South Warren did all they could to avenge their 17-16 loss to Greenwood last season, looking for help from seniors Tryce Cofer, Cody Eblen, and Christian Winn as the Spartans rolled to a 42-11 win on senior night.
Cofer, Eblen, and Winn each scored at least one touchdown, and the Spartans rolled to a 42-11 victory over district rival Greenwood on Senior Night.
“I didn’t even realize it until after the game,” said Coach Brandon Smith about three of his seniors scoring at least one touchdown. “That is something that is great to see.”
“It feels great,” Winn said. “I wouldn’t have wanted to do this with any other group of guys. We came together and performed like I knew we could.”
The Spartans did see some adversity early, as South Warren found themselves trailing 3-0 after the Gators drove the length of the field before settling on a 22-yard field goal by kicker Ben Patterson.
However South Warren answered the bell quickly, junior quarterback Gavin Spurrier connecting with Winn on a screen pass and the senior scampering 69 yards up the sideline into the end zone.
“I thought the first series defensively we made some mistakes and they were able to get three points out of it,” Smith said. “But after that we settled down. Offensively I thought we played great. We were able to run the ball and throw it, and those guys did a nice job.”
Eblen had a 3-yard touchdown run out of the Wildcat formation a couple possessions later to give South Warren a 14-3 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter is when the floodgates opened for the Spartans.
South Warren extended the lead to 28-3 after touchdown passes of 30 and 10 yards to Eblen and junior wide receiver Clayton Bush, respectively.
The Spartans then turned defense into offense with a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown by Cofer, and Winn capped the first half with a 7-yard scoring burst to give South Warren a 42-3 lead at the intermission.
South Warren did not score in the second half, but Greenwood was able to find the end zone on a 1-yard run by Jaron Burr. Gator quarterback Jackson Adams scampered in for the two-point conversion to ultimately make the final score 42-11.
Winn led the Spartans in the win, hauling in a 69-yard touchdown pass to compliment 76 rushing yards and a touchdown on six carries.
Eblen also added a 30-yard touchdown reception and a 3-yard score, while Cofer had a ‘pick six’ and rushed for 42 yards on eight carries.
Greenwood was led by Adams, who rushed for a team-high 80 yards on 10 carries. Tristan Wilson was the Gators’ second-leading rusher with 63 yards on 18 carries.
South Warren now looks to the next part of its schedule, which consists of three consecutive road games at Ravenwood (Brentwood, TN), Bowling Green, and Owensboro Catholic. Smith knows that his team is facing a difficult task.
“It’s only going to get harder from here,” Smith said. “We have to come ready to play each and every week.”
“We got to start with a clean slate,” Winn added. “We have tougher competition coming up so we’ll have to prepare and perform to the best of our abilities.”
South Warren will face Ravenwood on Friday night before enjoying a bye week in preparation for the Bowling Green game.
Greenwood will enjoy its bye this week, and the Gators will host Grayson County in their district finale on October 13.
