5th Grade White v. UCA

The Greenwood 5th grade White Team had their home opener Saturday Night…

…with a loss against Union Christian Academy 0 – 25.  In the shadow of Hurricane “Ike”, the team faced off against a much bigger, more athletic UCA squad.  Through the driving rain and gusting winds, the game quickly turned into a defensive struggle for the Pittbulls. 

While they were unable to prevent UCA from scoring on big plays during the drives, they were able to stop PAT’s on all but 1 of the 4 attempts.  All is not lost, though.  There was plenty of promise in the Pittbull squad.  Albeit, VERY OUTSIZED, they maintained poise and control and squared off well. 

PAT’s were stopped by #99 Dustin MGowen, #82 Zac Childress, #14 Noah Basham.  Again, this was a defensive battle waged against opponents that towered up to a foot over the Pittbull players. 

One play that truly demonstrates the heart of the team was on an offensive play in the 4th quarter when #14 Noah Basham pump faked to #25 Ryan Padilla, tucked the ball and ran.  Truly inspiring was the cutback Ryan Padilla made and the smash mouth hit, that could be heard all the way into next week, he delivered to a UCA player, to allow Noah Basham to get a first down.  The hit was textbook and worthy of a Sports Center highlight reel. 

As the 5th grade game ended in a loss, it was interesting to watch the next game setup, as the exact same UCA team that had just played the 5th grade team, prepared to square off against the 6th grade White team.

The Pittbulls have a system of recognizing offensive and defensive players of the week.  Last week’s Offensive Player was #99 Dustin McGowen.  Last week’s defensive player was #27 Gabe Van Brunt; he made a touchdown saving tackle during the Van Buren game. 

The offensive player for this week is #82 Zac “Gladiator” Childress.  The defensive player of the week goes to #45 Bailey “Conan” Rodgers.  Congratulations Pittbulls, keep up the good work.

This article submitted by Coach Shaffer.  Thanks coach!