Inexperience can bring growing pains. And for teams with young rosters, setbacks can provide valuable lessons.
For example, Greenhill followed up its first win of the season with a 43-7 home defeat to Fort Worth Country Day in SPC action on Friday at Brinkmann Field.
Searching for consistency, the Hornets hope the lopsided defeat against a bigger and more physical opponent is just a minor stumble as the regular season enters the home stretch.
“Some of our players are freshmen and sophomores who didn’t get to play junior-varsity football,” said Greenhill head coach K.J. Williams. “A lot of their experience and confidence is being built on Friday nights, which can be challenging. But it’s good for the future.”
Greenhill’s struggles were primarily on offense, as the Hornets managed just 140 total yards and didn’t mount a serious scoring threat until they trailed 43-0 in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile, Country Day’s Canaan Factor intercepted two passes in the first half and Cal Neubauer recovered a blocked punt in the end zone.
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“Early in the game, we stopped them, but then we weren’t able to generate any points, and then we had penalties that put us behind the eight-ball,” Williams said. “It’s about us executing and not making those mistakes.”
The Hornets (1-5) forced an early turnover on a fourth-down interception by Landon Shine at the Greenhill 10-yard line, but they couldn’t capitalize.
The Falcons (4-1) moved the ball efficiently on the ground and through the air. Country Day blew the game open with three consecutive touchdown drives before halftime.
All five offensive touchdowns for the Falcons came via the run, including two apiece by Fox Burton and quarterback Cooper Paul.
Greenhill’s final possession of the game was its best, culminating in an 18-yard scoring pass from Ashton Gosselin to Trey Davis.
The Hornets, who snapped a four-game skid with a 48-point outburst against Cistercian last week, failed to build off that momentum. They have now scored seven points or fewer in three of their six games heading into a road matchup with Austin St. Andrew’s.
“We can methodically march the ball down the field and we showed flashes of that. We just have to be able to take care of the football,” Williams said. “We have a good football team. There’s just some little things that snowballed.”
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