Julie McCombs
D'Anta Fleming scored on a 75-yard punt return with 15 seconds left in the first quarter tonight. Greer ousted Seneca from the playoffs.
Julie McCombs
Quez Nesbitt gained 171 yards and added a touchdown. The junior running back has accumulated over 2,200 yards rushing in 11 games this season.
Julie McCombs
Alex Waters has Jonah Cleveland (43) occupied on this play. Waters anchored the offensive line as the backs gained 269 yards.
Julie McCombs
Tim Ballenger hauls down Spencer Brothers, 14, on this play. Ballenger led the defensive line to keep Seneca's offense in check.
Quez Nesbitt had a workmanlike 171 yards on 25 carries and one touchdown and quarterback Josh Gentry threw a 42-yard scoring pass to Fleming to account for all of Greer’s scoring.
Greer’s defense, which has defined itself in the latter part of the season, was on the field for 75 plays but limited the Bobcats to 261 total yards, 3.48 yard per play.
“It’s not as pretty as we wanted it to be but it’s a win and we live to play another day,” Greer Head Coach Will Young said. Greer improved its overall record to 9-2.
Greer advances to the second round and will play Union County next Friday at Dooley Field in what is already being billed as 2012 Jacket Bowl II. It will be the 19th time the teams have met for the mythical Jacket Bowl, named because each team is the Yellow Jackets. Greer won at Union County in the third game of the season 41-28.
Union County doubled the score in beating Wren 56-28 tonight in its first round game.
Greer avenged a 46-45 OT loss to Seneca in the season opening game.
All of Greer’s points were scored in the first half. Gentry lofted a perfect pass to Fleming, who caught the ball at the 5-yard line and ran in untouched within the first two minutes of the game. Nick Roberson’s first of four extra points gave the Jackets a 7-0 lead.
Gentry had a statistical off day. His 88 yards passing on four completions were complemented with his 54 yards rushing. “A couple of his passes should have been caught,” Young said.
Fleming’s punt return appeared to have ended when he was surrounded by Seneca players within the first 20 yards. He escaped that and picked up a couple of key blocks giving Fleming a clear path to the end zone.
Kelly’s punt return was executed just as it was drawn up. He had a line of blockers between him and the Greer sideline. Kelly finished off the final five yards by muscling past the lone Seneca player in position to stop him short of the goal line. “The last guy wasn’t going to stop me,” Kelly said.
Kelly said he saw the wall of blockers develop as he caught the ball. “I just cut back and saw open field." Kelly ran the ball twice, caught a pass and played defense. He is the most versatile Greer athlete on the team.
“We spend a lot of time on special teams,” Young said. But the quick scoring plays may have hampered Greer’s offense. “The punt returns didn’t give us much of a chance to get in a rhythm on offense,” he said.
Nesbitt scored the final touchdown on a 22-yard run with 5:49 left in the first half. He had an 80-yard apparent touchdown called back because of a holding penalty. Seneca had a reason to keep Nesbitt in check as he scored 5 TDs and ran for over 200 yards in the first meeting. “They loaded the box and tried to shut down the run,” Nesbitt said.
Seneca’s Marquis Arnold scored on a 10-yard run with 1:14 left in the half and Angelo Menin’s PAT made the halftime margin 28-7.
Alex Waters said he detected Greer’s offense, “got a little flustered.” That was apparent following a Greer timeout on third down and 10 yards for a first down when Nesbitt and Kelly crossed in the backfield after the snap and stumbled into each other.
Waters said Seneca’s adjustments in the second half also played a role in keeping Greer out of the end zone.
John Hicks led a Greer defense that held Seneca in check most of the game. “The defense played well in the first half. Our entire defensive line played well,” Young said.
Seneca’s second half score was also Arnold’s second, a 7-yard run, with 4:47 left in the third quarter. The teams swapped possession for most of the second half between the 20-yard lines.
Gentry recognized the offense had opportunities to maintain longer possessions to keep the defense fresh. “We can’t stress our D,” Gentry said.
CAPTAINS: Seniors Josh Gentry, Brook Chapman, John Hicks and junior Quez Nesbitt were game captains.
COIN TOSS: Seneca won the toss and deferred to receive the second half kickoff.
HELMET RULE: Seneca’s C.J. Greenlee had to go to the sidelines on one play when his helmet popped off with 3:30 left in the half.
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