Julie McCombs
Quez Nesbitt starts pulling away from an Emerald player on one of his patented runs. He rushed for 297 yards and scored 4 touchdowns – one on a pass.
Julie McCombs
Emanuel Kelly is all alone as he scores on a 12-yard reception from quarterback Mario Curano.
Julie McCombs
Raymond Booker consoles an Emerald player. Greer beat Emerald, 34-30, in the first round of the Class AAA playoffs Friday.
Julie McCombs
The scoreboard tells the story at the end of the first round game played at Dooley Field..
Greer Head Coach Will Young called on his offense, with Quez Nesbitt the school’s most prolific runner, to get one yard to maintain possession. Nesbitt got two.
Greer proceeded to run out the final 3:33 to beat Emerald 34-30 at Dooley Field in the first round of the Class AAA state playoffs. Greer, the No. 1 seed, will host Westwood, a 38-10 winner over Woodruff, in a second round game next Friday.
It was Black Friday for Region II teams. Blue Ridge, Greenville, Pickens and Southside all lost leaving Greer the region’s only representative in the playoffs. (Scores below).
Young used Greer’s final timeout with the Yellow Jackets facing a third and one at Emerald’s 44-yard line to deliver a message. “I told them if they wanted to win the whole thing they needed to get one yard,” Young said. “It’s like I told them when they needed four yards.” Nesbitt squirmed through Emerald’s defense on fourth and four with 43 seconds left to seal the win.
“I knew we could get one yard,” Nesbitt said. “We brought in extra blockers and I told them to get me one block and I will get the yard and we will be here another week.”
Tyquan Lyles, a 6-foot-2, 250-pound H-back provided some size for Nesbitt. “It was different playing in the backfield and fun,” Lyles said.
Nesbitt rushed for 297 yards, scored 4 touchdowns – one on a pass play – and averaged 10.2 yards a carry. While his production was spectacular, his two fumbles – among four Greer turnovers – were atypical and forgivable, according to Young. “That’s OK. We’ll worry about that Monday,” Young said.
Emanuel Kelly shared quarterback duties and ran the Wildcat offense to beef up the running game. “We wanted to give Kelly an opportunity to run the ball and change up the offense a little bit,” Young said.
Kelly’s two kickoff returns following Emerald’s scores were 55 and 64 yards, respectively. “I should have scored on one of them,” Kelly said. He scored on a 12-yard scoring pass from Mario Cusano with 35 seconds left in the first quarter to pull the Yellow Jackets even at 14-14.
Emerald didn’t go away lightly. The Vikings, from Region I, scored in the first two minutes and traded scores with Greer until Will Tommie’s 43-yard field goal at the end of the half gave Emerald a 24-21 lead.
Emerald’s QuDarius Neal ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns while challenging Greer’s defense. He averaged 7.2 yards a carry. Isaiah Brown connected with Neal for a third score. Emerald only completed two passes.
Emerald caught Greer napping on the second half kickoff and recovered an onside kick that led to a touchdown 58 seconds into the third quarter for a 30-21 lead. Nesbitt performed his magic on a 73-yard run with 10:11 left in the third quarter for a lead (30-28) Greer would not give up.
“The kids are not going down lightly,” Young said. “These kids are here to stay.”
“We don’t lay down for anybody,” said junior linebacker Tyler Wright. “The defensive line played its best game of the year.”
Greer’s defense came up with big stops to hold Emerald to six second-half points. A tipped pass by Jackson Tipton that Malek Johnson hauled in at the Greer 19 halted one drive in the third quarter. “I saw Malek (to Tipton’s left) all the way. We practice that all the time,” Tipton said.
Defensive ends Marquis Lyles (senior) and Nakeem Hoke (junior) were playing “meet you at the quarterback, during Emerald’s final two possessions. They sacked the quarterback twice and disrupted the line of scrimmage forcing the Vikings to ad lib several plays. “It was kind of scary with the game close, we knew we had to get back there,” Lyles said.
Tay Woods came up with a fumble recovery on Emerald’s last possession at its 35-yard line with 6:29 remaining. Greer held the ball the rest of the way staying on the ground and with only seniors Kelly and Nesbitt handling the workload.
“When I saw Dorian (Lindsey) pop the ball out I just tried to get to the ball as quickly as possible,” Woods said.
As the players were loading on the buses to head back to Greer High School, Wright noticed Young smiling and chatting. “Any time coach Young is smiling it’s a good day,” Wright said.
Region II Playoff results
Greer 34, Emerald 30
Daniel 40, Pickens 3
Wren 70, Greenville 61
Hanahan 38, Southside 7
Belton-Honea Path 20, Blue Ridge 14