Whitley, Farrow power Greenville past Woodmont

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>PIEDMONT |</strong> Many teams coming off a 2-9 season would have a big celebration after opening up region play with a 10-point win on the road.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Not Greenville. Not after a thrilling last second win over traditional powerhouse Gaffney two weeks ago prior to last Friday's bye. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On a night in which the Red Raiders dominated everywhere but the scoreboard, they settled for a 28-18 victory over a Woodmont squad that kept getting knocked down and kept getting back up.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenville senior defensive end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1734829' first='Franklin' last='Whitley']</strong> knows a thing or two about playing at a state championship level. Whitley was a standout for the Red Raiders' boys basketball team that cut down the nets after winning a state title in March. Whitley decided he wanted to get one season of football in before his high school career ended and he believes Greenville has the talent to do the same in football. On Friday, had led a unit that allowed just 108 yards of total offense on 51 plays for the game and forced three turnovers in the second half. He still felt like something was missing though.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Honestly, we came out slack in practice this week. We had a lot of miscommunication, even in the pregame meal tonight. .. We played kind of well, but not to our standard," Whitley said. "We're definitely going to go back to practice, get the stuff right and be ready for next week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I feel like we're a championship caliber team, but it's the little things that we've got to get right and nip in the bud."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Whitley set the defensive tone on the first play of the game when he had a four-yard tackle-for-loss. That led to a three-and-out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenville has used a pair of sophomore quarterbacks in <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1050653' first='Kiishawn' last='Farrow']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823793' first='Trip' last='Bryant']</strong> this season. It was Bryant who threw a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter in the 17-14 win over Gaffney, but he wasn't dressed out Friday with an injury. Farrow looked ready to go solo all night from the start. He completed his only three passes on the opening drive for 54 yards, which set up a 15-yard touchdown run by <strong>Deandre Dogan</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Woodmont got one of its two first downs of the first half on its next possession, but that drive ended on a fourth-and-one play when Greenville's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819487' first='LJ' last='Dendy']</strong> had a sack that resulted in a 16-yard loss. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Red Raiders pushed the lead to 14-0 midway through the second quarter on Farrow's quarterback sneak from a yard out.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Wildcats answered when <strong>JaCobie Robinson</strong> returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards before being tackled at the one. Two plays later, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1732409' first='Devonte' last='Taylor']</strong> scored from a yard out as Woodmont cut the lead in half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenville's next possession ended when Farrow was hit as his threw and the pass was intercepted by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820715' first='Braeden' last='Turman']</strong>. That led to a 46-yard field goal that <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1821858' first='Bradley' last='Crowell']</strong> nailed. The Red Raiders drove to the Wildcats' 18-yard line with 11.8 seconds left. Farrow's pass to the end zone was picked off by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='499080' first='Nymerius' last='Taylor']</strong> to end that threat.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Despite a 211-20 advantage in total yards in the first half, Greenville took just a 14-10 lead into halftime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"It was a sloppy performance with a lot of penalties," said Greenville coach Scoot Watson. "We're glad to get the win, but kind of disappointed in how we executed and really disappointed in our discipline."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Red Raiders appeared to get that message at halftime. Greenville opened the second half with an eight-play, 80-yard drive capped by Farrow's 29-yard pass to Jadyn Rice. After a Woodmont three-and-out, the Red Raiders extended their lead to 28-10 on a 37-yard touchdown run by Rice.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"In the second half, Coach told us he was going to get the ball to the playmakers and he made it happen," Rice said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Woodmont refused to go away. After not having a double-digit yardage play all night, the Wildcats had back-to-back ones on their next possession. Freshman quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1563930' first='Harper' last='Doyle']</strong> ran for 15 yards and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1015154' first='Amari' last='Harris']</strong> ran for 20 yards to the Greenville 21. On the next play though, Whitley sacked Doyle for an eight-yard loss. That was followed by an interception by <strong>Jaqwon Haygood</strong> , but a fumble on the return gave Woodmont the ball back and a first down at the Greenville 34.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A pair of interference penalties against Greenville led to Taylor's second one-yard touchdown run of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter. Doyle then threw to Taylor for a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 28-18.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Woodmont couldn't get closer though at its next two possessions ended on another interception by Haygood and a terrific one along the sideline by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1821970' first='Cayson' last='Carson']</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Whitley capped Greenville's defensive effort on the Wildcats' final drive with a sack on second down and a pass breakup on fourth down.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Farrow finished with 181 yards on 18-of-25 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran 15 times for 124 yards and a score as Greenville finished with 463 yards of total offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I've got a great relationship with (Bryant). We just swap out positions. When he comes in at quarterback, I go to receiver and vice versa," Farrow said. "Tonight, I had to do what I had to and take care of the team."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dogan ran 14 times for 90 yards for Greenville. Rice is listed as a receiver, but he saw plenty of handoffs as well Friday. He finished with 73 yards on six carries and 61 yards on four receptions. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1824828' first='Arkies' last='Shell']</strong> had four receptions for 52 yards also for the Red Raiders (3-1, 1-0 Region I-5A).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Harris finished with 34 yards on 11 carries, while Taylor had 31 yards on 12 rushes for Woodmont (1-3, 0-1).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->