Greenville Christian moved to a solid 5-1 record Friday night with a 46-14 blowout over the visiting Canton Panthers Friday night.
Most teams assured of a lead at halftime would be content to kneel down and head inside for the intermission. But in a first half where multiple turnovers swung momentum back and forth, Greenville Christian quarterback DJ Smith used his legs for a 50-yard run and a few players later a 12-yard touchdown to push Greenville Christian to a 24-14 lead at the half.
“That touchdown was huge for us because we struggled in the first half,” said Saints head coach John Reed McLendon. “It gave a a sense of confidence and control at the half when all we had to do is press the reset button instead of the panic button in the second half.”
Despite a few dropped passes and penalties, Greenville Christian’s offense continued to pour it on in the second half. “These kids have been making plays all season,” McLendon said. “ The dropped passes are mental errors more than anything else. GCS running back Marlon Palmer added his second touchdown of the night on the second play of the third quarter with a 45- yard run up the middle. The extra point gave the Saints a 32-14 lead early in the third quarter.
With 3:50 left in the third, Smith floated a 38-yard touchdown pass over a Panthers defensive back to Josh Martin. The two-point conversion pushed the Saints lead to 40-14. Palmer added a late touchdown to give GCS a 46-14 lead with 7:15 remaining in the game.
The Panthers scored first with 10:02 remaining in the first quarter when a mishandled punt snap squirted through the end zone. The safety staked Canton to an early 2-0 lead.
Greenville Christian’s offense responded with a a balanced 10-play 72- yard drive punctuated by a Smith-to-Dylan Metcalfe, touchdown pass. Smith called his own number on the two-point conversion and GCS led 8-2 with 3:57 remaining in first quarter.
Late in the first quarter and early in the second stanza, the home standing Saints changed up their aerial show of acrobatic throws and catches to the ground game and Palmer. Palmer helped Greenville Christian extend to a 16-2 lead with a two-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion with 1:24 remaining in the first quarter.
Canton put together its best offensive series of the first half midway through the second quarter. Behind the niftiness of quarterback Semaj Peel, the Panthers marched 65 yards to their first touchdown of the contest, a Peel two-yard score.
The extra point failed and the Saints led 16-8 with 4:10 remaining in second quarter.
The visitors recovered a fumble on the kickoff at midfield and used a six play drive to score another touchdown. Peel shed a Greenville Christian tackler and crossed the goal line on a 15-yard scoring run
Greenville Christian will travel to Porters Chapel Friday.
