Julie McCombs
Tyrick Smith of Greer brings down Braden Batson.
Julie McCombs
Kevin Jones (16) is right in the face of Emerald quarterback Meldrecoud Jones.
Julie McCombs
Carlton Greene, center, long-time girls basketball coach, is surrounded by his family as he is inducted into the Greer High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
But Greer went a little old school, employing the stalwart Oklahoma 50 defense in the second half in an effort to slow down Reynolds and quarterback Meldrecoud Jones on the ground.
"We switched to the 50, which is a seven-man front," Greer linebacker Brodie Wright said. "That gave us a better chance to stop their running game."
Despite two 100-yard rushers – Reynolds with 190 yards and Jones with 129 – the Greer defense was able to keep the Vikings out of the end zone when it counted the most.
A brilliant defensive play by Virginia Tech commit Troy Pride thwarted one score as Reynolds nearly reached the end zone before Pride caused and then recovered a fumble.
Hall of Fame: Longtime girls basketball coach Carlton Greene and two recent athletes were inducted into Greer's Athletic Hall of Fame at halftime Friday night along with two members of the class of 2010.
Basketball player Chandler Hash and baseball player Daniel Palka were inducted alongside Greene, who led the Greer's girls basketball team to 13 playoff appearances in 16 seasons.
Palka was drafted twice by Major League Baseball teams, and signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks after an All-American and all-conference career at Georgia Tech. He was a third-round pick by Arizona and a California League all-star this past season, his first full season as a pro.
Hash scored 1,909 points as a standout guard for the Yellow Jackets. He shares team records for 3-pointers in a game (10) and points scored in a game (43). He went on to play at Anderson University where he owns the record for points scored in a season (778) as a senior in 2014. His 1,537 career points in third in school history.
In addition to his 224 yards rushing, Adrian McGee turned in an exceptional night as the Yellow Jackets' starting safety.
• McGeeThe Greer defense forced Emerald to turn the ball over on downs twice in the fourth quarter as the Vikings tried to rally. McGee was a big part of the defensive stands, recording three straight solo tackles to force the turnover with 6:32 to play.
"I was just giving it all I had," McGee said. "I just knew we had to get a stop there."
McGee said he has been working on his conditioning in order to be ready for his increased workload each Friday night.
"I've been running so much," he said. "I can't stand to be gassed."
McGee is averaging 144.5 yards rushing per game this season.
Emerald had more total offense (406 yards) than Greer (375 yards), but was thwarted by a fumble in the Greer end zone and two stalled fourth-quarter drives.
It was the second week in a row that the Yellow Jackets were out-gained by their opponents. Union County out-gained Greer 519-415.
But, of course, Greer is 2-0 in those games.
• Greer plays at Travelers Rest Friday at 7:30 p.m.