Greenwood sets up southside showdown

Greenwood is ready for a more substantial challenge after an easy win Friday night.

The clock had barely struck zero in Greenwood’s Class 4A 44-7 opening win against Owen Valley on Friday night when the talked turned to next Friday’s match-up with No. 3 Roncalli.

“They are a great team,” said running back Kole Stogner, whose four touchdowns in the game’s first 26 minutes were too much for the outmanned Patriots.

“It’s going to be a great environment,” he said of the Rebels’ visit to The Woodshed to take on the No. 5 Woodmen in what will be one of state’s premier contests. “We can’t wait. I just know about us. We’ve been expecting this game. We’re going to come out and be ready to play.”

The Woodmen bounced back from a regular-season ending defeat at Whiteland on Oct. 12, revealing a renewed focus to execution.

“When you enter the playoffs coming off a loss, it’s a wake-up call,” coach Mike Campbell said. “Every game for us is championship week because if you don’t win, you don’t get to play next week.”

The Woodmen scored each time the first-team

offense got the ball, including four scores by Stogner on runs of 4, 22, 45 and 43 yards.

“I couldn’t have done it without the line,” said the 5-foot-8 senior, who ran for 1,428 yards in the regular season. “They gave me the holes, and I just worked with what they gave me. I got in the open field and ran for the end zone.”

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