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Greer falls in opening round to Red Raiders... . Greenville makes 2nd half comeback to take 35-32 win over Jackets.... At halftime everything was just fine. The Greer Yellow Jackets were up 25-14 & it could have been more. But in something that has become painfully familiar, the Jackets didn't hold the lead they had built in the first half. The Red Raiders came back with two 3rd quarter touchdowns on short drives, and added another early in the 4th to go up 35-25. But the no quit Jackets, as they had done in the previous three close losses, rallied. Quarterback Taylor Johnson led a 94 yard drive, going 4-4 for 89 yards passing to get Greer within a field goal at 35-32 with 4:06 to play. But Greenville, who couldn't move the ball on the ground in the first half, came out & established the run big time in the 2nd. The Raider offense would keep the football the remainder of the game. The critical play came with just over a minute remaining on 4th & 3 at the Greer 43. After calling two timeouts, Greenville surprisingly went for it on 4th down and converted it, and then could kneel away the remaining time. It was a tough ending for the Jackets, who had bounced Greenville from the playoffs in 3 of the past four years, the last two in similar scores. Greer won 35-34, and 38-34 in the last two years. Greer started the scoring on a 76 yard pass from Johnson to Bryson Young on thier second posession. David Gillespie's extra point made it 7-0, but Greenville came right back with a 78 yard drive to tie the game at 7. But on the ensuing kickoff, Cedric McGowan took it back for a touchdown, racing 91 yards. The extra point was partially blocked. Greenville took their first lead at 14-13, when quarterback Matt Lentz ran it in from 9 yards late in the first quarter. The Greer defense set up the next score, when they pushed the Raiders to 4th & long. When Greenville punted from their end zone, the Jackets got posession on the Greenville 26. After just two plays, Antoine Cross scored from the 6. A missed two point conversion made it 19-14 Jackets. They would add to the lead when McGowan intercepted Lentz at the Greer 43. After gaining 14 yards on first down, Cross bolted around the right side, cut back towards the middle and raced 43 yards for another score. The extra point again was off, and it was 25-14. Greer would miss two big chances to add to their lead before halftime, when a defender had timed a would be interception perfectly that had an open field in front, and also a long Johnson pass downfield at the Red Raider 20 was dropped with two minutes remaining. Greenville, now 9-2, advances to the 2nd round next week to host the Camden Bulldogs, winners tonight at Pickens, while Greer ends it's season with a 6-5 record. The Jackets will look to regroup in the off season, as they do return most of the offense, including Cross, who finished the game with 186 yards on the ground, giving him over 2000 on the season in just 11 games. The Jackets lost those final four games by a total of 15 points. The Poinsett Grocery Players of the Game were North South All-Star McGowan, a senior in his last game as a Jacket, as he had two interceptions to go with his kickoff return, and Johnson on offense. He had 186 yards passing, two TD passes & a one yard TD run. The Yellow Jacket Network would like to thank Coach Young & all the Jackets for their hard work during the 2005 season. Perhaps this season didn't quite turn out like many have for Greer, but we are quite sure that the Greer Yellow Jackets will rise again. The conference next season will be re-alligned as an 8 team league. Clover departs and Wade Hampton, Mann, and Blue Ridge will join existing members Greer, Riverside, Eastside, Clinton, and Union. Please let's stay positive with heads held high as Greenville County's most succesful program. Greer got to that position by being positive, and will remain there with strong positive character & leadership! Thanks to the seniors for all the great times & great games as well. Greer-Greenville game photos...Greenville News
Note: The Jackets also had 171 return yards tonight.  Now the "Road to Columbia" officially begins. The Greer Yellow Jackets can take heart that after a regular season season ending 21-14 loss to the Clinton Red Devils, their 3rd straight loss in the Enoree River Conference in tough to take fashion, that there is now new life. The 2005 AAA football playoffs kick off next week & the Jackets are there. In spite of the finish, Greer will move forward as the #4 seed to face the Greenville Red Raiders next week at Sirrine Stadium in downtown Greenville. The Red Raiders took the Peach Blossom Conference crown tonight with a win over J.L. Mann. With the win tonight, Clinton secures the #2 seed from the Enoree River Conference. Union took the top spot with a 28-0 win at Clover, bouncing back from an 0-5 start. Clover will be the #3 seed and travel to Mann next week. Clinton scored early to take a 7-0 lead when Corey Wilbanks got an interception on Greer's third play and returned it to the 20 yard line. Three plays later, Freddie Byrd scored from 5 yards. Greer would begin to make plays defensively and gradually flip field position when the offense put together a nice drive. Two consecutive dropped passes in the end zone for would be touchdowns ended the drive, but when the Red Devils had to punt from near their end zone early in the 2nd quarter, Cedric McGowan burst around the corner behind a perfectly executed blcocking wall and outran the last Clinton tackler into the end zone for a 44 yard punt return. David Gillespie's extra point was good to tie the game at seven. The Greer defense stopped Clinton after one first down and the Jackets would grab the lead on an 85 yard drive. The touchdown came as quarterback Gran Simmons hit Bryson Young on a 43 yard pass play down the middle. The extra point gave Greer a 14-7 lead at halftime. The 3rd quarter started out with some typical Clinton style football, as the Red Devils went 76 yards on 11 running plays & 5:21 off the clock to get within one at 14-13. On the extra point, a penalty on Greer spotted the ball at the 1 1/2 yard line. Clinton tried a two point run, but the heart of the Jacket defense clogged things up and Greer still led by one. But just a minute later they took the lead, as on 3rd down Simmons pass towards Young was intercepted when Young slipped down. Brian Kingsborough returned it 35 yards for a Clinton touchdown, and when Wilbanks hit Sam Wilson with the two point pass, it was 21-14 at the 5:31 mark in the 3rd. Greer had a couple more chances, the biggest coming with under five minutes to play Montreal Davis stripped the ball away from Clinton's running back, setting Greer up at the Red Devil 11 yard line. After two running plays to the 8, Simmons' passes to Will Coker & Lorenzo Sullivan were incomplete. The Jackets did get the ball back with :40 to play at their 23 and drove to the Clinton 36, but similar to the ending at Union last week, the game ending throw to the end zone didn't connect and Clinton had the 21-14 win. Greer falls to 6-4 overall, while Clinton is now 7-3. They enter the playoffs next week at home, most likely against David Farnham's Blue Ridge Tigers, who won a thriller in double overtime over Wade Hampton. Wade Hampton will be Union's opponent next week, as the Enoree River & Peach Blossom Conferences are matched up in round one. Greer Head Coach Will Young expressed concern over the inability to finish teams off & capitalize on opportunity, but was still positive about his team. "These group of kids at Greer High are special, and they expect to win any game they play. We've been there with chances. We are a handful of plays from being 9-1. Instead we lose our last three to three good football teams, all close games. But you know, we get another chance to play. Hopefully we can get it going now and make a run." This will now be the 4th time in the last five years that Greer has faced Greenville in the playoffs, with the Jackets winning 48-27, 35-34, & 38-34 in 2001, 2003, & 2004. The Jackets & Red Raiders split a pair of regular season meetings in the last two years, Greenville winning 48-27 at Dooley Field last year, while Greer defeated the Red Raiders earlier this season 37-21 at Sirrine Stadium behind Anotine Cross' 295 yards rushing and four touchdowns. It should be yeat another great game between Greenville County's two most succesful football programs of the last decade. Radio air time is 6:00 for the BB&T Yellow Jacket Tailgate Show and the kickoff is 7:30. The game will be aired on WPJM AM-800 in the Upstate, and around the world from this web site. Bring your headset radios to the game and help jump start the Jackets in the playoffs next week with some Black & Gold noise at Greenville!! Playoff picture, CLICK HERE. SEE THE RING OF HONOR INDUCTEE for 2005! 2005 Class of the Greer High Hall of Fame...click here Greenville Red Raiders official web site.....click here Greenville 31 JL Mann 8, box & stats, click here Greenville Online Greenville team page, scores, stats, etc. click *Print this & take to game! Check out Van's Game breakdowns, up by Wednesday each week! Greer team page....Greenville Online, stats, stories, photos, etc.....click Current Enoree River Conference standings... Greer team page from Go Upstate......click here!
Blue Eagles rally past Jackets, 21-17  A familiar saying could generally be heard around town in the first 6 weeks of the season. "We need to get off to better starts in games." While a fast start is always nice, it couldn't have started any better for the Greer Yellow Jackets tonight, as they pounced on the Clover Blue Eagles with 17 points in the first ten minutes of the game. The defense was equally dominating, only allowing one Clover first down through the first 15 minutes of action. But hte story went bad from there, and in the end, the Blue Eagles had an improbable 21-17 comeback win Friday night over the Jackets. Greer is now 6-2 overall & 2-1 in the conference. They remain tied for 1st in the region with Clover, Clinton, & Union, all with 2-1 marks, but will now need help to secure an outright region title, even with wins in it's remaining conference games with Union & Clinton. It's now Clover who holds it's own destiny with games remaing with Eastside & Union. Greer took the opening kickoff, and with a nice blend of running & short passes, easily moved downfield 64 yards in 8 plays, the last five on an Antoine Cross touchdown run. Daniel Fiske added the extra point to put the Jackets up 7-0. Clover punted after three plays, and the Jackets made quick work to get downfield again. A dropped touchdown pass forced Greer to settle for a 24 yard field goal by Fiske and a 10-0 lead with 4:20 to go in the 1st quarter. Another three plays by Clover, and another punt set Greer up at it's own 33. The high rolling Greer offense got a long run by quarterback Taylor Johnson, an 8 yard pass play to Jerrick Gaffney, and then Cross ripped through the Blue Eagles for a 35 yard touchdown run & it was 17-0. Cross, leading the Upstate in rushing coming in, finished the night with 102 yards on the ground. From there, the teams swapped punts and Clover would mount it's first drive of the night. Starting from it's 26, it took 13 plays, but Timmy Boyd found the end zone for Clover, but the extra point was wide & it was 17-6. Greer bounced right back, moving downfield again with ease, and capped the drive with a 40 yard touchdown pass. After some question & discussion, & what might have been the eventual game winning pionts, the play was ruled out of bounds, and Greer would end up punting on the posession. As the second half begun & a 17-6 Greer lead, the Jackets jarred loose the opening kickoff and recovered it at the Blue Eagle 29. But they could not capitalize on that break, and would punt it back to Clover. And though they wouldn't score on the drive, Matt Salerno flipped the field on the Jackets with a first down 52 yard run, when Chris Owens had to chase him down. That drive ended with Cedric McGowan intercepting a Clover pass at the Greer 12. But after a 3 & out for Greer, who had only 16 offensive plays in the 2nd half, Clover had a short field, set up at the Jacket 26. Getting short to modest gains on each play, the Blue Eagles crawled to within three on another Boyd run from five yards & a Salerno ran for the 2 point conversion. A costly personal foul call on Greer on the conversion, allowed Clover, now 6-2 on the season to attempt an onsides kick, which they converted and recovered at the Greer 34. Brimming with momentum, Clover scored the game winning points on a two yard Boyd run with 11:12 to play. The PAT made it 21-17. Greer would get three more posessions, but did not seriously threaten. When they stopped Clover with just over threee minutes to play, the started from their 26, got a first down, then hit another pass out to the 45. But Cross was then tackled for a seven yard loss. On third down, Johnson just missed a reciever at midfield that might have produced big yardage, and on 4th down, Johsnon hit Lorenzo Sullivan for a 7 yard gain that was three yards short. Coach Will Young was dissapointed with the loss, but maintained the Jackets must learn from their mistakes, and now focus on next week's opponent Union. "We just didn't finish the job. Even with some things that seemed to go against us, we must still find a way to overcome those things. Our goals have not changed one bit. We want to win our league. We want to go deep in the playoffs. We can still achieve those things." The Jackets now travel again this week to Union to face a Union team that started 0-5 against an exremely tough schedule, then upset Clinton, beat Eastside, and was upset itself tonight at Riverside, 20-16 behind the Warrior's Steven Jackson's 57 & state record (tied) 63 yard field goals. Game time will be 7:30, radio air time will be 6:00 with the BB&T Yellow Jacket Tailgate Show. We'll be broadcsting inside Union County Stadium on an open FM frequency, so go & take your headsets to the game. We'll be on the internet from this website too, and of course, you can always listen on AM-800, WPJM all over the Upstate. Please Jacket fans, let's stay positive & stay behind these Yellow Jackets. Let's see them get hot now, as the Road to Columbia is still within reach! GO JACKETS!! *Print this & take to game! Check out Van's Game breakdowns, up by Wednesday each week! Riverside tops Union 20-16 - Gville Online... Next week's opponent - Union athletic website... Current Enoree River Conference standings...
 Tonight in Jacket Bowl IX, the match up between Greer & Union once again was an all out battle filled with big hits, big breaks, and high drama. It once again came down to the wire, as Taylor Johnson's pass towards Jerrick Gaffney in the end zone was knocked away as time expired to give Union a 10-9 victory. The win broke a three game losing streak for Union to Greer and buys embattled second year Coach Tommy Bobo some breathing room heading into a conference title game next week at Clover. Greer dropped it's second straight game & is now 6-3 on the season, and 2-2 in the Enoree River Conference. Greer will host Clinton at Dooley Field next week in the regular season finale. Even with the loss, the Jackets clinched a playoff berth tonight with Riverside's 35-0 loss to Clinton. Though Greer cannot win the region, the Jackets can finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th, win or lose next week. Come back & see the different possibilites that Van Brannon will post in the next couple of days. Union got on the board first with a 37 yard field goal by David Gregory after getting a 40 yard fumble recovery return to the Greer 20. Gregory's kick made it 3-0. Then Greer would move the ball effectively downfield, but fumbled on 1st & 10 from the Union 21. The Union team would then march on their only sustained drive of the night, going 79 yards on 13 plays, the final play a Cameron Willis to Travis Sims pass to make it 10-0 at halftime. After the break, Greer would move close on their second posession of the half with a 6 play, 44 yard drive, as Gran Simmons hit Jerrick Gaffney with a 23 yard scoring strike. David Gillespie added the PAT and Greer was within three at 10-7. Simmons was inserted into the game late in the first half at QB, while Gillespie took over for Daniel Fiske, who was injured while punting in the first quarter. Following a great defensive stop, Kendall Freeman blocked the Union punt and Greer was in business. The Jackets moved it deep into Union's red zone, when Simmons scored an apparent touchdown on a keeper, only to have it brought back because of an illegal block. From there, a holding penalty forced Greer to attempt a 35 yard field goal by Gillespie that came up short. On the next Union posession Greer linebacker James Willett stripped the ball from Union running back Kendrick Neal and was running upfield for another apparent touchdown. This time, Union maintained posession of the football when the officials ruled the whistle had sounded. The Jacket defense held Union time & again, and when Montreal Davis recovered a Union fumble, again caused by Willett, at the Greer 40, the Jackets moved to the Union 34 but were stopped on downs. The Greer defense kept appying pressure, getting two tackles for loss & a sack to force Union to punt from their own end zone. Union took an intentional safety with just over 3 minutes to play as Zack Fry pushed David Gregory out of the end zone. Those two points made it 10-9. On the free kick from the 20, Lorenzo Sullivan returned Gregory's nice kick out to the 40, but once again the Jackets could not get a drive going. Yet another defensive push and another near block of the Union punt gave Greer the ball at it's 23 with 16.8 seconds remaining. Johnson then threw it deep, and Justin Anderson came down with it at the Union 32. After a spike to stop the clock, Johnson's last gasp throw was knocked away. Coach Will Young said his team fought hard. "We definitely did not quit. This is a tough place to play & our kids played hard. We still struggle to make a play when we need it, but I'm not ready to give up on these guys yet. We can still work this into a great season, but the time is now." Greer tailback Anoine Cross' streak of 100 yards games came to an end as he was held to just 17 yards on the ground. The Poinsett Grocery players of the game were Gran Simmons on offense, and Roni Williams on defense. Simmons captained the only Greer scoring drive, while Williams had nine tackles, two sacks, and two more for loss. Union can win the region with a win at Clover next week, while Clover not only needs a win, but needs Clinton to lose to take the crown. Next week is Hall of Fame, and Ring of Honor night for Greer, who will also say goodbye to several seniors in their last regular season game at Dooley Field. Come out & get vocal for the Greer Yellow Jackets to begin that late push towards the playoffs & beyond. Game time is 7:30 & radio airtime is 6:00. The game can also be heard from this web site around the world. Please try to be in the stands if at all possible next Friday and ssupport the Jackets!! Greer-Union photo gallery - courtesy of Eddie Adams (unionyellowjackets.com) *Print this & take to game! Check out Van's Game breakdowns, up by Wednesday each week! Current Enoree River Conference standings...
 Riverside's game plan might have been to keep it tight for three quarters & win it in the other one. They came through with the first part as the two teams battled through three scoreless quarters, but a quick scoring splash by the Greer Yellow Jackets in the first quarter gave them a 21-0 lead en route to victory on Homecoming night at a soggy Dooley Field. Playing in a steady rain for most of the evening, the Jackets punted deep into Warrior territory & got a break, when on 2nd down Roni Williams reached in and stripped the ball from Riverside quarterback Michael Wade at the Warrior 17. Three plays later Greer QB Taylor Johnson followed his offensive line on a sneak to give Greer a 6-0 lead. After the kickoff Geoff Ballenger gave Greer the ball right back as he recovered another fumble at the Riverside 12. Two plays later from the four, Antoine Cross banged in for a score. Sophomore Gran Simmons, who shared time with Johnson at quarterback, got the two point conversion with a nice around the corner. That made it 14-0, and after forcing a Riverside punt to the Greer 39, Johnson made a beautiful pass to Will Coker inside the Warrior five. From there, Cross scored again, giving him 17 touchdowns on the season. Daniel Fiske got the extra point through and the scoring was done at 21-0. Greer would threaten on several more occasions on the night, but with the soggy field limiting play call options, and Riverside intent on slowing the Jacket ground game, no more points would be scored. A fumble at the Riverside five in the 3rd quarter on a hard hit was perhaps Greer's best chance at points in the 2nd half. Coach Will Young was pleased with the effort in the challenging conditions. "Our guys just love to play football, and there is a toughness about this team that I like. Our defense continues to be what we hang our hat on. I can't say enough about those guys. Our secondary played well against an extremely talented quarterback. Our offense came out really good early, and that's good. We have been starting slow, so it was good to get ahead. I just wish we hadn't pout it on the ground there a couple of times and we could have got it in the end zone a couple more times, but credit Riverside, they kept playing hard. Coach Frost & those guys are doing it right over there. We just need to work hard this week to get readu for Clover." The Poinsett Grocery Players of the game were Geoff Ballenger on defense, and Richard Holland from the offensive line that paved the way for another 200+ yard night on the ground for Antoine Cross, who took the lead tonight in the Upstate rushing yard totals for the season. The Jackets, now 6-1 on the year, and 2-0 in the Enoree River Conference, will travel to Clover next week to face the Blue Eagles. Clover is 5-2 after a tough 7-0 loss tonight to Clinton. Clover racked up over 500 yards rushing last Friday night in a 49-28 over Riverside on a dry field at the Reservation. Please try & make the trip & make some noise for the Jackets, as Clover is always a tough place to play. The last time Greer played at Clover was the 2002 playoffs, when the Jackets won 38-35 in the Upstate Semi's in one of the all time great Greer wins. We will be broadcasing live at the game on an open FM frequency, probably in the 98-100 FM range. So take your headset on the road. This road radio broadcast is brought to you by the Tipton Consulting Group. We'll also, thanks to our good friend Laura Simmons at Joy Real Estate, have the internet broadcast from this web site, and of course we will be on in Greer & the Upstate WPJM AM-800. So we hope you'll be there, but if you can't, wherever you are you plenty of options to keep track of the game. Congratulations to the Jackets for getting their 6th win & staying unbeaten in the conference with a 21-0 victory over Riverside.
 In 2003 Greer had a pretty good football team. After all, they did win the AAA State Championship, but on a late September night that year in the first Enoree River Conference game, and inspired Eastside Eagle team whipped the Jackets 31-19 in a game that really wasn't that close. Tonight, Greer was 4-1 coming into their first Enoree River Conference game, and they took on an inspired Eastside Eagle team, who with under five minutes to play, had a 23-20 lead and the ball at the Greer 40 yard line. But after a penalty & a tackle for loss put them in a passing situation, Greer freshman Justin Bright intercepted the Eagle pass & returned it to the Eastside 33. Just three plays later, a 4 yard run by Antoine Cross gave the Jackets the lead with 3:34 to go. Needing an 80 yard drive to reclaim the lead against a Greer defense that totally shut them down in the 2nd half, the Eagles lost five yards in three plays & were forced to go for it on 4th from their own 15. After stopping that play, Greer scored on another Cross run, then Kendal Freeman picked off another pass on the next play, returned it for a touchdown and the Jackets ended up winning going away. Eastside, in fact, led all but five minutes of the game until Cross's late score. They opened the scoring just under four minutes into the game with a safety, taking a 2-0 lead by tackling Cross behind the goal line on a sweep. Eastside punter Jason Billings pinned Greer at it's one yard line with a 61 yard punt. The scored stayed 2-0 through the end of the first quarter. Greer did take a brief lead with a 22 yard Cross run, capping a six play 59 yard drive. A two point conversion attempt failed & it was 6-2 Jackets. Using Billings as a weapon and seeing the Greer offense misfire, Eastside maintained an edge in field position for most of the half, and when Greer punted midway through the quarter, Justin Gilliard returned it 55 yards for a touchdown & Ryan Fowler's extra point gave the lead back to Eastside. Greer quickly bounced back, getting a 47 yard run by Cross to the Eagle 14, but they had to settle for a 32 yard field goal attempt to tie the game. The kick was blocked, & as the ball bounded to right of the line, there was Gilliard again, picking up a perfect bounce and racing 75 yards for another score to make it 16-6. After the kickoff, which Greer retuned out to the 29, Anotine Cross sccoted 71 yards throught the tackles for a TD, getting the Jackets within three at the 2:27 mark. A good play on the kickoff by Greer left the Eagles at their own ,but impressively, they would march 93 yards in 7 plays, the last being a post route by Wes FIncher & quarterback Austin Reeves hit him for a 44 yard pass with :03 on the clock & Eastside took a 23-13 lead into the locker room. "We challenged the guys at halftime to start making plays" said Head Coach Will Young after the game on the Yellow Jackets Sports Network. "We needed some leadership out there, and for someone to make some plays." After the break, Eastside gained 16 yards on first down out to the 44 yard line. That's more than they would pick up the rest of the game, as the Greer defense held Eastside to just 29 yards and three first downs in the half, one on the first play, another on a pass interference penalty. Still, the offense suffered from what Young called "inconsistency", and at least three dropped passes that would have kept the chains moving. Cross inched the Jackets closer with 3:15 to go in the 3rd his second one play drive, this time going 54 yards to make it 23-20 Eagles, and that's the way it stayed until Bright's interception.Coach Young was especially pleased with his team's heart. "I am very proud of our team for not giving up. We had some tough things happen out there. It would have been easy for them to say, well this was just not our night, but they wouldn't do that. With heart, they fought back & wouldn't be denied. I am real pleased with how, on a not so perfect night, we still played through all that and found a way. It feels great to get that first conference win & I am happy for those kids." The Poinsett Grocery Players of the Game were Bright for his turning point of the game interception. He also had another interception in the 2nd quarter. Honorable mention goes to Cedrick McGowan, who had three interceptions himself. In all, the Greer secondary had what might just be a school record seven interceptions. On offense Anotine Cross gets the honor as he rushed for 349 yards and five touchdowns, giving him over 1200 yards on the season. Greer is now 5-1 on the season, but more importantly is 1-0 in the Enoree River Conference. The Jackets will host the Riverside Warriors next week at Dooley Field for Homecoming. Riverside played a 5-1 Clover team tough all night, but three quick turnovers in the seacond half allowed the Blue Raiders to pull away. In other Enoree River Conference action, Union defeated Clinton. Please come out & give vocal support to the Yellow Jackets next Friday night. Kickoff is at 7:30. Radio air time is 6:00 for the BB&T Yellow Jacket Tailgate Show, and our internet broadcast from this web site will begin shortly after that. We thank you all for listening both at the games & on the radio & website. GO JACKETS! Audio highlight of the game...from SCPigskinPrep Greer/Eastside photo gallery...Gville Online Check out Van's Game breakdowns, up by Wednesday each week! Riverside team page...Gville Online Current Enoree River Conference standings... Clover 49 Riverside 28 Union 28 Clinton 7 Greer 41 Eastside 23 (Audio recap of the game, click here) Click here as "The Voice of the Yellow Jackets" gives you an audio preview of Greer vs. Eastside
 There is the pre-season, then there are the first five games, which the past four years have been non-conference games, kind of like an extended pre-season. Get your people in the right positions, put in a big chunk of the playbook, get some experience, and get ready for the real season, the last five games, which is the conference season. The Greer Yellow Jackets have done all that through these games and are now 4-1, following a very solid 28-10 win over the Pickens Blue Flames Friday night at Dooley Field. The Blue Flames, playing without leading rusher Willis Earle & head coach Brett Turner, the Blue Flames came in inspired for their teammate & coach and quickly took a 3-0 lead on a 38 yard field goal by Ryan Martin following a 67 yard drive with 4:33 to go in the opening quarter. Greer wouldn't trail for long, as quarterback Taylor Johnson hit Lorenzo Sullivan on a deep pass down the middle on third down, that went for 64 yards and a touchdown in a drive that took all of 1:23. Daniel Fiske tacked on the extra point to make it 7-3 Jackets. Pickens would fight right back to the lead, as they mounted an impressive drive of 14 plays covering 72 yards, when fullback William Pitts scored from the one. The Blue Flames converted a fourth and four from the Greer 24 on the drive. But on the next posession for Greer, the Jackets went back to a ground attack that saw Antoine Cross break a 30 yard run into Blue Flame territory, then score from 13 yards out to make it 14-10 Jackets with 3:05 to go before the break. Like the previous week, the Greer defense would clamp down in the second half, allowing no points. Although Pickens would move into the Greer side of the field on the opening drive of the half, Martin missed a field goal. After back to back turnovers on back to back plays, Greer would extend it's lead on a five play, 61 yard drive again capped off by an Antoine Cross touchdown run, this one from 12 yards. Cross notched another score with just 1:24 remaining, following a failed fourth down conversion attempt by Pickens that gave Greer the ball at the Blue Flame 32. Cross rushed for 186 yards on 30 carries on the night. Fiske's final extra point of the night made it 28-10. Pickens falls to 2-3 on the season, while Greer takes it's 4-1 mark into the first Enoree River Conference game on the raod at Eastside next week. Greer's head coach Will Young was pleased with the win. "We did a good job getting the ball into several different kids hands tonight. Antoine Cross got his yards & three big scores. Lorenzo made plays for us tonight. Our defense allowed more plays than I like, but they again had a good game. We feel fairly good about where we are right now, but of course we are still looking to improve. Eastside always plays Greer tough, and I'm sure next week will be no different. They are well coached. You know, when we won the state two years ago, we were whipped pretty good by Eastside in game six. We don't want that to happen again, so we'd better work hard & be prepared." The Poinsett Grocery Players of the Game were Lorenzo Sullivan on offense. He had five catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Spencer Talley had three sacks on defense and was named the defensive player of the game. Game time next Friday will be at 7:30 on the Eastside campus, while radio air time will be 6:00 for the BB&T Yellow Jacket Tailgate Show. Please come support the Jackets in person of you can, and bring along your headsets and listen in on WPJM AM-800. If you can't be there, we appreciate all of you who listen each week. Just remember, you can also listen in every week from this website anywhere in the world. Get ready next week as the chase for the Enoree River Conference title begins! Greer/Pickens game photos...Gville Online Greer-Pickens box score & stats from Greenville Online....click Eastside team page--Greenville Online Easley 24 , Next week foe Eastside 14, click Easley-Eastside game photos.......... Check out Van's Game breakdowns, up by Wednesday each week! Eastside athletic web site-- Click here. (good site!)
Quarterback Taylor Johnson looks for a receiver against the Bulldogs in the 42-0 Greer win The Greer Yellow Jackets just wanted to get back out there & play football. After two longs weeks through an open date following their first loss of the season, the team was anxious to play, and even though they started out a little slow, the offense got better as the night rolled on, and the defense just got downright nasty. They allowed just 16 yards rushing, negative 10 in the second half to Berea team that rushed for over 200 yards in their previous game. The Jackets, who were held scoreless in the first fifteen & a half minutes, put up 14 points in each of the last three quarters. After some first quarter sparring, which saw Greer move to the Bulldog 33, then fail to convert on fourth down, and Berea missing a 32 yard field goal, Greer finally got a break early in the second quarter as the Bulldogs handed the Jackets the ball at the 9 on a bad snap on a would be punt. After a five yard penalty, Antoine Cross made a splendid run for a touchdown, taking it inside, then right, then back left at the five. Daniel Fiske made his first of five extra points to make it 7-0. The defense would get a three & out, and then the offense would then make it's best drive of the night, an eight play 81 yard march that ended with another Cross TD, this one untouched from six yards around the left corner at the 3:52 mark. Cross rushed for 181 yards on 18 carries on the evening. It was 14-0 at the half, and at the 6:59 mark in the 3rd, quarterback Taylor Johnson hit Cedrick McGowan with a beautiuful pass near the back of the end zone for a 33 yard score to make it 21-0. On the next posession, Jerrick Gaffney intercepted a Bulldog pass, and a series later, Greer got another turnover, this one a fumble recovery at the Berea 3 yard line. From there, Johnson faked it to Cross, kept it around the side, and walked in for the touchdown. With the defense suffocating the Bulldog offense, Greer added two fourth quarter touchdowns, the first a 7 yard pass from Johnson to Bryson Young, and the final points came from the defense, when Chris Gorman knocked the ball loose in the end zone & Spencer Talley recovered it for the touchdown. David Gillespie booted the extra point for the final point of the night to make it 42-0 at the 4:42 mark, giving the defense their first shutout of the year. Berea's best chance at points came near the end of the first half when they recovered a fumble at the Greer 15 with two minutes left. But two incomplete passes & two sacks turned the 'Dogs away. The Poinsett Grocery Players of the Game were Roni Williams on defense, and Taylor Johnson on offense. Congratulations to these guys for their good play. Coach Will Young was fairly pleased with the effort. "We were fine. Our kids worked hard in the open weeks. We're continuing to try & mix things up offensively. We want to take some pressure off of Antoine and be able to do lots of things well. You know, we didn't play that poorly in the first half tonight. We seemed to just make a mistake or get a penalty at the wrong time. Once we got things going tonight, it turned out to be a pretty good performance. We'll continue to get better." The Jackets next week will play host to the Pickens Blue Flame at Dooley Field, wrapping up the non-conference slate of games. Enoree River Conference play begins in full the next week. Pickens will come in steaming after being upset by Travelers Rest tonight 15-14. T.R. converted a fourth quarter two point conversion run by quarterback Mike Garrison to get the win, after Pickens had just scored to take a 14-7 lead. Kickoff is at 7:30. Radio air time is at 6:00 for the BB&T Yellow Jacket Tailgate Show, and all the action can be heard through this web site as well. Tell your out of town friends they can listen no matter where they are! Congratulations to the Jackets on the 42-0 win to move to 3-1 on the season! Photos of Greer/Berea from Gville Online... Game stats... Next weeks opponent...Pickens team page...Gville Online Travelers Rest 15-- Pickens 14.....click
#1 Byrnes races past Jackets.....  . Rebels use 28 point 2nd quarter to pull away to 56-0 win...... The Byrnes Rebels showed an overflow crowd at Dooley Field exactly why they have been the talk of the preseason Friday night with an impressive performance against #4 Greer. The Rebels were sparked by for second quarter touchdowns led by Clemson commitment Will Korn. Korn's first TD came with 10:53 to go in the first half on a three yard run, capping a 12 play, 97 yard drive, that included two third down and a fourth down conversion. That followed a scoreless first quarter that actually saw Greer with the edge in field position and total yards. The Jackets marched their opening drive from their 23 to first & goal at the Byrnes three yard line. After three straight handoffs for no gain, the Jackets elected to go for the touchdwon, and Chris Owens was tackled just inside the two. A good defensive series followed for Greer, who narrowly missed sacking Korn for a safety. Greer would move again into Byrnes territory at the 33, but Taylor Johnson's pass was intercepted at the Byrnes 6. A penalty on the Rebels marked it at the three as the Rebels would then embark on their 97 yard drive. Korn's next three TD's would be through the air, as he hit Jamar Anderson on a 58 yard pass, then Randall Hawkins & Matt Quinn from 24 & 8 yards, respectively, the later coming with 2:50 to go in the half after a Greer fumble at the 23. Byrnes kicker Jordan Kibler was perfect on the night. After the break, Korn passed 25 yards to Hawkins with 5:29 to go in the 3rd after on a drive that took just one play when Antoine Cross for Greer ran 12 yards for a first down, and appeared to be down as the ball popped out. The play was ruled a fumble however, setting up Byrnes for the 25 yard score. Cross had another nice game for the Jackets,as he topped 150 yards on the night, his long run coming on a 48 yarder in the 3rd quarter to the Rebel 31. Reserve QB Daniel Barton threw two touchdown passes and Zack Jenkins tossed another to finish out the scoring for the Rebels, who move to 3-0 on the season. With the loss, Greer falls to 2-1. The Poinsett Grocery Players of the Game for Greer were Brett Fisher on offense, and Daniel Fiske on defense. The Jackets have an open date next Friday night before hosting the Berea Bulldogs on September 16 at Dooley Field. Thanks to everyone who came out for most likely what was the largest crowd ever Dooley Field to see a very young Greer Yellow Jacket team. Greenville Online Photo gallery of the Greer-Byrnes game Jackets golden in bruising victory over Greenville  . Greer breaks out gold jerseys in 37-21 win over Greenville High...... Yesterday Greenville was ranked as high as #2 in the state in 3A, and the Greer Yellow Jackets were somewhere just off the radar of most high school football experts. Yesterday Greer was the team that squeezed past Hillcrest in the first game, while Greenville was the talk of the summer leagues with a high octane offense. Yesterday it was Greenville who last week put up 43 points in just a half against highly regarded Daniel, while Greer was the team that graduated 28 seniors and was starting a sophomore quarterback with exactly 0 minutes played in varsity competition. That was yesterday. Because on this day, a rejuvenated Greer offense exploded out of the gates with two first quarter touchdowns and a stifling defense that had six sacks & four batted down passes en route to a 37-21 win over the Red Raiders at Sirrine Stadium. Sophomore Taylor Johnson, getting the start at QB in place of injured Chad Friar, led the march down the field on Greer's second drive of the night, completing two long passes along the way. Behind the "Buzz Bone", Antoine Cross waltzed in for a one uard run to give the Jackets the lead. Daniel Fiske made his first kick on what would be a perfect night for him, making it 7-0 with 5:44 to play in the 1st. A good defensive series got Greer the ball right back, and another march downfield on another long pass and two Antoine Cross runs. Cross scored again from the one & it was 14-0 with :27 remaining in the first quarter. Greer would dominate both sides of the ball throughout the half, but could not punch accross any more points, and when Greenville QB Matt Lentz hit Markus Boswell with a 37 yard TD pass, the Raiders were right back in it with :30 to play in the half at 14-7. Greenville had a chance to tie it up, recieving the 2nd half kickoff and moving the ball to the Greer 30. But three straight sacks by the Greer defense would force the Raiders to punt when it was 4th & 37. From their own 31, Cross ripped off two 15 yard runs, a 2 yard gainer, and a lightning bolt 20 yard run for a touchdwon. That put the lead back to 14 at 21-7. Minutes later Fiske booted a 30 yard field goal after Boswell had the ensuing kickoff return stripped from him at the Greenville 41. That made it 24-7 with 9:50 to play. The teams would swap touchdowns the rest of the way, culminating with a 75 yard interception return for a touchdown by Treal Davis on the games final play. Davis, a member of the 2005 Greer High State Championship basketball team, was mobbed by his teammates as it was the perfect ending for a superb performance by the Jackets. In all Antoine Cross had 46 carries for 295 yards & four touchdowns. In last season's 38-34 playoff win over Greenville, Arthur Sitton rushed for 260 yards. In Johnson's first start at QB, he was 8-17 passing for 158 yards. Greer amassed 442 yards in total offense for the game. Coach Will Young was excited about his teams performance. "I have to say that this night is about as happy as I have been as a coach. It was a great environment against a great team, in front of a big crowd. Our coaches developed a great game plan, and our kids played their hearts out. Some people might have gotten a little down on us after the way we played last week, but you know, that's a compliment. Everyone on our team & in our community expects us to play well & win every game. Shoot, we want to live up to that. We had a good night here, and now we want to build on this." Cross simply gave credit to his offensive line. "Those guys up front executed great. When they are blocking like that, my job is simple. It was fun out there tonight." The Poinsett Grocery Players of the game were Taylor Johnson on offense, and Treal Davis on defense. The Jackets, now 2-0, will be at Dooley Field next week to take on the Byrnes Rebels in their home opener. The Rebels, coached by Bobby Bentley, are three time defending state champions in Division II 4A, and come in with two impressive wins in the early season. Radio air time will be 6:00 for the BB&T Yellow Jacket Tailgate Show, and the kickoff is at 7:30. If you can't make it, please tune in to AM-800 WPJM, and the game can be heard from anywhere in the world from this web site. But please come to the game if you can. Greenville Online photo gallery of the Greer-Greenville game.....click Grenville Online.....Greer football team page, including Enoree River Conference standings, click. Greer wins rivalry...Gville News article Photo Gallery - Gville Online Jackets next opponent...Byrnes rolls over Eastside
Jackets squeak out 7-6 over Hillcrest in season opener  . Will Young notches first win as Greer's Head Coach...... It wasn't the prettiest win a Greer football team ever got, but with under 30 seconds to play & Hillcrest at Greer's 15 yard line trailing only by a point, ready to send in placekicker Kory Pippen, who had already nailed kicks from 37 & 41 yards, a 7-6 win over the Rams looked just fine. Rather than hand the ball off & play for a winning field goal, the Rams rolled out quarterback Matt Gaines. Mario Erby of the Jackets sliced through & tackled Gaines for a 4 yard loss. Then Gaines was penalized for spiking the ball out of the shotgun, something you can only do in high school from under center. That moved the ball back to the 24, and after Greer took a pair of time outs, Pippen missed wide right and just 8 seconds remained. Greer took one snap and won it's season opener for the sixth straight season. For Hillcrest, who was 5-7 last season, it had to be doubly difficult, considering they fought back from a 49-7 loss to the Jackets last year at Dooley Field. As the game started, both teams swapped punt after punt as the defenses dominated. Hillcrest got the first break of the game on a interception of a Chad Fryar pass, and returned it to the Greer 49. Eight plays later Pippen hit the 37 yarder to put the Rams up 3-0 with 5:32 before halftime. After Greer punted & with Hillcrest backed up deep, Alex Burke picked off a Gaines pass & returned in 15 yards to the Ram 20. Greer tailback Antoine Cross ran 17 yards to the 3, and after a 2 yard loss, Cross scored from 5 yards out with 1:11 to play in the first half. Daniel Fiske's extra point made it 7-3 Jackets. In the 2nd half, Greer had a couple of promising drives, but couldn't sustain them. Then, late in the 3rd quarter, Bryson Young didn't cleanly field a Ram punt, and the ball was recovered by Hillcrest at the Greer 17. The Greer defense, led by Chris Owens on this posession, was able to limit the Rams to another Pippen field goal to make it 7-6 with 11:13 to play. After another pair of swapped punts, the Jackets took over from their own 4 yard line with 5 minutes left & would impressively move out to the 39, but with 3:00 to play Friar would fumble and the Rams recovered, setting up the drama in the final seconds. "We were very fortunate to win", said Head Coach Will Young after his first game at the helm of the Jackets. "The defense dug deep & did a great job. Sooner or later, we're gonna get this offense to get going. The mistakes we made really hurt us & to a large degree, those are the mistakes that are common among young teams like ours. The good thing is, is that they are correctable mistakes. We're glad to get by and get a win." The Poinsett Grocery Players of the game were Antoine Cross on offense, and Mario Erby on defense. Cross had 115 yards rushing & a touchdown in his first game as a starter, after taking over for departed Arthur Sitton, who last year was the state's leading rusher. Cross also had a reception for 13 yards. Erby had three sacks and was a presence all night on defense. The Jackets, now 1-0, travel to Sirrine Stadium next week to take on the Greenville Red Raiders. The Raiders have a new coach of their own in Jim Sosebee. It will be opening night for Greenville. Radio air time will be 6:00 for the BB&T Yellow Jacket Tailgate Show, and the kickoff is at 7:30. If you can't make it, please tune in to AM-800 WPJM. At the game with your FM headset, you can listen in on 98.5 FM in and ariund the stadium, and the game can be heard from anywhere in the world from this web site. But please come to the game if you can. Greenvile Online..........Jackets aviod Rams' trap....click here Photos from the Tribune Times of the game....click Go Upstate............opening night for high school football, click. Grenville Online.....Greer football team page, including Enoree River Conference standings, click.
 Becomes only the fifth head coach at Greer since 1950..... "Greer finds it's coach"......Go Upstate Greenville Online....."Young eagerly picks up torch"....click Article from Go Upstate......"Greer's Perry resigns", click here | 2002 Football Season | 2003 Football Season | 2003 Football Game Stats | 2004 Football Season | 2005 Football Season | 2006 Football Season | 2007 Football Season | 2008 Football Season | 2009 Football Season | 2010 Football Season | 2011 Football Season | 2012 Football Season | 2013 Football Season | 2014 Football Season | 2015 Football Season | 2016 Football Season | 2017 Football Season | 2018 Football Season | 2019 Football Season | 2020 Football Season | 2021 Football Season | 2022 Football Season | 2023 Football Season | | Return Home | Yellow Jacket Sports Network | History, Hall of Fame, & More | Region 2 AAAA | Greer Football | Audio - Video Page | Useful Links | Yellow Jacket Basketball | Contact Us | |
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