Greensboro Beats Apprentice School 20-13
The Pride football team opened up a 17-0 first quarter lead and hung on down the stretch to beat the Apprentice School 20-13 at home on Saturday. The victory marked the first home win for Greensboro since beating Methodist 42-20 on November 7, 2009. It is also the first time that The Pride have recorded a 2-1 non-conference mark since the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
Greensboro put points on the board in each of its first three possessions on Saturday. The Pride kicked off the game with a five play, 61-yard drive that ended with a 30-yard field goal by Mark Bush. The drive was highlighted by a 59-yard reception by Dexter Russell Jr.
The next drive saw Greensboro move the ball 43 yards in nine plays with quarterback Ryan Throndset finding Tyler Fearrington for a 15-yard scoring pass. Bush connected on the extra point to make the score 10-0 Pride with 8:02 left in the opening frame.
The momentum continued into the next possession, as Greensboro went on a 13 play, 99-yard drive that ate up 5:55 of the clock. Antwan Thorpe punctuated the drive with an 11-yard touchdown reception with 42 seconds showing on the clock.
The Apprentice School found the scoreboard for the first time on the day as Chris Virgin recovered a block punt in the endzone. The point after narrowed The Pride's lead to 17-7 with 3:40 remaining in the half.
Greensboro would tack on three more points heading into the break, as Nick La Toof hit a 40-yard field goal as time expired for a 20-7 halftime advantage.
The second half was all about defense, with the scoring threats being held to a minimum. The Pride defense forced three second half fumbles - two of which set up missed field goal opportunities.
The Builders recorded the only points of the second half with 1:19 to go on a 67-yard run by Ralick Lockett. The ensuing onside kick went out of bounds, alllowing Greensboro to kneel on the ball and run out the clock.
The Pride dominated time of possession, holding onto the football for 37:04 compared to 19:41 for the Apprentice School. Greensboro totaled 380 yards of total offense - 285 through the air and 95 on the ground - while limiting the Builders to 265.
Throndset finished the game going 27-40 for 285 yards passing, with two touchdowns and an interception. Russell Jr. led all receivers with eight catches for 129 yards. Thorpe also contributed with seven receptions for 54 yards and a score. In total, eight different receivers recorded a catch. In the ground game, Cortez Vernon finished with a team high 40 yards on five carries.
Defensively, Travis Welch had a game high 15 tackles for The Pride. William Thomas also had a big day with six tackles, two sacks and three total tackles for loss. Ethan Smith, James McClease and Julian Cinotti each had a fumble recovery while Desmond Gillis notched a forced fumble.
The Pride are now 2-1 on the season entering a bye week. Greensboro will be back in action on Saturday, September 29 at Methodist. Game time is 1 p.m.
