Greenwood football fans were in the mood for a party Friday evening. Not only was it the Homecoming game, but the Woodmen entered the night with a perfect 4-0 record.
Plainfield chose to wreck the celebration for everyone.
Moving almost at will offensively and slowing the vaunted Greenwood running game, the Quakers provided a sizable buzzkill by blanking the Woodmen, 28-0.
Greenwood coach Mike Campbell wasn’t entirely shocked by the result.
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"They’re a very good football team," he said of the Quakers. "They’re well coached, and they’ve got athletes."
Each team began the night with a pair of fruitless possessions before Plainfield broke the drought on a 1-yard run by Tavian Gadia, the 11th play of a 73-yard drive, with 8:51 left in the second quarter.
Gadia — who had been bottled up for most of the first half — then doubled the lead when he busted free for a 75-yard scoring run with 3:34 on the first-half clock.
The Quakers picked up where they left off following the halftime festivities. After stopping the Woodmen to begin the third quarter, Plainfield stretched their lead to 28-0 with a pair of long passing plays.
First, Dante Keys took a short pass from Ben Slaton and loped down the left sideline for a 73-yard touchdown. Later in the period, Slaton hit an open Gavin Ritter on play action over the middle for 63 yards and another score.
The Woodmen’s ground attack, which had been dominant through the first four games, was held in check Friday night. Isaiah Borjas had it rolling early on and finished with 84 yards on 11 carries, but Brandon Rosado, the leading rusher in the Mid-State Conference coming in, managed just 40 yards on 15 attempts.
Greenwood got off to a promising start offensively, picking up four first downs and moving 68 yards into the red zone before the drive stalled. Damon Maynard’s 35-yard field goal try just missed the mark.
"(That) deflated us a little bit," Campbell said. "We knew we needed something good to happen to us early."
Slaton finished with some big passing numbers thanks to the two long touchdowns, completing 10 of 12 throws for 223 yards. Gadia closed his evening with 136 yards rushing on 21 carries.
Campbell was shaken but not stirred by the defeat, and he has faith in his team’s ability to rebound quickly.
"We’re going to find out what kind of character we have now that we’ve faced some real adversity," he said. "And I know how our kids are going to respond. They’re a great group of guys, and I’m confident in our ability to come back next week."
