Greenwood’s performance in Saturday’s football game against Mid-State Conference foe Perry Meridian can best be described as give and take.
Gifts aside, this was also a game where whoever had the ball last was going to win — and that, it turned out, was the Falcons.
With 15 seconds left in the game, Allen Zupan hit Ethan Neffle on a 9-yard slant pattern for a touchdown, which gave host Perry Meridian a 35-28 win over Greenwood in a hard-fought, entertaining game that saw the teams combine more than 600 yards in total offense.
While entertaining, the loss was devastating for the Woodmen (2-4, 1-3 Mid-State).
“I feel like I failed our team,” Greenwood coach Justin Boser said. “Our defense played hard enough, and we got the takeaways. I didn’t have some very good calls in their territory when we should have scored. It’s disappointing.”
It was easy to understand Boser’s mood, especially after the Woodmen took the opening kickoff and scored in just four plays.
Junior running back Anthony Scaramazzo, replacing starter Gunner Ruppert, helped set up the offense with three rushes. Then, junior quarterback Ayden Houseman hit a wide-open Davion Jones for a 52-yard touchdown strike and a quick 7-0 lead.
Perry Meridian then countered with a 1-yard Jon Hunter score and had Hunter run in two more touchdowns before the half was up to give the Falcons a 21-7 lead.
Greenwood averted a potential blowout when Houseman again hit Jones for a touchdown, this time from 27 yards out, to make it a game again right before the half.
“We played them tough and made some good adjustments at halftime,” Boser said. “We knew we had good stuff this week and were able to get Davion loose. We also ran the ball hard with Anthony.”
Greenwood certainly did. Scaramazzo, who entered the game with 146 yards rushing, ran for a game and career high 199 yards, and it was his 1-yard plunge late in the third quarter that tied the game up for the Woodmen at 21-21.
After Perry took the lead again when Zupan hit Byron Hon for a 35-yard strike late in the third, the give and take began in the fourth quarter with Greenwood driving for the tying score.
A Houseman throw was picked by Hon at the 16. However, on the next play, a mix-up on a handoff between Zupan and Hunter resulted in the Falcons’ third lost fumble and Greenwood had the ball back at the 15.
Four plays later, Houseman threw a 15-yard touchdown to Ben Hommell to tie the game with 6:28 left.
That’s when Perry Meridian executed a 10-play, 63-yard drive that culminated in the Neffle touchdown. Greenwood lost a fumble on its next possession, and that was that for the game.
Overall, Greenwood tallied 354 yards, with Houseman throwing for 139 yards and three scores. Perry Meridian had 328 total yards, but the killer for the Woodmen was Zupan’s 228 yards in the air. He completed his first 11 passes and was 15 of 19 overall.
Boser knows this game was one that got away, but the Woodmen need to put this behind them quickly as they travel to Decatur Central in Week 7.
“We’re right there, we know that, and we know we have to come and play tough and finish games,” Boser said. “We have to do that.”
