Greenbrier’s offense struggled a bit early, but found its rhythm in the second quarter and never looked back en route to a 44-6 win over visiting Walnut Grove on Friday night, Sept. 24, in a Region 8, 5A prep football game.
The offensive combo of quarterback Brooks Pangle and Malik Leverett were the keys to Greenbrier’s win.
The 6’2″ 180-pound senior threw for 184 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for a touchdown and led an offense that outgained Walnut Grove 351 yards to 147.
Pangle entered the game with 887 yards and seven touchdowns — and so surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for the season. As usual, his favorite target was Leverett, who had four touchdowns in the game—running for two, throwing one and catching one.
Greenbrier scored first after a short Walnut Grove punt. Pangle had the key play on the drive with an 8-yard scramble on fourth down. He then went over on a quarterback sneak, but the PAT kick was wide for 6-0 with 9:29 left in the second quarter.
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The Warriors countered with an eight-play, 50-yard drive that was capped off by a four-yard run by backup quarterback Kendall Lee with 2:49 left in the first half. However, the two-point run failed for a 6-6 tie.
Pangle and Leverett began to warm up and tacked on 15 points in the latter stages of the second quarter. After Walnut Grove’s touchdown, Pangle drove the Wolfpack 59 yards in five plays. The key play was a 49-yard run by Leverett, who caught an 18-yard scoring toss from his quarterback. Then Pangle found Davin Driskell on a fade route for the two-point conversion and a 14-6 lead with 48.8 seconds left in the half.
The Warriors fumbled the kickoff, and the home team took over at the Walnut Grove 30-yard line. Pangle found Leverett for 34 yards down the left sideline for a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. After Pangle spiked the ball to stop the clock, Leverett ran in from the 1. Wilson Donnelly added the PAT kick for a 21-6 halftime lead for the Wolfpack—who would pour it on in the second half.
Greenbrier went up 24-6 on a 29-yard Donnelly field goal with 6:54 left in the third quarter. That ended an eight-play drive to start the second half.
The Wolfpack upped the lead to 31-6 after a six-play, 54-yard drive. Leverett, playing quarterback, hit Driskell with a 9-yard touchdown pass and Donnelly added the PAT with 3:41 left in the third.
Then Pangle found Driskell for a 27-yard TD pass, although the kick failed for 37-6. Leverett added the last touchdown on a 4-yard run with five minutes to play.
The Warriors (2-3, 1-1) were led by Lee, who came in the second quarter to run the Wildcat formation. Lee finished with 67 yards on 14 carries and his team’s lone touchdown.
Greenbrier (2-3, 1-1) will host Apalachee at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1 Walnut Grove will host Johnson of Gainesville that same night.
David and Viraj Bulla are Sports Contributors for The Augusta Press. Reach David at dbulla@augusta.edu
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