Greer's Young Confident Team Will Turn Around After Early Struggles

Following a 35-27 loss to Seneca last week, the Greer Yellow Jackets are eager to earn a win against Riverside tonight.

“With under four minutes to go in the game, we were under by two scores,” Greer Head Football Coach Will Young told the Greer Touchdown Club Thursday. “We score offensively pretty fast and we’re down by one score. We kick an onside kick - get it. We score on the very next play, what would be the tying score, but our young quarterback crossed the line of scrimmage – about a yard downfield when he throws the football.

“I guess the moral of the story is, while we did not play as well as we’re capable of playing ….we still fought back and gave ourselves a chance to win, Young continued.”

Defensively, the team struggled a little bit, he said.     

“Seneca’s really good,” Young said.

“We’ve got to, got to be a little tougher on that side of the ball, defense has got to be a little more physical,” Young said. “That’s been the challenge for us. I really believe our kids will step up. We had a little bit of the same scenario last year, where we struggled a little bit against Seneca, then turned around and played pretty solid defense the rest of the year. We expect to do the same again this year.

One bright spot in the game was Mario Cusano, a sophomore who played quarterback Friday.

“He played extremely well for his first game,” Young said. “The biggest crowd that kid has ever played in before was about fifty people on a Saturday morning. And he’s never played before anything like what we have here. I thought he performed quite well. He threw about 280 yards. He didn’t throw any picks, didn’t make any real big mistakes, other than the last one, and that’s something he’ll learn from and get better at. He’s a very level-headed kid. He didn’t get too high when we were winning and didn’t get too low when we weren’t.

Young said the offensive line played very well.

“We still have to get a little physical up front,” he said.

On defense, a “big bright spot” is Jalen Stokes, Young said.

“He’s a senior, been a back up his whole life,” he said. “Kid’s done good, played very well Friday night.” 

Young said Riverside is “getting better every week.”

Coach Phil Smith of Riverside is “giving his kids a chance to win,” Young said.