Bryan Davis
bdavis@enterprise-tocsin.com
Both the Greenville Christian Saints (4-5) and the Indianola Academy Colonels (5-4) entered Friday night’s contest trying to better their playoff positioning after slow starts to the 2019 regular season.
The visiting Saints sought their fifth consecutive victory after an 0-4 start, and the Colonels were after their third-straight win.
After trading punches for the better part of three quarters, Indianola Academy senior Woods Toler delivered a crushing blow with an 80-yard fourth quarter interception runback for a touchdown, and he followed that with a 25-yard offensive run for a score that proved to be the knockout blows in the 26-14 loss for the Saints.
“That was a huge momentum swing,” said Greenville Christian Head Coach John McClendon of the pick six. “We’re going down with an opportunity to really put ourselves in good shape there in the fourth quarter.”
Greenville Christian quarterback Marcus Anderson could not find a rhythm during the Saints’ first drive, and it appeared after a three-and-out IA was ready to take charge.
After this drive, the two defenses tightened up, with each team trading three-and-outs in the subsequent drives.
“We had opportunities, at times, to even take control of the momentum and take control of the game, but we didn’t execute,” McClendon said. “We had some penalties that hurt us. I’m just kind of disappointed in the way we executed tonight.”
As the first quarter came to a close, it appeared that Anderson had found a rhythm, but a key penalty dropped the Saints from a first and goal at the nine to a second and goal at the Colonel 31.
Facing fourth down early in the second, Greenville Christian put the drive in Anderson’s hands one last time.
It would not be the last time Anderson threw the ball on fourth down, and it would be the first of a few turnovers on downs for the Saints.
Greenville Christian’s inability to convert on fourth down would prove to be key down the stretch.
“The effort certainly was there,” McClendon said. “They played hard. I think we really got after it. The defense did a great job for us tonight. The offense was not enough tonight.
Anderson’s pass to Jamichael Short set up a first and goal at the eight-yard line.
It appeared that Greenville Christian was about to let another opportunity slip through its hands, but a facemask by the Colonel defense gave Anderson the chance to complete a screen pass to Lawson Stokes for a nine-yard touchdown score, tying the game 7-7 after the PAT with 5:17 to play in the half.
In fact, sophomore Will Riley read IA quarterback Thomas Putnam’s first throw from scrimmage in the second half with precision and picked the pass off with ease at the Greenville Christian 30.
Highlighted by a pass completion from Anderson to Stokes that ended at the two-yard line, the drive ended when Marlon Palmer eventually took the ball in from the seven to give the Saints the 14-13 lead with 9:34 to play in the third.
The Colonels would produce another three-and-out, but Greenville Christian’s next drive would end in yet another failed fourth down play.
IA’s offense was still stifled by the Saints defense, as the home team failed to get a first down again as the third quarter came to an end.
As the final 12 minutes began to tick down, Anderson and the Saints were driving deep into the Colonel territory.
That was until IA’s Houstin Danna got pressure on Anderson, forcing him to throw off balance into the hands of Toler, who took the ball 80 yards for the score, making it 19-14 Colonels after the failed two-point conversion.
McClendon took the blame for the game-changer after the contest was over.
“That was not a good call by me,” he said. “I was really disappointed in myself for that. We were able to run the ball, and we were ripping off some big gains, and maybe I tried to get a little cute there. I probably should have just stayed on the ground.”
Greenville Christian still had a chance to take the lead with just a six-point score, but the next drive would falter as Anderson threw another incomplete pass of fourth and 10, with 7:35 to play in regulation.
IA struck quickly, as Toler took the ball as a running back 25 yards to pay dirt and a 26-14 Colonel lead.
Greenville was unable to take advantage of a Colonel fumble with 3:30 left on the clock, as the IA defense once again came through on fourth down, allowing the Colonels to take a knee and run the clock to zero.
