MARTINSVILLE
Greenwood’s high-powered offense got the job done once again.
The Woodmen racked up over 500 yards of total offense on Friday en route to a 43-28 road win over Martinsville at Siderewicz Field.
Greenwood (3-0, 1-0 Mid-State) got another big game from senior quarterback Brock Riddle, who threw for 300 yards on a 12-of-21 line with four touchdowns. He also rushed for 44 yards and a touchdown on 10 attempts.
The game started in frantic fashion, as Martinsville (1-2) scored a touchdown on the second play from scrimmage on a 61-yard pass play less than a minute into the game. Greenwood answered right back on its second play from scrimmage, a 75-yard pass from Riddle to senior Chase Monroe. On Martinsville’s ensuing possession, Greenwood senior Tanner Crouch intercepted Artesians quarterback A.J. Reynolds. Five plays later, Riddle ran for a 9-yard score.
After a nice kickoff return, Martinsville responded just three plays later on a jump ball caught by Mason Dodson.
Greenwood head coach Justin Boser wasn’t fazed by the early Artesian touchdowns and the frenzied opening.
“It’s nothing that we haven’t done before,” Boser said. “The first two games, we started down, big plays; same thing tonight, they score second play of the game, and we just keep battling back. We know offensively we can make some big plays too. So we got right back in it, and it’s just a battle the rest of the way.”
Riddle and Monroe hooked up for a second touchdown later in the first quarter, this one for 67 yards, to make it 20-14 Woodmen.
Riddle led the state in passing entering this game, and he looked the part yet again. Boser praised his performance.
“He did a great job,” Boser said. “They mixed up coverages, they’re moving guys around, we had to have checks at the line with our run game, we had checks in our pass game, and he just did a great job of navigating the offense and leading.”
Martinsville made a huge fourth-down conversion early in the second quarter, and regained the lead two plays later on a 10-yard run by Brayden Shrake. Greenwood answered with its best drive of the half, spanning 90 yards in nearly seven minutes, capped off by a 9-yard touchdown run by senior Alan Burnett. Burnett totaled 146 yards on 31 carries on the night.
The Woodmen defense bent but didn’t break near the end of the first half, as freshman Davion Jones made a key interception in the end zone. Greenwood took its 28-21 lead to halftime.
The Woodmen opened the second half with a nine-play touchdown drive, finished off by a 12-yard Riddle pass to senior Cooper Smith.
After a defensive stop, Greenwood put together another long drive — this one over seven minutes long. Riddle hit Crouch for a 15-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 43-21.
Martinsville didn’t go down easily, scoring a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it a two-possession game again. Greenwood compiled a 12-play drive that nearly sealed the game with six minutes remaining, but a fourth-down drop kept the Artesians alive. But after a few first downs, they too were stopped on fourth down.
Martinsville threw an interception with about a minute remaining in the game to seal the Woodmen victory.
Boser was particularly proud of his team’s performance after halftime.
“What’s key here is every time in the second half, we come out and we take care of business in the second half,” Boser said. “We play hard, we’ve trained hard for the second half. And that shows up every Friday night right now.”
Greenwood returns home next week to take on Mooresville.
