Crawford, Lewis power Greenwood past Mauldin

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>MAULDIN |</strong> When you're a 5-foot-7, 170-pound running back, sharing the spotlight with a 6-foot-4, 200-pound quarterback could be difficult, figuratively and literally.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Not for Greenwood's <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1743679' first='Trey' last='Crawford']</strong> Friday night though.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Crawford's teammate <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1639712' first='Triston' last='Lewis']</strong> has been in the spotlight all season and deservedly so. The Shrine Bowl selection, who's committed to South Carolina as a defensive back, entered Friday's game at Mauldin with more than 2,000 yards of total offense and 15 touchdowns over the first five games this year. Lewis put up some big numbers again on Friday, but this was a much more workmanlike game than the Eagles' more glamorous performances this season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That's where Crawford came in. Crawford carried 19 times for 117 yards in the second half to help put Mauldin away, 33-10.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I've never carried the ball that much in a game. I'm just glad my O-line blocked for me and my coach gave me the opportunity to," Crawford said with a smile. "I'm just always working. I know I'm small, so I've just got to work all the time."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This wasn't a case of a guy with fresh legs coming on in the second half and running wild as Crawford had 175 yards on 29 carries for the game. Instead it was tough, hard yards that Crawford could've made a fortune on if he was charging defenders for piggyback rides.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"He may not be the biggest (running back), but he's tough as nails. Pound for pound, he may be the toughest kid we've got," Greenwood coach Chris Liner said. "Last week I told Triston that we were going to have to use his legs more than we used them all year to beat Hillcrest. Tonight was kind of the opposite because Triston took some serious shots last week. We really needed our running backs to step up for this game and [player_tooltip player_id='1743679' first='Trey' last='Crawford'] 100 percent did that."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Liner said he knew it was going to be a gritty battle after seeing Mauldin on film. Despite injuries to key players, the Mavericks took a TL Hanna team that handed Greenwood its only loss two weeks ago to overtime last Friday. Mauldin was without injured starting quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820354' first='Reddick' last='Langston'] </strong>on Friday, but got back starting running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822852' first='Taurus' last='Thomason']</strong>, who missed the Hanna game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>What kept the Mavericks in it at Hanna was forcing four turnovers and that trend continued early on Friday. Greenwood's opening drive ended on a fumble that was recovered by Mauldin's <strong>Lucas Hagedorn</strong>. After the Mavericks failed to convert on fourth down, Lewis connected with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822746' first='Khire' last='Richard']</strong> for a 44-yard gain. On the next play, Lewis ran for a 10-yard touchdown. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mauldin answered on its next possession. The first three plays were a 29-yard run by Thomason, a 13-yard pass from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822862' first='Peyton' last='Myers']</strong> to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1648324' first='Landon' last='Cash']</strong> and an 11-yard run by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822865' first='Kamari' last='Cannon']</strong> down to the Eagles' five-yard line. Greenwood's defense stiffened in the red zone though and Mauldin settled for a 25-yard field goal by <strong>Lukas Furmanek</strong> to cut the lead to 7-3.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On Greenwood's next drive, Lewis hit <strong>Jay Duncan</strong> for a 41-yard gain to the Mavericks' five-yard line. Two plays later as Lewis was trying to fight his way across the goal line, the ball popped free and was recovered by Mauldin's<strong> Jaquan Delbridge</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lewis and the rest of the Eagles never panicked though. After a short punt by the Mavericks, Greenwood drove down and Lewis found <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820229' first='Thomas' last='Chandler']</strong> for a 17-yard touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Later in the half, Lewis and Duncan connected on a 19-yard score as Greenwood took a 20-3 lead into halftime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mauldin quickly cut the lead in half to open the third quarter. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1303951' first='Tamari' last='Shepherd']</strong> returned the second half kickoff 53 yards to the Greenwood's 43. Two plays later, Thomason took off up the gut for a 43-yard touchdown.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Eagles answered later in the quarter. Crawford carried on four of the first five plays of the scoring drive. The one he didn't resulted in a terrific one-handed catch by North-South all-star selection <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1743674' first='Bryce' last='Seaborn']</strong> for a 20-yard gain. That all led to a 12-yard touchdown run by Lewis to extend the lead to 26-10.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Triston's threw it back shoulder. I didn't even know the ball was coming. I just looked and the ball was there," Seaborn said about his one-handed grab. "I just did what I could with it."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mauldin came back with a 16-play drive, but came away empty handed when Seaborn picked off a pass near the goal line. That was the first of interceptions on each of the Mavericks' final three offensive plays as Greenwood safety <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822741' first='DJ' last='Rappley']</strong> had the other two. After Rappley's first pick, Greenwood (5-1 overall, 2-1 Region I-5A) had a seven-play drive in which Crawford carried the ball six times. His last attempt went for an 11-yard touchdown to wrap up the victory.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In addition to his 175-yard night, Crawford also caught two passes for nine yards. Lewis completed 21-of-32 passes for 290 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran 12 times for 68 yards and two scores. His top target was Duncan, who finished with 139 yards on eight receptions. Greenwood's defense, led by Shrine Bowler <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1639742' first='Ahmad' last='Scott']</strong> up front, held Mauldin to 232 yards of total offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"Oh squirrel got after it. That's what we call Trey. He's a little shifty guy who's quick, but he's hard to bring down too," Seaborn said. "He works really hard and deserved this tonight."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thomason finished with 102 yards on 13 carries to lead the Mavericks (2-4, 0-3).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->