H.S. FOOTBALL: Greencastle-Antrim chews up Littlestown with 602 yards of offense
GREENCASTLE >> It was simply a matter of time until the formidable rushing attack of Greencastle-Antrim started scoring points as fast as it was piling up yards.
That came in the fourth quarter when the Blue Devils racked up four touchdowns on their way to a 51-13 non-league football victory over Littlestown at Kaley Field on Friday night.
G-A ran the ball 47 times and racked up 425 rushing yards, led by Demetrius Burton (13 carries, 189 yards, 3 touchdowns) and James Hines (17-97, 2 TDs).
But that wasn't all – the Blue Devils' passing attack, led by quarterback Spencer Meyers, completed 17 of 24 passes for 177 yards. That made it a total of 602 total yards and an impressive 31 first downs.
"They have a really nice team," Bolts coach Mike Lippy said. "We have a lot of young kids playing and I don't think we were able to be physical enough. It took its toll at the end."
Greencastle coach Chuck Tinninis said, "They had a lot of kids playing two ways and we didn't, and that's to our advantage. I thought that would be a factor."
The Blue Devils steadily moved the ball in the first half and Burton scored on runs of seven and 25 yards, sandwiched around a 3-yard Derek Measell touchdown run. But Littlestown did manage a pair of turnovers to keep the score down – a fumble recovery by Sam Watkins and an interception by Dylan Morey.
Morey's pick eventually turned into points when Dylan Sizemore ran in from the G-A 2 to make it 21-7.
But, except for one play – a 61-yard bomb from Cody Boyd to Wesley Storey for a TD – that was it for the Bolts' offense.
Lippy said, "Our offense couldn't get going and that hurt the defense. Against a team like that you have to be able to take three, four or five minutes off the clock on your possessions, and we couldn't do that."
Meanwhile, Burton was ripping off big chunks of yardage between the tackles, using several nice cutbacks to add major yards.
"From watching film, we thought we had some plays that would work," Burton said. "The guys were opening holes and we had to be fast enough to get through them because they were closing them."
Hines made great use of a simple belly play to bludgeon Littlestown inside.
He said, "It's all about the line, and they never get enough credit. The belly seemed to be open every time, and I think we wore them down in the second half."
Nothing pleases Tinninis more than a quality rushing game.
"I was happy with the offense," he said. "We moved Dante Tyler to left guard and that helped the whole line have a good performance."
NOTES >> Meyers connected on his first seven passes and 10 of his first 12. It was too much for the Bolts to try to cover the receivers and concentrate on the ground game ... After a scoreless third period, the teams combined for three touchdowns on three consecutive plays from scrimmage that took a total of 33 seconds off the clock.
Greencastle 51, Littlestown 13
Littlestown0706—13Greencastle1410027—51
First Quarter
G — Demetrius Burton 7 run (Austyn Smith kick), 6:09
G — Derek Measell 3 run (Smith kick), 0:15
Second Quarter
G — Burton 25 run (Smith kick), 10:02
L — Dylan Sizemore 2 run (Ryan Dickensheets kick), 2:27
G — Smith 32 field goal, 0:27
Fourth Quarter
G — Hines 7 run (kick blocked), 11:34
L — Wesley Storey 61 pass from Cody Boyd (kick blocked), 11:15
G — Burton 56 run (Smith kick), 11:01
G — Hines 11 run (Smith kick), 6:51
G — Joseph Burns 18 run (Smith kick), 2:25
LittGAFirst downs631Rushes-yards24-5647-425Passing7-19-117-24-1Passing yards90177Total yards146602Punts3-38.00-0Fumbles-lost0-01-1Penalties-yards3-1710-74
Individual statistics
Rushing — Litt, Storey 12-41, Andrew Matthews 3-4, Austin Watters 1-3, Connor Geiman 2-3, Sizemore 1-2, Dylan Morey 2-2, Boyd 3-1. G-A, Burton 13-189, Hines 17-97, Measell 7-53, Burns 3-31, Spencer Meyers 2-25, Cade McDowell 1-17, Andrew Votral 1-11, Bailey Parker 1-8, Kyrin Zimmerman 1-(-2), Isaiah Peck 1-(-4).
Passing — Litt, Boyd 6-18-1-84, Tanner Noble 1-1-0-6. G-A, Meyers 16-23-1-165, McDowell 1-1-0-12.
Receiving — Litt, Storey 1-61, Colin McNeal 1-9, Morey 1-6, Matthews 1-5, Tyler Runkles 1-4, Trenton Hartlaub 1-3, Watters 1-2. G-A, Brae Peck 5-44, Measell 3-40, Parker 3-36, Hines 3-35, Tyler Jeffreys 1-28, Burton 2-(-6).
Interceptions — Litt, Morey. G-A, Jeffreys.
Missed FG — GA, Smith 40 (short).