next week. The 18 points is the most scored by the Green Wave this season and the 20 points allowed is the least amount of points given up by the defense.
The Green Wave will head to Xenia on Oct. 13 for a 7 p.m. game.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]
