JAMESTOWN — Greeneview coach Neal Kasner says his scrappy Rams just want to fight to keep playing in the postseason.
“You’re given 10 and you can earn some extras. We’ve earned a couple and we’d like to go earn another one,” he said.
If the Rams (8-3) hope to keep playing, however, they’re going to have to beat the undefeated Brookville Blue Devils (11-0) in a Division V second-round playoff game, Friday at Xenia’s Doug Adams Stadium.
As part of the Southwestern Buckeye League, Brookville surprised some with their unbeaten run.
Kasner said he wasn’t surprised.
“They’ve got a lot of seniors, so I’m not surprised by their year,” he said. “They run the ball, their defense is sound. There’s nothing flashy about what they do. They just do everything well. They have a lot of kids who are going to be fighting to keep playing in the postseason.”
The lowest margin of victory the Blue Devils had on the season was 21 points. Four different players – Justin Heck, Harry Hall, Bailey Wallen and Austin Delk – have rushed for over 100 yards in a game this season.
Hall and Wallen have each rushed for more than 1,000 yards on the season.
The Rams have some weapons at their disposal and will try and move the ball around to what works. Senior quarterback Collin Matt threw for 76 yards and rushed for 72 yards in last week’s win. Logan Test, who averaged 144.8 yards per game in the regular season, had 171 yards on the ground last week.
In last week’s playoff game against West Milton Milton-Union, Greeneview gave up just over 220 yards rushing to the Bulldogs, who averaged 210 rushing yards on the regular season.
Brookville averaged 349 yards per game in the regular season. They defeated Carlisle High School, 41-0, in their first-round playoff win.
After leading by 21 points early in the third quarter, the Rams had to hold off Milton-Union to get the win. Ethan Bradds, who had missed the majority of the season due to injury, blocked an extra point attempt that would have tied the game at 35. Greeneview held on to win, 35-34.
Kasner said he hopes the team worked out some kinks that caused them problems last week and said they can’t make the same mistakes against Brookville.
“We practiced. We hope we’re able to fix some of those issues,” he said. “They’re a good football team. They’re a very good football team. It’s going to be a battle.”
