Eastern Wayne defense forces 6 turnovers

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 12, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

Sometimes you just win ugly.

And Thursday evening was undoubtedly a perfect example.

Unbeaten Eastern Wayne overcame a season-high five turnovers, 100-plus yards in penalties and squeezed by Greene Central, 21-6, in non-conference play at Little Big Horn.

"Tonight we were fortunate to come out with a win," said Warriors head coach Bubba Williams, whose team is off to a 4-0 start for the second consecutive season.

While its offense wrestled with mistakes on nearly every possession, Eastern Wayne's defense emerged as a highly-functioning unit. The Warriors forced the Rams into six turnovers and logged 13 tackles for loss, including three quarterback sacks.

Greene Central (1-3 overall) ventured inside EW's 25-yard line on four occasions and had three drives end either on downs or turnovers. The Rams converted their lone red-zone possession, a 5-yard touchdown scamper by Montavius Battle, close to the midway point of the final quarter.

Sophomore quarterback Trequan Wade paced the GC offense with 77 yards rushing and 32 passing. The Rams had 193 yards of total offense.

"I think our defense played exceptional, except for the last drive we got tired on, but we haven't really been in a fourth-quarter game all year," Williams said. "We put the defense in bad situations offensively all night and I think they responded well. We just couldn't get in a rhythm (on offense).

"They pressured us, did a good job and we didn't respond very well."

Holding penalties haunted the Warriors on their first two possessions of the opening quarter. Their next two drives quickly ended on turnovers -- a fumble and an interception.

With an offense that averaged 59 points a game, Eastern Wayne finally took the ball to the house with 9:27.9 remaining in the second quarter. Junior quarterback KK Best galloped 31 yards to the end zone.

A defensive pass interference and horse-collar infraction aided the Warriors' second touchdown march on a short field. Malik Richards' 6-yard run and Ricky Steiner's two-point conversion pushed Eastern Wayne's advantage to 14-0 with 81 seconds left before intermission.

"I thought defensively we competed pretty well, they played physical, we played physical," second-year GC head coach Allen Wooten said. "I think we took a good a 3-A football team and gave them a game they probably weren't expecting."

Eastern Wayne had two second-half touchdowns called back due to holding penalties. The Warriors' last score, Day-Day Pridgen's 6-yard run, occurred after the defense held on downs inside the Rams' 30-yard line.

Williams' club amassed 247 yards of total offense, but had an eye-popping 151 yards in penalties -- including 69 in the final period.