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GREENFIELD - Homecoming is a long-standing tradition for schools all over the country.
Greenfield-Northwestern head football coach Joe Pembrook isn’t much of a fan.
“It’s hard to deal with all the distractions. You get out of a normal routine, there are a lot more activities for the kids going on all week long,” Pembrook said. “It’s getting more and more difficult for us to stay the course, understand the big picture and the focus.”
“Our kids, for the most part, handled it well.”
Thanks to a massive 22-point fourth quarter, the Tigers improved to 6-1 and clinched a playoff birth by pulling away from the Calhoun Warriors 40-21 on Friday night at Fleur de Lis Field.
“We had to bring our A-game and keep our heads,” Zane Thomson said. “Coming into this we had a lot on the line and knew [Calhoun] were going to bring their all because one more win, we knock them out. Calhoun is a very respected rivalry and every time we get together it’s a great game.”
Calhoun, who needed a victory to keep their playoff hopes alive, fell to 2-5 and saw their three-year playoff run come to an end.
“We made too many mistakes,” Calhoun head coach Aaron Elmore said. “We got a lot of injuries; it’s been a learning experience all year. We just don’t have very much depth right now, and I think we had eight guys [playing] hurt in this game. Our kids are playing hard it’s just a matter of being able to make big plays.”
Denver Davenport finished the first half with negative rushing yards but came alive in the final frame scoring all three of Greenfield-NW’s touchdowns. He finished with 21 carries for 92 yards and three touchdowns.
“The first half I could tell [Calhoun was] keying me more. It was opening up more room for Colin Grummel to do what he does out there,” Davenport said. “In the fourth quarter, they got a little worn down, and I got to do my thing.”
The fourth quarter was dramatic in more ways than one.
Holding onto an 18-15 lead with 9:30 to go in the game, Davenport sneaked into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown run.
The Tigers kicked off from the Warriors 15-yard line. They attempted an onside kick but was recovered by Calhoun. After a quick three and out, on the first play of the ensuing drive, Davenport ran up the gut for a 38-yard touchdown run putting the Tigers up 32-15. During the play, Calhoun lineman Brad Rose was kicked out for another unsportsmanlike.
Despite having two seniors tossed from the game, the Warriors still managed to drive down field and score. Corey Nelson hit Cory Baalman for an eight-yard touchdown pass to give Calhoun some hope down 32-21 with 5:18 to go. Nelson was 17-for-34 through the air with 154 passing yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
However, Greenfield-NW wouldn’t rest on their laurels.
With 3:00 minutes to play, Davenport iced the game with a 13-yard touchdown run.
“We may have worn them out a little bit. We had to make some halftime adjustments,” Pembrook said. “We told [Davenport] to stay patient, and we’d get him in some open-field situations, which we were able to do.”
“The reason why [Davenport] was hard to stop [in the fourth quarter] was we were down to playing our freshman and sophomores and had a couple guys out of the game at that time that are pretty valuable to us,” Elmore said. He’s a hell of a player there’s no doubt about it. We just didn’t make tackles when we needed to.”
The Warriors started off the game as the primary aggressors.
Trey Hart capped a 54-yard opening drive with an 11-yard rushing touchdown to put Calhoun up 7-0 with 8:21 left in the quarter.
Jacob Lansaw completed a 40-yard pass to Dylan Pohlman to put Greenfield-NW in an excellent position to answer, but a touchdown pass to Davenport on a third down was ruled out by a holding penalty. The Warriors would hold out.
The Tigers would eventually settle in.
With 11:46 to go in the first half, Lansaw found Wade Stuart in the back of the end zone for a six-yard touchdown pass. He finished with 164 passing yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
Lansaw put the Tigers on top for good with a three-yard pass to Colin Grummel to make it 12-7 Greenfield-NW with 3:59 remaining before halftime.
On the second play of the third quarter, Grummel caught a short pass, read his blocks well and cut away from a Warrior defender to complete a 50-yard touchdown reception to put the Tigers up 18-7.
The victory for Thomson might be extra special.
The senior safety went down injured in week three against West Central. He was back on the field for the first time in Greenfield-NW’s biggest game of the season and made a crucial impact in the defensive secondary to help them get back in the playoffs on their home field as well.
“It feels amazing just to back with my teammates helping them out and everything,” Thomson said. “I’ve always had a dream of going to the postseason every season, and we got it done. It all goes out to the team. Everybody’s gotta work together to get there. [There was] a lot of distractions for homecoming week, so I’m glad we all came together, stay cool and get the main event done.”
Greenfield-NW joins Carrollton as the two WIVC South representatives in the playoffs so far. After a brief hiccup last season, the Tigers will be in the postseason for the fifth time in six years.
“We always set a longterm goal every year to be in the postseason. It’s something that this program has got a lot of pride in and built on,” Pembrook said. It left a bitter taste in our mouths in the off-season. Our kids did a really good job of keeping their nose to the grindstone. We now are in, but we’ve got a lot of football left ahead of us before we get to that point.”
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