Greenwood took control of the Region 3-4A race with a thumping of rival Cleveland, but head coach Clinton Gatewood wants to see more out of his team.
Senior quarterback Damarius Ray completed 10 of 19 passes for 223 yards and five touchdowns as Greenwood routed the Wildcats 38-7 Friday night at Bulldog Stadium for its sixth straight victory.
Senior running back Rico Owens ran for a career-high 205 yards and a touchdown on just nine carries — averaging 22.7 yards per rush, thanks to runs of 71 and 68 yards.
“He has all the tools to be a great back, and as you saw tonight, the first guy usually isn’t going to bring him down,” Gatewood said of Owens, whose previous career best was 200 yards in a game last season.
GHS is 7-1 overall, 3-0 in league play and is now one win away from a third straight Region 3 crown.
“I am happy for the win but certainly not pleased, not even close,” Gatewood said. “We made too many mistakes. We’ve got to get better in all three phases of the game to get to where we want to be.
“The one good thing was the way (Ray) threw the ball. He did a good job running the offense.”
Ray has now thrown for 17 touchdowns with just one interception.
Cleveland (5-3, 1-1) was in the game at the half, down just 20-7, even though the Bulldogs dominated the first two quarters.
Penalties and a fumble at the Wildcat 1-yard line kept Cleveland in it early.
Owens had a 68-yard TD run in the first quarter, and Ray had a 2-yard scoring pass to Tyler Glass, a senior receiver.
Ray had a 30-yard touchdown pass to Marquiss Spencer in the second quarter.
After letting Cleveland hang around in the first two quarters, GHS put the game away quickly in the third quarter.
Two plays after a fumble recovery by Dewan Addison, Ray hit senior receiver Jemarcus Weatherall over the middle on a slant route, and Weatherall turned it into an 81-yard touchdown.
A minute later, after another forced fumble, Ray hit Danny Nevels, a senior receiver, with a 39-yard TD pass.
GHS then closed out the scoring early in the fourth, when Ray threw a short pass to senior receiver Javion Jones, who made a defender miss outside and raced down the sideline for a 21-yard TD reception.
The Bulldog defense came up with the first points of the contest as Spencer, a senior defensive end, recorded a safety.
It was the fourth straight game for the GHS defense to score but the first in the last four for the ball-hawking unit not to get a touchdown.
“Defensively, we barely got a passing grade from me. We were without our captain (middle linebacker Tarren Smith), and we missed some calls and had some missed alignments,” Gatewood said. “Our defense is getting better, but we made some mistakes that will get you beat down the line.”
With Mississippi State defensive line coach David Turner looking on from the GHS sideline, Spencer, one of the state’s top defensive ends, had 14 tackles, including seven solos.
Senior defensive end Carl Jones had a team-high 18 tackles, including 10 solos. Senior linebacker Antwoine Williams had 18 stops, including nine solos.
Tyler Glass had seven tackles, with a fumble recovery and an interception.
Offensively, Weatherall led all receivers with 106 yards on two catches.
Senior JohnDerrick Smith had four carries for 55 yards, and Ray added 49 yards on five rushes.
Greenwood will take a break from Region 3 action this week with a trip to Shaw before closing out the regular season at Raymond.
