Greer received the first-round seed and home-field advantage, by virtue of it winning Region II tiebreaker with two other teams (Blue Ridge and Greenville) sharing first place, all with 6-1 records. Greer’s loss to Blue Ridge, 10-9, last week created the tie.
Greer Head Coach Will Young reportedly returned to Greer Thursday night from Charleston after visiting his mother recovering from a third kidney transplant. It did not respond and she is on the list seeking another donor. “His mother is doing well and she passed the scary part,” Mazzie Drummond, assistant head coach, told the Greer TD Club on Thursday.
Emerald (4-3 region, 6-4 overall) will face Greer (6-1 region, 8-2 overall) for the first time in its five-years of playing football. That changes in 2014-15 when Emerald becomes a Region II-member with the conferences’ realignment.
The Emerald Vikings, located in Greenwood County, finished fourth in Region I. The last team to play Greer coming out of that region with that seeding was Fairfield-Central in 2011, which eliminated the Yellow Jackets in the first round.
“We kind of got where we wanted to be,” Young said of earning home field advantage in the playoffs. He was referring to his decision to take three points off the scoreboard following a roughing the kicker penalty last week versus Blue Ridge. Young opted to keep his offense on the field to rest his defense. However, that backfired when Nick Roberson missed the field goal that proved to be the difference between winning and losing.
“Our mindset is coaching the kids and getting past last week,” Young said. “Emerald is a very tough, first-round opponent. I have a lot of confidence in our players and coaches.
“They are a pretty good defensive team,” Young said. “They have a good defensive line and good linebackers. Their secondary is solid.” K.J. Chamberlain intercepted three passes last week in the first half versus Belton-Honea Path, despite Emerald losing 31-7.
“(Emerald) runs the spread on offense,” Young said. “They run the ball well and their quarterback is a threat passing and running. They have three good wide outs.”
Greer is averaging 40.5 points a game while allowing opponents 11.9. That compares with Emerald’s 30.8 per game scoring average versus 23.5 points against.
Logan Yates is the starting quarterback for Emerald and is frequently relieved by Isaiah Brown. Yates was injured in the BHP game and his status for Friday is a game-time decision. When Brown is at quarterback Yates plays wide receiver.
Mill Hacket, wide receiver, plays prominently in Emerald’s offense. DuQuarius Neal is the Vikings’ leading rusher.
Emerald came within a minute of upsetting No. 1 seed Daniel this season. The Vikings fell behind 14-0 before battling back for a 28-28 tie. Emerald was driving when Daniel forced a fumble and returned it 55 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
Senior Quez Nesbitt, injured late in the season, missed one game and was held to 79 yards rushing by a determined Blue Ridge defense. He will start Friday and Jake Purvis, sprained ankle, is expected to play after missing last week’s game.
As Nesbitt goes, so goes the Greer offense. He has 1,829-yards and counting with his all-time Greer rushing record, now over 5,000 yards. Nesbitt has 23 touchdowns. Sophomore quarterback Mario Cusano has thrown for 1,561 yards and 17 touchdowns. Dorian Lindsey has caught 36 passes for 441 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Emanuel Kelly has proven to be the impact player of late for Greer. Last week he recorded a safety for Greer’s first two points and scored on the kickoff return for six more points. He anchors a strong defense.