With Mid-State Conference play starting next week, Greenwood needed to regain its confidence with a strong performance against county rival Indian Creek on Friday.
Mission accomplished.
Anthony Williams and Nick Willham each ran for a pair of touchdowns and Greenwood’s defense clamped down after allowing an early score to help the Woodmen roll past Indian Creek, 43-12, on Friday night.
“We understood that we couldn’t go 0-2 going into conference, especially with our conference being as tough as it is,” Greenwood senior receiver Isaiah Drew said. “So we were able to have the mentality of our backs against the wall, and we fought for every inch and were able to get the victory.”
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Indian Creek (0-2) was ready to put up a fight early. After the Woodmen went up 6-0 on an 11-yard pass from Oliver Rau to Bryce Hoffman, the Braves answered right back with a 74-yard scoring run by Isaiah Lacey at the 7:51 mark of the first quarter.
After a short Willham TD run put Greenwood back up, 14-6, Indian Creek started the second quarter in Woodmen territory. But an incomplete pass and a fourth-down fumble ended the threat, and the home team wasted little time in creating some breathing room.
Rau hit Isaiah Drew on a 48-yard deep ball to set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Williams with 10:17 to go in the half, and after a Hoffman interception, Williams punched in another one from 3 yards out to make it a 29-6 game.
A blocked punt late in the second quarter set up another score, a 7-yard pass from Rau to Drew on the final play of the half that stretched the lead to 30 points.
Greenwood coach Mike Campbell was happy to see his team assert itself after Lacey’s big touchdown run early on.
“Our offense then came right back and answered,” he said, “and that’s what you need to do if you want to have a chance to be a better team and grow from Week 1 to Week 2. I think we did that.”
Indian Creek kept battling and got a 5-yard touchdown run from Avery Welch midway through the third quarter, but Franklin answered right back with a Willham touchdown later in the period.
Owen Sego scored with 3.7 seconds left, allowing the Braves to finish on a higher note.
“We’re way ahead of where we were a year ago on both sides of the ball,” Indian Creek coach Brett Cooper said. “Have we got the results we wanted? No. But we’re improving. That’s all you can ask for.”
Rau finished with 154 yards passing for Greenwood, while Willham added 83 yards on the ground. Lacey paced the Braves in defeat with 129 yards rushing.
Greenwood opens Mid-State play with Martinsville next week, and Friday’s win sends them into that contest with a much brighter outlook.
“We were definitely able to get our swagger back, our confidence back,” Drew said.
