GREENVILLE — The Greenville High School football team has been notorious for its defensive play this season, but on Friday night at Sirrine Stadium, its offense did its best to outshine that group in its Class 3A playoff opener against West-Oak at Sirrine Stadium.

The Red Raider offense was certainly able to do that, as quarterbacks Pat Langley and Rook Crouch combine to pass for 343 yards on the night, while senior Chris Hall hauled in eight catches for 204 yards and five touchdowns as Greenville rolled to the runaway 59-0 victory.

The Greenville (9-2) defense was almost as good though, as the Warriors weren't able to penetrate Red Raider territory all night and gained just three first downs in what was the epitome of a complete performance.

"We've been hanging our hat on our defense all year, and our offense has looked great at times," Greenville head coach Phil Magdic said. "Sometimes they haven't been on the same page, but we really emphasized getting that offense rolling consistently, and I think we did that tonight."

With few, if any, positives to take from the loss, the Warriors (5-6) spent a little more time than normal in their post-game huddle, as West-Oak head coach Jay Brannon took a few extra minutes to tell his team exactly what he thought about his squad, and less about what the final score read.

"I hate it ended that way for them, but I told them if you base it on the scoreboard, only State champions finish happy," Brannon said. "They've accomplished way too much in two years to not be very proud of what they've done and where they've taken this program."

The success began almost instantaneously for Greenville, as on its first possession, Brown found the end zone for the first time on a 20-yard connection from senior Pat Langley.

Two possessions later, the pair hooked up again, this time from 17 yards out to increase the lead to 17-0.

Lightning struck again on the second play of the second quarter from the 50-yard line, when Langley found Brown at the West-Oak 15-yard line before he stopped, spun and sprinted right to find the end zone for his third touchdown before adding a pair of scores in the second half on the way to the win.

"Hall's a great player and has been a great player," Magdic said. "We just felt like we need to feed him in the ball, and Pat and Rook did a good job getting it to him."

And while it was a tough loss to swallow, Brannon didn't sell his team short, and gave credit to his seniors for helping the Warriors earn a playoff berth in just their second year back in Western 3A after an absence of more than a decade.

"They have laid a great foundation for their peers," Brannon said. "They've done a lot of things in the two years I've been here that people didn't think they could do, and the only way they did it was through hard work and great character."

Greenville 59, West-Oak 0

W-O 0 0 0 0 — 0

GHS 17 14 21 7 — 59

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

GHS — Hall 20 pass from Langley (Senn kick) 9:01

GHS — Senn 31 field goal, 6:17

GHS — Hall 17 pass from Langley (Senn kick) 1:22

Second quarter

GHS — Hall 49 pass from Langley (Senn kick) 11:13

GHS — Crouch 2 run (Senn kick) 4:33

Third quarter

GHS — Hall 32 pass from Langley (Senn kick) 9:48

GHS — Hall 62 pass from Langley (Senn kick) 5:27

GHS — Johnson 9 run (Senn kick) 1:30

Fourth quarter

GHS — Terry 9 run (Senn kick) 7:00

TEAM STATISTICS

West-Oak Greenville

First downs 3 17

Rushes-Yards 41-79 32-107

Com-Att-Int 1-6-0 17-23-0

Passing Yards 15 343

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-Yards 7-60 7-55

Punts-Avg. 7-28 1-39

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing — West-Oak, Bibb 11-24, Wilkes 8-18, Maness 11-18, Small 5-9, McDowell 2-6, Jenkins 4-4. Greenville, Johnson 6-32, Terry 9-31, Crouch 6-23, Suber 4-8, Suber 2-7, Pearson 1-6, TEAM 2-1, Langley 2-(-)1.

Passing — West-Oak, Maness 1-1-0 15, Small 0-5-0 0. Greenville, Langley 15-19-0 272, Crouch 2-4-0 53.

Receiving — West-Oak, Bower 1-15. Greenville, Hall 8-204, Williams 4-72, Bowens 3-49, Johnson 1-13, Young 1-5.

eric@dailyjm.com | 882-2385