HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RECAP: CHARLESTON 35, GREENLAND 8
GREENLAND – Despite low temperatures on a cold and windy night in Northwest Arkansas, Charleston continued its red hot four-game winning streak with a 35-8 mercy-rule victory over Greenland. The Tigers improve to 4-3, and 3-0 in the 3A-1 conference, with Greenland falling to 4-3, 1-2.
Greenland attempted an onside kick to start the game, which Charleston recovered. On their opening possession, Tigers leaned on junior running back Finn Schmalz to do the heavy lifting for the offense. Schmalz contributed a 7-yard, a 21-yard reception on a screen pass, and capped the drive off with a 14-yard touchdown run to put Charleston up 7-0 early.
Greenland showed a glimpse of its offensive prowess early when faced with a third-and-9 in their own territory, Kyle Farquaharson connected with Quinton Napier on a 20-yard completion. However, this momentum was short lived as Matthew Scott dropped Farquaharson for a sack on second down, forcing a third-and-15.
Greenland would then throw an incomplete pass on third down, followed by a deep pass attempt on fourth-and-15. In a high football IQ moment, Matteo Gaona had a chance to intercept the pass, but instead batted it to the ground to give the Tigers better field position after the turnover on downs.
Charleston head coach Ricky May loved this play from his junior receiver/defensive back/place kicker.
“By Matteo knocking that down instead of intercepting it shows a good football IQ and the unselfishness that it takes to really become a team,” said May.
Charleston showed a more balanced attack on their second drive, with a healthy mix of run and pass. Following a nine yard Schmalz carry, Charleston quarterback Lukas Burleson completed two passes on the drive, one to Gaona for 10 yards, and another to Ryder Julian for 17 yards to set up a Tigers first-and-goal. The drive was capped off with a 1-yard Burleson keeper to give Charleston a 14-0 advantage with 44 seconds left in the first quarter.
Charleston and Greenland would then traded three-and-outs at the start of the second quarter, until Charleston’s fourth possession. This time, Finn Schmalz took over. Schmalz powered his way through Greenland with runs of 14 and 10 yards, and almost broke one on his third carry but a shoestring tackle stopped Finn after a 31-yard gain. Not to be denied, Schmalz scored on a 22-yard to go up 21-0 with 4:57 left in the first half.
After forcing Greenland to another three-and-out, Charleston had a chance to try to add to its with 3:44 remaining the in first half. The Tigers would deliver, with Burleson taking over with runs of 15 yards and 11 yards, the latter going for a Charleston touchdown giving them a 28-0 halftime advantage.
Needing one more touchdown to initiate the mercy rule clock, Charleston fans wouldn’t have to wait too long to see their team respond. Greenland took the opening kickoff of the second half, but fumbled deep in its territory, which was recovered by Tanner Stark. The Tigers would only need one more play to score, this time on a five-yard carry from Gunner Schmalz to put Charleston up 35-0.
Roll that clock and warm up the bus.
Greenland would have a couple shots at the endzone in the fourth quarter. On their first attempt, the Pirates saw first-and-goal at the five, but the Charleston defense held and and forced a turnover on downs. However, faced with bad field possession deep in their own territory, the Tigers offense couldn’t make any ground and fumbled on third down. Greenland then scored on a quarterback keeper to make the score 35-8 after a two-point conversion.
Finn Schmalz would lead the offense with 131 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns. Lukas Burleson was 5-of-8 passing for 54 yards, and added 31 yards rushing.
I talked to Charleston assistant coach and offensive coordinator Matt Stewart about how his Tigers offense has leaned more heavily on the run than in years past.
“I am not trying to force something that isn’t this teams strong suit,” he said. “I typically like to wing it, but this group likes to pound the rock.”
And pound the rock they would do, with 182 yards total on the ground. 178 of those came in the first half.
Stewart also gave praise to his offensive line that is starting to come together during this four game winning streak.
“The offensive line is starting to mesh,” Stewart said. “Not only are they picking up their blocks, but they’re finishing blocks.”
Coach May agrees with the play of his o-line.
“The offensive line has been playing great along with helping as a unit and we all know when that happens, the running backs jobs get a lot easier,” May said. “Our backs are running extremely hard as well and really getting stronger as the game goes on.”
Defensively, Ryder Julian led the Tigers with eight tackles and a pass break up, and Gunner Schmalz followed with seven tackles. Reece Smith had two pass breakups. The Tigers defense help Greenland to 21 first-half yards.
“I feel like we are getting better on defense as a whole at the right time,” May said. “They got after them pretty good!”
After a rough 0-3 start against 4A-4 competition with a current combined record of 20-1, Charleston has won four straight, including three conference games. May is pleased with how is team is gearing up down the stretch.
“Seems like we are coming together a little now, getting healthier and playing with more excitement,” he said. “Hopefully we can continue to just get better.”
Charleston will host West Fork (2-5, 0-3) next Friday in a warm-up game for a clash with Mansfield. Greenland will travel to Mansfield.
All photo credits to Ronni Tate Young. To see more of her photos, visit Team Press on Facebook.
