By Rich Brown
rbrown@joplinglobe.com
Adrian High School brings an eight-game winning streak to Greenfield in round two of the MSHSAA Class 1 football playoffs at 7 p.m. today.
However, the host Wildcats hold a better record and a higher ranking after last week’s final regular-season poll.
Eighth-ranked Greenfield, co-champion of the Spring River Valley Conference with Miller, hiked its record to 10-1 last week with a 61-13 first-round playoff win against Archie. The Blackhawks, ranked 10th, toppled Liberal 48-13 the same night to go to 9-2.
The Wildcats had a 6-0 winning streak of their own to start the season before suffering their only loss, a 20-12 defeat at the hands of conference foe Lockwood on Oct. 9.
Three seniors led the way in the Greenfield victory over Archie.
Jordan Bryant, in his third year as the starting quarterback, was responsible for three touchdowns, including one as a defensive end when he intercepted a pass and ran it back 20 yards to paydirt. He also scored on a 5-yard run and on a 35-yard TD pass to Jamie Gray.
John Riley, a 6-foot, 175-pound running back in his first year of football after transferring from Blue Eye, churned out 146 yards on TD runs of 51, 35 and 60 yards.
In addition to Gray’s passing touchdown, the 5-foot-9, 190-pound halfback and fullback scored on a 5-yard run.
“He (Gray) is the guy who runs most of our stuff between the tackles,” said Greenfield coach Jamie LaSalle. “He is also good in the passing game and catches a lot of balls for us.”
LaSalle said Riley is extremely fast and “really evasive” in the open field.
At 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds, Bryant poses a double threat on offense.
“He can throw and run alike,” LaSalle said. “He has a good arm and is a good runner in the open field.”
After the Archie win, Bryant ran his pass-completion total to 56 of 123 for 1,086 yards.
Greenfield has exhibited a potent offense with four shutout victories this year — 47-0 over McAuley Catholic, 33-0 against Sarcoxie, 54-0 over Osceola and 59-0 against Rich Hill.
However, Adrian has a good offense of its own led by quarterback Trevor Gregg, a 5-foot-10, 167-pound senior.
“A big key is to stop their passing game,” LaSalle said. “They have a good quarterback and run a lot off play-action passing.”
LaSalle said he expects his defense to step up.
“Our defense has been playing solid all year,” he said. “I expect us to have a good defensive performance.”
Even though the Wildcats defeated Adrian in last year’s regional, they lost 19-0 to Tipton in the quarterfinals.
Nothing is being taken for granted against this year’s edition of the Blackhawks.
“We are going to have to play mistake-free football and not turn the ball over,” LaSalle said.
