Comet football turns on the steam to beat Staunton in opener

By Mark Jurgena, Advocate Sports Staff

The story behind Greenville’s opening game victory over Staunton?

Offense, defense and special teams.

Dayton Oliver ran 21 times for 139 yards and four TDs, the defense forced six turnovers while the special teams blocked a punt for a safety and recovered a fumble as GHS beat the Bulldogs 36-7 on Aug. 30 at Don Stout Field.

“We’re three phases and I thought our special teams did a great job with both kickoffs and punts of making adjustments and flipping the field and giving our offense a lot of good field to work with,” said GHS coach Todd Hutchinson. “Defensively, obviously the six turnovers gave our offense a short field and that’s definitely an emphasis and something I thought our kids really executed tonight.”

But it didn’t look that way at the start of the game.

Greenville’s offense had a pair of turnovers on their first two possessions of the game.

The Comet defense didn’t do any better as Staunton ran a grand total of two plays to score after an interception thanks to a three-yard TD scamper by Gabe Baker. The extra point gave Staunton a 7-0 lead one minute and 11 seconds into the contest.

Staunton was driving on their second series before the GHS defense grabbed their first turnover of the night.

On third and nine from midfield the Dogs switched to the pass where Olson went over and through the intended receiver for a huge interception.

For More Information see the September 11, 2024 edition of The Greenville Advocate.

Declan Graber leaps high for an interception to start the second quarter in the home opener against Staunton on Aug. 30.

Photo By Walker Photography