Daily Journal Sports Correspondent
Greenwood senior running back John Gallman came through in workhorse fashion Friday night.
And it was definitely necessary for the Woodmen to survive.
“We needed that from him,” Greenwood coach Mike Campbell said. “He had a slow start in the first game, and we needed him to get going and he did.”
Gallman carried 34 times for 224 yards, including two 1-yard touchdown runs as Greenwood held off host Indian Creek 27-21.
“What an up-and-down seesaw battle that was,” Campbell said. “The momentum kept switching. We had them down and would shoot ourselves in the foot. Our defensive line put a lot of pressure on them. I don’t know how many hits we put on their quarterback. Our offensive and defensive lines dominated.
“We need to focus on how to finish games. We haven’t had a win for a few games. Coach (Mike) Gillin and his team just keep coming. They make you work for everything. The first five or six drives the only thing that stopped us was ourselves, silly penalties. We put the football on the ground a couple of times. We are just happy to get out of here with a victory. I told the kids to get to the bus before anyone changes their mind.”
The Woodmen lost two fumbles and had to recover their own fumble two other times.
Greenwood expanded its halftime lead to 20-7 when Dylan Rosado had an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. The PAT failed.
“He’s a fantastic athlete,” Campbell said of Rosado. “We put him on a few plays on offense. He played great defensively at free safety.”
Rosado also had a 25-yard TD run in the first half.
Indian Creek sliced the lead to 20-14 with a 14-yard touchdown pass from senior Gynson Robley to junior Bryce Hogue later in third quarter.
The Woodmen (1-1) pushed the lead to 27-14 on Gallman’s second 1-yard TD run in the third quarter.
With 8:21 left in the fourth quarter, Robley and Hogue hooked up on a 28-yard TD score.
The Woodmen defense stiffened in key spots. When a late Greenwood drive faltered, Indian Creek was left with just 18 seconds to go 90 yards and couldn’t get it done.
It was all Gallman on Greenwood’s first drive. He had big runs of 32 and 16 yards to set up a 1-yard TD run.
Indian Creek tied it in second quarter on a 5-yard scoring pass from Robley to Parker Osborn on fourth down.
The Woodmen pulled ahead on that 25-yard TD run by Rosado later in the second quarter. Greenwood had another shot but the drive stalled at the Indian Creek 10 when a fourth-down pass fell incomplete late in first half.
Gallman rushed for 123 yards on 17 carries in the opening half.
Robley completed 12 of 20 passes for 101 yards in the first half. He was 7-of-12 passing for 90 yards in the second half.
Indian Creek’s Gillin said Woodmen senior linebacker Brayton England was a terror on defense.
“He blitzed us and made some big plays,” Gillin said. “Our whole game plan on offense was to try to keep him out of our backfield and we didn’t. We just can’t allow him to come through there like that.
“They couldn’t stop us in the passing game, but when you get third-and-17, it’s tough.”
Gillin said he was pleased his defense stepped up stopping the Woodmen a few times deep in the Braves’ territory.
“They couldn’t throw the ball,” Gillin said. “We knew that. They just kept gashing us. They had more depth than we did up front, and that was probably the tale of the tape.”
Greenwood completed just 2 of 10 passes for 20 yards.
“We’re thin up front on both sides,” Gillin said. “We had five linemen and they all had to play both ways. I don’t think Greenwood had anyone playing both ways (full time). For us to have it be a six-point game with four minutes left, that’s pretty darn good. We’ll be better next week when we get some kids back.”
Gillin said a bright side is he believes the Braves came out healthy. Indian Creek will play host to Eastern Hancock on Friday.
