Indians battle bad weather in homecoming game against Lincoln

By Cheyenne Thomas

The Greenwood Indians had to face two opponents during their homecoming game held on Friday, and the one-two-punch of the weather and Lincoln’s overall performance on the field left the Indians with a 46-0 loss.

The visiting Lincoln High School Hornets quickly took action during the start of the game to put themselves up by 6. Throughout the entire game, Lincoln attempted onside kicks after scores, several of which were successfully recovered by Greenwood. Greenwood recovered the first of these to start its first possession at the 44-yard line, but a slick ball resulted in the Hornets taking over just a few plays later.

The weather didn’t do Lincoln any favors in their next go-around, causing them a fumble, and the Greenwood defense eventually forced a punt. An interception on Greenwood’s next posession stopped their drive and gave the Hornets the opportunity to score with 2:50 left in the first quarter. Another slipped ball kept the Hornets from converting on their 2-point attempt, making the score 12-0.

The Indians recovered the onside kick made by Lincoln and started making some headway with a run by Marshall Schultze before they hit a wall on Lincoln’s defense and turned the ball over on fourth down. Oddly enough, the failure to convert on fourth down ended up giving the Indians better field position, as a sack by Greenwood knocked the ball loose and Mason Stieglitz recovered for Greenwood at the 30-yard line.

After a pair of fumbles from Greenwood, the Hornets took over. However, soon the Hornets fumbled themselves and were pushed back 6 yards. They were forced to punt as the Greenwood defense once again put a stop to Lincoln’s offense. Just before the end of the half, the Hornets made their way down the slippery field for a touchdown, once again failing their 2-point conversion attempt.

Greenwood recovered the onside kick and started their next drive at the 40-yard line. A few penatlies of offsides and false start took away the gain made on a run by James Durrstein, and a pair of fumbles gave the Hornets the ball back, which they used to get their next touchdown on a 55-yard run. The Hornets made the 2-point conversion this time, leading 26-0 at the close of the first half.

Greenwood decided to take a page out of Lincoln’s playbook and attempted an onside kick, which they recovered to start the second half. Schultze carried the ball for another long run, but the ball was stripped out of the hands of Greenwood just two plays later and ran in for a touchdown for the Hornets.

Greenwood got another chance when they recovered the next onside kick by the Hornets, but fumbles once again proved to be their undoing. Their next posession didn’t fare much better, as the slick ball interfered with an attempted pass and fell short into a nest of Hornets. The Hornets then scored on that possession, and on their final possesion of the night, to go up 46-0.

On their last drive, the Indians had the most success of the night, holding onto the ball even through two more fumbles to come within 5 yards of the end zone. Unfortunately, the Indians were not able to punch it in on a 4-and-4 and the game ended with a Lincoln win.

In the photo above, Levi Lindner tries to break through the Lincoln offensive line to recover a fumble made by the Hornets on one of their plays during the game held Oct. 13. The non-stop rainfall during the game led to sloppy conditions and numerous fumbles by both teams. Below, Marshall Schultze completes a running play for Greenwood.

CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTOS