Wesley had 4TDs and 171yds on 17 carries in his game last night against Greenbrier. However PJP II lost to Greenbrier 35-28.
Saturday, 08/25/07
Tate's big night overshadowed by Bobcat offense
Greenbrier downs JPII 35-28
By Cecil Joyce
The News Examiner
HENDERSONVILLE – Wesley Tate was great, but Greenbrier’s offensive line proved that whoever had the ball last got the last laugh.
The Bobcats executed a 14-play, eight-minute drive and scored the go-ahead touchdown with just 15 seconds left to take a 35-28 victory over Pope John Paul II here Friday night.
“They had a tremendous size advantage on us,” said JPII Head Coach Jeff Brothers, whose squad won last year’s game 28-14. “They really grinded it out on us on that last drive. We may have been a little worn down at that point.”
The loss offset a big night for Pope John Paul II tailback Tate, who rushed for 171 yards and four touchdowns. He had a 68-yard TD run and a 71-yard TD punt return called back by penalty.
“He’s better than last year,” said Greenbrier Head Coach Kirk Williams of the Knights’ standout, who is the younger brother of former JPII star and current Notre Dame player Golden Tate. “He’s a little stronger and a little faster. He’s a very good running back.”
However, Greenbrier countered with 320 rushing yards out of primarily four players, led by Michael Seay (six carries, 135 yards), Zack Ziegler (16-104) and fullback Ryan Dickerson (12-41), who scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 1-yard dive on third down.
Dickerson scored three of the team’s five touchdowns.
“We tried to move the ball around to different running backs,” said Williams. “Seay had a great game, but it was a great team effort. Both teams played hard, especially considering the heat. It was a great football game.”
After Dickerson scored on a 3-yard run for a 7-0 Greenbrier lead, Tate and the Knights needed just one play to tie things as the junior rambled 63 yard to pay dirt.
Seay rambled 79 yards for a touchdown on Greenbrier’s next series. That was followed by a
68-yard TD scamper by Tate to even things at 14 late in the first quarter.
“Wesley was outstanding,” said Brothers. “He’s certainly the type of player that we can lean on. We had two penalties behind the play that deflated us a little bit when he made big plays. You can call it young mistakes or first-game mistakes. But, Wesley played a fantastic game.”
Seay was equal to Tate’s task.
“We had great blocking all night,” said Seay. “It’s good we had the ball at the end. We scored at just the right time.
Tate’s a real great player.”
A six-yard scoring run by Dickerson put Greenbrier up 21-14 and a one-yard scoring run by Ziegler made it 28-14.
JPII bounced right back and scored on a Tate touchdown run from the 1, making it 28-21 at halftime.
Tate’s five-yard scoring run evened the score at 28 late in the third quarter.
However, after forcing the Knights to punt with more than eight minutes left, Greenbrier went on the long drive, netting five first downs en route to the game-winning score.
Pope John Paul II quarterback Stephen Catignani was just 2-of-9 through the air. He did run for all of his 48 yards in the second half, picking up some big first downs along the way.
“He put the ball in receivers’ hands,” said Brothers. “We were wondering how long it would take our young team to gel, and hopefully it won’t be long. We’ll have to come back and play well next week.”
Greenbrier quarterback Justin Grogan was 5-of-11 for 82 yards.
