Sutterfield paces Greenbrier attack in win against Camden Fairview

GREENBRIER 23, CAMDEN FAIRVIEW 6

GREENBRIER — A big night from Greenbrier running back Spencer Sutterfield and a bigger night from the Panthers’ defense and special team resulted in a 23-6 victory over Camden Fairview in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Friday night.

Sutterfield caught a touchdown pass and ran for a score at the Panthers (7-4) advanced to the quarterfinals at Nettleton next week in Jonesboro.

“I thought our defense played great in the first half and our offense made some plays but I felt like we left a series or two out there,’’ said Greenbrier coach Randy Tribble. “We should have had another score.

“In the second, the defense, we let them score once and the kicking game made a big play and set up a touchdown and the offense ran a lot of clock.

Sutterfield scored on 6-yard run and grabbed a 24-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Johnson as the Panthers built a 13-0 lead and put the game away late for their first playoff victory since 2015. He finished with 87 yards on 19 carries and caught two passes for 34 yards. He also had an interception that stopped Fairview’s first drive.

Leading 13-6 in the fourth quarter, the Panthers picked up a 38-yard field goal from Ethan Hall to make it a 16-6 game with 9:27 left and sophomore Ryan Barnard blocked a punt four plays later that led to Seth Howard’s 4-yard touchdown run that put the game out of the reach.

“We had a plan coming in that we thought we could block one,’’ said Tribble. “We got real close. Some guys just weren’t laying out there. At halftime, the kid who blocked it, said coach we can block a punt. At the half, Fairview switched and blocked the other guy who was getting closer instead of 81 (Barnard) . They started blocking it different and he blocked the next one.”

Sutterfield’s first two scores made it 13-0, which stood up at the half.

In the third quarter. Fairview scored on a 28-yard pass from Keith Johnson to Oren McCoy with 8:35 left in the third quarter. The PAT kick was short.

The Cardinals KJ Malone had an interception in the first half that stopped a Panthers’ threat.