“The celebration is for the kids,” said Rams coach Ryan Haines. “They got us here. They deserve it. They deserve to go over there and right that victory bell, they deserve the hugs from the student section that ran over here. They’re the ones that put us here.”
Senior Trevor Stewart rushed for 213 yards and a touchdown for Greenon, which finished the regular season 6-3 and 4-1 in the OHC South.
“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Greenon coach Josh Wooten said. “Good teams are able to overcome that and good opponents are able to capitalize on it and that’s what they did. Hat’s off to Coach Haines and their kids and his staff. It’s tough when you don’t play your best and hopefully things fall our way and we get an opportunity to get in the playoffs.”
After starting the season 1-4, the Rams (6-4) have won six straight games and finished a perfect 5-0 in the division.
“Our kids come in every day and get on the practice field and take coaching,” Haines said. “That’s what will turn 1-4 into where we’re at tonight.”
On the second play of the game, Greeneview’s William Reichley returned an interception 33 yards for a touchdown to give the Rams an early 7-0 lead.
Greenon responded with a 78-yard drive, scoring on a 1-yard run by Stewart to tie the game at 7-7. Greenon’s Clay Hough intercepted a pass on the Rams next drive and the Kaden Wooten scored on a 10-yard run on the first play of the second quarter to put Greenon up 14-7.
On its next drive, Greeneview tied the score at 14 when DeHaven found freshman Ashtan Hendricks on a 5-yard TD pass.
Greeneview took a 21-14 lead on a 4-yard run by DeHaven following a mishandled punt snap by Greenon.
Greeneview scored on a 10-yard run by Rylan Hurst on the second play of the fourth quarter to take a 28-14 lead. Greenon drove deep into Greeneview territory twice in the final five minutes, but were unable to put points on the board.
Greenon hopes it did enough during the regular season to qualify for the Division V, Region 20 playoffs. Greenon is likely to finish in the top-16 and could finish as the 13th or 14th seed, according to JoeEitel.com’s unofficial playoff rankings. The official playoff pairings will be released by the Ohio High School Athletic Association on Sunday afternoon.
“We’ll let Joe crunch the numbers,” Josh Wooten said. “He’s a lot better at it than I am. That’s probably why I’m an elementary teacher. We’ll find out Sunday and we’ll get ready if we’re fortunate enough to get in.”
The Rams likely did enough to host a first-round playoff game in D-VI, Region 24. They’re currently projected to finish eighth in the region, according to JoeEitel.com’s unofficial rankings.
“Hopefully we get a nice bump out of this,” Haines said. “It’s a bonus game under the lights on a Saturday night in Ohio high school football, that’s just where it’s at.”
About the Author