Greene 32, Unatego-Franklin 14

GREENE - Two years removed from its last meaningful games with playoff implications, Greene picked up where it left off in 2019.

The Trojans clinched Section IV’s Division IX title on Wednesday night, and earned at least one home playoff game in the upcoming eight-man playoffs pulling away from Unatego-Franklin.

Greene (5-0) qualified for the 2019 playoffs, but last year’s fall season was wiped away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Greene did play a handful of games this past spring, but no team was playing for anything more than school pride.

“The kids were really excited to make the playoffs again,” said Greene coach Dave Gorton. “The seniors were there as sophomores when we went to the playoffs, and they’ve been talking about winning the division and going to the playoffs since the beginning of the season.”

Greene produced its best rushing performance of the season totaling 360 yards on 31 carries. Hunter Page led the way with 271 yards on 17 carries, and he scored two touchdowns.

However, it wasn’t Page’s legs that swung the momentum, it was his throwing arm.

With three seconds left in the first half half, Page threw a 20-yard halfback option TD pass to Hogan Ludolph that gave Greene a 12-8 halftime lead.

Damien Hitt scored on a one-yard TD run for Greene in the third, one of two one-yard rushing scores for the senior, but Unatego-Franklin pared the deficit to 18-14 early in the fourth after a 20-yard Shane Barber scoring run.

Greene finished the game with back-to-back scores.

Page scored his first rushing touchdown from 14 yards out, and the Trojans then recovered an onside kick to retain possession. Page gashed the Unatego-Franklin defense for a 48-yard TD scamper to put the game out of reach.

“It was a very balanced attack,” Gorton said. “The offensive line and Damien Hitt as a lead blocker opened big holes, and Hunter (Page) found a lot of openings. It’s easily the best we’ve looked as an offense running the ball.”

Greene is tentatively scheduled to play at Whitney Point Monday at 4 p.m.

Score by quarters

U/F 8  0  0  6-14

Gre. 0 12 6 14--32

Scoring:  U, Shane Barber 6 run (2-point pass good), G, Hitt 1 run (pass failed) G, Page 20 pass to Hogan Ludolph (pass failed), G, Hitt 1 run (PAT failed), U, Barber 20 run (run failed), G, Page 14 run (Flanagan pass to Hitt), G, Page 48 run (pass failed).

Greene statistics

Rushing:  Hunter Page 17-271, Hogan Ludolph 1-2, Grayson Flanagan, 4-28, Damien Hitt 7-59.

Passing:  Grayson Flanagan 8-17-0, 87 yards, Hunter Page 1-1-0, 20 yds, TD.

Receiving:  Ludolph 1-20, Bill Dunlap 2-25, Derek Renfer 1-8, Page 2-23, Hitt, 3-31