Greer stalls, then powers up offense to crush TR

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David Grooms

Adrian McGee stiff-arms a Travelers Rest defender to gain extra yardage. 

 

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David Grooms

Mario Casano passed for four touchdowns and ran one carry two yards into the end zone for a score.

 

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David Grooms

Troy Pride scored four touchdowns, three on passes by quarterback Mario Cusano and another on a 50-yard run.

 

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David Grooms

Nelson Welch was inducted into the Greer High School athletics Ring of Honor at halftime. Sharing the moment are Kristen, Nelson's wife, and their children, Davis, Chas and Haley.

 

• Photo gallery here.

Travelers Rest arrived at Dooley Field Friday night intent on ending a long playoff drought by upsetting the unbeaten Yellow Jackets.

The Devil Dogs delivered a couple of early haymakers, but Greer had more than enough left for the 45-13 knockout that eliminated Travelers Rest from the playoffs.

Behind the running of Zay Terry and quarterback Chris Gomia, Travelers Rest jumped out to a 13-0 first-quarter lead.

Gomia scored on a 20-yard run, and Dylan Scruggs, the Devil Dogs' passing quarterback, connected on a 9-yard touchdown pass for a 13-0 lead with 1:23 left in the first quarter.

But that was all the scoring the Devil Dogs (6-5) could muster in their first playoff appearance since 2012. Travelers Rest has not won a playoff game since 1985.

The rest of the game -- and the second round of the Class 3A playoffs belonged to the Yellow Jackets. Greer scored 45 unanswered points behind Mario Cusano's four touchdown passes, three of which went to Troy Pride.

Pride finished with 200 yards receiving on just five catches, including a 95-yard strike late in the game for Greer's final score. Adrian McGee and Cusano scored on runs of 50 and 2 yards, respectively, and the pair also connected on a screen pass that McGee took 4 yards for a touchdown.

With the win, Greer (11-0) advances to the second round of the playoffs and will face rival Union County (5-6) next Friday night at Dooley Field. 

Union County also rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit to beat host Belton-Honea Path 27-24. Greer defeated Union County 35-28 in the annual "Jacket Bowl" rivalry game Sept. 10 at Dooley Field.

"You have to give a lot of credit to TR. They haven't made the playoffs in a while, and they came out ready to play," Greer Head Coach Will Young said of his team's win. "We responded a little bit in the second half, we shut them out there and played a little better defense in the second half. Our coaches made some adjustments and our players just played a little better."

Gomia had a game-high 105 yards, the bulk of which coming on the Devil Dogs' first scoring drive, and took some of the pressure off of workhorse running back Terry, but was ineffective in the second half. With holes being closed by the Greer defense over the final three quarters, Terry carried 30 times for 80 yards.

"We had to refocus a little bit," said Greer offensive lineman Noah Hannon. "I don't know if our head was really in it at the start. They came out and gave us a good punch in the beginning, and we came out and refocused. They gave us a heck of a shot, they didn't want to go home, we didn't want to go home. 

“We realize that this is the playoffs, and we're going to get everybody's best shot. Nobody wants to go home, so we have to come out ready to bring it,” Hannon said.

McGee rushed 10 times for 96 yards. Cusano completed 11 of 18 passes for 321 yards and the four touchdowns. 

"We just stuck to our game plan," Cusano said. "We knew they couldn't keep up with us, and it was just a matter of how we executed what we thought would work. It was a slow start, but after we got started rolling, we really got rolling." 

Nelson Welch, one of Greer's all-time great athletes, was inducted into the Ring of Honor at halftime.

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