GLASGOW –Greenwood running back Javier Boyd was nearly unstoppable against Barren County on Friday night.
The senior rushed for 208 yards on 23 attempts, and the Gators scored a touchdown on three of their first four drives to start the game en route to a 28-7 victory over the Trojans in Glasgow.
“(Boyd) did a fantastic job for us (Friday night),” Greenwood coach William Howard said. “A lot of those yards he got he was pretty much untouchable straight up the middle. The offensive line gets a lot of credit. They did a great job (Friday night).”
“The offensive line did what they had to do,” Boyd said. “They made holes, and I ran through them.”
Junior Reed Slone added 100 rushing yards and one touchdown while recording an interception on the defensive side of the ball for the Gators, who outgained the Trojans 360-127 on the ground.
“He did good,” Boyd said. “Reed’s a quick guy. He can make good cuts, he can run, and he can make a touchdown. He did his part.”
Greenwood (2-3) marched methodically down the field on its first drive as the Gators capped off a 10-play, 80-yard drive in which they converted three downs with a 7-yard touchdown pass from John Morrison to Mason Wilson to take a 7-0 lead with 3:01 left in the first quarter.
Slone came up with an interception for the Gators on the ensuing Trojan possession, and Greenwood quickly converted that miscue into points. Zach Langevin rumbled in three yards for a touchdown after a 20-yard pass completion from Morrison to Yuju Ogawa on third down set up a first-and-goal.
The Gators continued to pour it on as a 6-yard rushing touchdown by Wilson extended their lead to 21-0 with 5:37 to go before halftime. Boyd had put Greenwood into the red zone with back-to-back runs of 30 and 19 runs, respectively.
Barren County (1-4) posted its first numbers on the scoreboard with a 27-yard touchdown run by Jamarius Miley on a sweep to the right at the 1:39 mark of the second quarter that narrowed the Trojans’ deficit to 21-7 at halftime.
Neither team was able to score in the third quarter, but the Gators punched it in on the first play of the fourth quarter with a 5-yard rushing touchdown by Slone to ultimately make the final score 28-7.
Barren County was led in the loss by Miley with 37 rushing yards and a touchdown on three carries. Quarterback Zach Johnson completed 7-of-13 passes for 72 yards for the Trojans, who will play look to bounce back on the road at Ballard Memorial next Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile Greenwood will look to keep things rolling as the Gators open Class 5A, District Two play on the road at Bowling Green. Howard says red zone offense will be a point of emphasis going forward.
“We left quite a few points on the field,” Howard said. “We drove down into the red zone several times and had opportunities to score but just couldn’t get it in the end zone. Those are some things we’re going to have to work on.”
“We just have to continue to get better. Bowling Green is a great program, they got some great players over there, and we’re just going to continue to roll up our sleeves and play football.”
