Greenland pulls away in second half for big win over Mountainburg

GREENLAND — Mountainburg may have been missing its starting quarterback, but Greenland needed a strong second half to pull away from the pesky Dragons on Friday night.

The Pirates scored two touchdowns a little more than a minute apart to finally get some breathing room en route to a 47-14 nonconference win at Jonathan Ramey Memorial Stadium.

Mountainburg (1-2) pulled within 21-14 early in the second half, but Greenland didn’t flinch.

The Pirates (2-0) came right back on the ensuing drive to push its lead to two touchdowns. Quarterback Gabe Wilson broke a quarterback keeper for a 42-yard touchdown on fourth-andinches.

Greenland then recovered an onside kick at the Dragons’ 33 and it took the Pirates only four plays to score again. Jett Dennis covered the final 12 yards for the touchdown run and the Pirates lead was now 34-14 with 7 minutes, 27 seconds left in the third quarter.

Greenland coach Lee Larkan said he’s just pleased to get out with a victory against Mountainburg, which present

some unique challenges with its variation of the single-wing.

“I didn’t feel good defensively all week because of what they do,” Larkan said. “You don’t see it and it’s a nightmare. We knew we were going to have to score points.

“That made a big difference getting that score. It gives you some breathing room and makes you feel a little better.”

Wilson threw three firsthalf touchdown passes, including two to Gobel for the 21-7 halftime advantage. The Pirates scored with less than a minute left in the second quarter to take the two-touchdown lead into halftime.

Mountainburg put together its lone scoring drive of the first half, all on the ground. West kept on a 5-yard run with 8:16 left in the second quarter to complete the 5-play, 65-yard drive to pull the Dragons within 14-7.

Mountainburg coach Tom Harrell was also happy with how his team responded after losing starting quarterback Ethan Gregory to a knee injury last week.

“We just ran out of gas,” Harrell said. “We had a tough week. I’m proud of them for what we accomplished. A couple more weeks, I think we’ll be ready to go. We have an open week and we can add some things to it.

“They beat a 4A team last week and we went toe-to-toe with them for about three quarters. We’re gonna build on it.”

FOUR DOWNS

• Malachi West, a 6-3, 235-pound bruiser, took Gregory’s place at quarterback for Mountainburg this week. He scored both Mountainburg touchdowns on short runs.

• Greenland senior Payton Anderson picked off Mountainburg’s lone pass of the game.

• Greenland backup quarterback Ryan Bush had a 54-yard touchdown run called back because of a penalty, but he came right back and got a 36-yard TD run that counted with less than three minutes left.

• The Pirates will host Gentry to close nonconference play, while Mountainburg will have an open date next week.