Julie McCombs
Quez Nesbitt scored three TDs but was held to 57-yards rushing on 20 attempts for a 2.9 yards average. He scored three touchdowns and recorded 210 all-purpose yards.
Julie McCombs
Cole Henderson (67) and Mead Cook (51) protect quarterback Mario Cusano on this pass play. Head Coach Will Young said he was pleased with the offensive line's pass blocking.
Julie McCombs
Dorian Lindsey led all receivers in the game with 10 catches for 111 yards.
Julie McCombs
It wasn't a pleasant for these Greer players watching the clock run down at the end of the game. Seneca won, 35-27.
SENECA – Seneca’s Marquis Arnold scored four rushing touchdowns, three in the second half, to lead the Bobcats over Greer, 35-27, in the teams’ opening season game tonight.
Quez Nesbitt put a show of his own on with three touchdowns, highlighted by a 90-yard punt return late in the second quarter to give the Yellow Jackets a 21-14 halftime lead. However, the senior running back was held to 57 yards rushing on 20 carries.
Few might have thought it would be the only points Greer would score until Nesbitt and sophomore quarterback Mario Cusano connected on a 66-yard scoring play with 2:55 left in the game.
“I thought they were a better team than last year,” Young said. Seneca won 46-45 in overtime in the season opener last year.
Greer executed the ensuing onside kick perfectly and recovered at Seneca’s 49-yard line with 2:53 remaining.
“Half of the team believed we could win and played like it,” Greer Head Coach Will Young said. “We’ve got to learn to suck it up.”
Tay Woods gathered in a pass from Cusano that was tipped by a Seneca player, on the first play after the onside kick that appeared to pull Greer within two points. But the officials ruled Cusano was past the line of scrimmage and Greer forfeited the score, 13 seconds and the down plus five yards.
Nesbitt gave Greer a first down gaining three yards on fourth-and-two with 1:53 remaining. The next series went like this: Cusano’s pass to Nesbitt near the 10-yard line was short and incomplete; Dorian Lindsey couldn’t pull in a pass from Cusano and then Brandon Gibson, a 6-1, 247-pound sophomore, dragged Cusano down from behind setting up an all for nothing fourth down and 10 at Seneca’s 42-yard line. Cusano’s desperation pass was short and Seneca ran out the final 89 seconds.
Cusano completed 19 of 33 passess for 266 yards. Dorian Lindsey, playing wide receiver for the injured Malek Johnson, caught 10 passes for 111 yards.
“I thought Mario, for his first game, played well and managed the game well. Our pass blocking was very good,” Young said. “Dorian made some nice plays, the punt returns and kickoff returns were good.”
Arnold got loose for a 14-yard run touchdown in the first half but was overpowering in the second half. He scored on 13-, 11-, and 4-yard runs in the final two quarters.
“I told you that 15 (Arnold) was a good player,” Young said.
Arnold gained 179 yards and averaged 7.8 yards.
Nesbitt’s score on the punt return was a thing of beauty. Seneca punted the ball to its sideline anticipating to bottle up Nesbitt. Instead, Nesbitt circled around to the right, picked up a wall of blockers, juked past the last defender at the 30 and scored.
Nesbitt was bottled up for most of the first half and broke some double-digit runs in the second. He almost broke one long run from scrimmage for a touchdown but was tripped up. “We didn’t run the ball that much.”
Greer took the opening kickoff and took only five plays to travel 50 yards with Nesbitt scoring on a 4-yard run.
10+15=FIRST DOWN: Seneca and Greer had offsetting penalties after a play was stopped. Greer was marked off 10 yards for a personal foul but Seneca lost 15-yards on an unsportsmanlike penalty.
HUMID CONDITIONS: Dorian Lindsey, Quez Nesbitt and Emmanuel Kelly were among several players from both teams treated for cramps. A 2-inch rain fell throughout the day causing humid conditions and soggy patches along the sidelines.
WIDE RIGHT: Nick Roberson, a sophomore placekicker who didn’t miss a point after during the summer, saw his fourth PAT go wide right. “I just missed my mark and pulled through the kick,” Roberson said.
RED CROSS LIST: Malek Johnson, Bobby Farrington, Matthew Lopata and Raymond Booker did not dress out. Their status is week by week.
RIVERSIDE NEXT WEEK: Greer will play Riverside at Dooley Field next Friday at 7:30 p.m. Eastside beat Riverside tonight, 14-12. Riveside led 12-7 with 10 minutes remaining in the game.