Clinton Gatewood was mad enough that he was seeing yellow after the game.
It’s understandable when you consider Greenwood was hit with nearly 150 yards in penalties. But the good news is the Bulldogs still managed to truck Cleveland Central, 45-7, Friday night at Bulldog Stadium.
“It was a good win, but a mighty sloppy one, though,” said Gatewood, the GHS head coach. “We’ve got to get this fixed and play with better discipline.
“I am thankful for the win, but we’ve got to get better.”
The Bulldog defense put together a solid, suffocating performance. That’s the unit Gatewood had the most concern about during preseason camp, but there was no need to fret in this one.
Defensive tackle Quontavious Lymon was quite disruptive up front. He finished with a team-high 13 tackles, including six for a loss. Davin Anderson, a sophomore linebacker, had eight stops, and senior cornerback Travor Randle had six tackles and an interception.
“Our defense showed tonight that this group is maturing and beginning to jell. They played lights out tonight,” said the Bulldog coach.
Offensively, sophomore quarterback DeAndre Smith had a good game for a second straight week — completing 13 of 19 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns. Smith also ran for a short score near the goal line.
His favorite target was again senior Kobe Chambers, who finished with seven receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown, giving him at least one score in all three games to start the season.
Smith also called on senior running back Jamarion Addison for 15 carries. He rolled up 118 yards and had a touchdown run.
Greenwood scored on its first possession on a 67-yard TD drive that ended with a 2-yard run by Smith.
Cleveland (0-3) came right back with a 79-yard scoring march to take a 7-6 lead with 2:06 left in the first quarter.
Greenwood then went ahead for good midway through the second, at 14-7, after Addison’s 6-yard scoring jaunt. He took the handoff and headed right, put one foot in the ground and cut back up the middle for the touchdown. Smith hit Chambers for the 2-point pass.
GHS built a 20-7 lead after Smith hooked up with Chambers for a 13-yard TD. Smith was flushed out of the pocket, and while rolling to his right threw a low bullet where only Chambers could catch it — and he did just that for a 27-7 lead at the half.
Smith connected with senior Daylin Metcalf on a 70-yard scoring strike in the third for a 33-7 advantage.
Smith then closed out his night early in the fourth on a 6-yard touchdown toss to Quanterius Silas.
The final touchdown came with 5:01 to play when backup signal caller Dazarion Perez hit Brandon Shaffer from 15 yards out.
GHS (3-0) looks to stay unbeaten next week, when it goes to Greenville.
