Greenwood football holds on against Mt. Vernon

<p>Greenwood’s defense had its finest hour at the perfect time.</p><p>The Woodmen halted game-tying touchdown threats three times in the final six minutes deep in Greenwood territory to hold on and take a thrilling 14-7 win over Mt. Vernon (Fortville) on Friday night.</p><p>Greenwood’s win was sealed with 59 seconds left in the game when Joe Bassler recovered a fumbled snap at the Woodmen 4-yard line.</p><p>“It’s tough to describe how hard our kids played,” said Greenwood coach Mike Campbell. “It was an unbelievable defensive stand and a gritty performance by our offense. It was what we needed to do, and we knew we had this in us.”</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>Greenwood (4-7) now heads into the sectional championship against Mid-State rival Mooresville next Friday at Mooresville. The Pioneers buried the Woodmen, 49-14, during the regular season back in September, but that’s not something Campbell said the Woodmen will be dwelling on.</p><p>“We’re a different team now,” Campbell said. “We have our work cut out for us, but right now we’re 2-0 and they are 2-0. We’re looking forward to this.”</p><p>Unlike last year’s semifinal, where the Woodmen blasted the Marauders 50-6, this had all the makings of a close game. But it might well have been a Greenwood blowout too.</p><p>Greenwood proved they could move the ball and they did on both the ground and the air, but they couldn’t get into the end zone most of the time.</p><p>The Woodmen did make it count the first time, when sophomore quarterback Luke Hommell, filling in for starter Oliver Rau, connected with Bryce Hoffman for a 28-yard score in the first.</p><p>On each of its next three possessions of the first half, Greenwood reached the Mt. Vernon red zone before turning the ball over. A fumble at the 3 and an interception in the end zone hurt the Woodmen, but the killer was when sophomore Rylan Cole intercepted Hommell and raced 95 yards for the score with 15 seconds to go in the half to tie the game 7-7.</p><p>It didn’t prove to be a turning point for the Marauders, however, as Hommell then connected with Luke Raker from 31 yards out for what turned out to be the winning score.</p><p>The Woodmen played their best defense in the fourth quarter, stopping the Marauders on four downs at the 2 and at the 5 before grabbing the fumbled snap late.</p><p>Knocking starting quarterback Tyson Harley out early in the first quarter also helped the Woodmen’s cause.</p><p>Hommell completed seven passes for 131 yards. On the ground, Nick Willham rushed for 96 yards. In getting to its fourth straight sectional final, Greenwood had 287 total yards to 216 for the Marauders (7-4).</p><p>“I’m proud of these seniors,” said Campbell. “They are 4 for 4 (in semifinals). And our youngsters did great too, and they now have two games out of the way.”</p>