GREENVILLE — The Greenville Green Wave closed out its preseason on a winning note Friday night, defeating the Milton-Union Bulldogs 20-6 in a varsity football scrimmage at Alumni Stadium.

Greenville scored on a pair of rushing touchdowns in the first half before senior Isaac Kerg broke loose for a 59-yard touchdown run in the third quarter to put the game away.

The varsity squads played the first three quarters before the junior varsity teams took the field for a scoreless fourth quarter.

Greenville coach Steve Channell was pleased with much of what he saw while acknowledging there is still work to be done before the Green Wave opens the regular season.

“I’m a perfectionist, so I’m intense on every play because over my coaching career, I know that the outcome of the game could be determined on a play in the first quarter or second quarter or a third-down conversion,” Channell said. “I’m very intense all the time, and I want everything perfect.”

Greenville put together a 90-yard scoring drive to take the lead with 2:07 remaining in the first quarter. Senior Gage Denham finished the drive by powering up the middle for a 3-yard touchdown run.

Rylan Grosch split the uprights on the extra point to give Greenville a 7-0 advantage.

The Green Wave added to its lead with 10:30 remaining in the second quarter when Tristen Russel scored on a 13-yard touchdown run. The extra-point attempt missed, leaving Greenville with a 13-0 lead.

Milton-Union appeared to get on the scoreboard with a 38-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter, but the play was called back because of a holding penalty.

Greenville’s defense later came up with a fumble recovery to stop another Bulldogs possession.

Milton-Union took advantage of a Greenville interception in the third quarter, taking possession at the Green Wave 45-yard line. A 44-yard pass moved the Bulldogs to the 1 before Milton-Union punched the ball into the end zone.

The extra-point attempt hit the goal post, leaving Greenville in front 13-6.

Kerg quickly answered for the Green Wave.

Facing third down, Greenville went to a double handoff and Kerg found a seam before racing 59 yards for a touchdown with 7:59 remaining in the third quarter. Grosch converted the extra point for a 20-6 advantage.

“That was a nice execution,” Channell said. “That was our double handoff and was on a third down. I really didn’t want to run it, but I thought, ‘OK, it’s third down. We’ve got to have confidence that we can run that at any point in time.’ He hit the seam and took it all the way to the end zone. That was a really well-executed play.”

The 20-6 score held through the remainder of varsity play.

Denham’s performance was among Channell’s offensive highlights, and he credited the senior’s offseason work for making him a stronger and more versatile player.

“I think Gage most of all offensively, running the ball, running really hard,” Channell said. “He’s done a great job in the offseason in the weight room. Last year he’s 180. This year he’s like 200 pounds. So, he’s really gained a lot of strength.”

Channell said Denham’s combination of strength, speed and ability to change direction gives Greenville options beyond simply handing him the football.

“He’s fast enough to where he catches the ball out of the backfield, which we haven’t done a whole lot right now,” Channell said. “We’ll use him as a receiver also.”

Greenville’s lone interception gave Channell another teaching opportunity before the games begin to count.

“He knows he made a mistake on the one pass,” Channell said. “Number one, he shouldn’t have thrown it. Number two, his body mechanics were not very good, but he knows that. He’s a smart kid. I’d rather him do that tonight than next week. He’ll be fine.”

Channell also came away encouraged by the kicking game. Grosch converted two extra points, including one following a delay-of-game penalty.

“Our kicker, who also plays soccer, has done a pretty good job this year,” Channell said. “He converted the extra point after the five-yard delay-of-game penalty, so that was positive. He missed one, but it still had good distance. He shows up and works, and he’ll be a consistent performer for us.”

Defensively, Greenville forced three turnovers and kept Milton-Union out of the end zone until the third quarter.

“The defense as a whole ran around pretty well,” Channell said. “Overall, we played pretty well defensively.”

One area Channell wants improved is Greenville’s intensity coming out of halftime. After three weeks of two-a-day practices and preseason work, Channell sensed his players were ready to move on to the regular season.

“We talked about that at halftime, and I’m not giving them a free pass on that, but we’ve been through three weeks of two-a-days,” Channell said. “This is our last scrimmage, and they’re like the coaches; they just want to get through tonight and get to the regular season.

“But you’ve got to come out during the regular season in tight ball games in the second half. You can’t come out not ready to play, and that seemed to be the case a little bit.”

The JV squads took over in the fourth quarter and played a scoreless period. Greenville freshman Carter Hellman recorded an interception for the Green Wave defense.

For Channell, Friday’s scrimmage was also another opportunity to coach his coaching staff. Greenville has a combination of veteran and younger coaches, and Channell remains active on the sideline on virtually every snap.

“I’m coaching every play, and I tell my staff, even in practice, you ought to be coaching every single play,” Channell said. “I have to make sure they understand the importance of every play of a game because, when I learned this as a young head coach, you never know when that play is going to happen that’s going to make the difference in a game.”

Channell said coaching involves correcting mistakes while also recognizing what players and coaches are doing well.

“You’ve got to do everything the right way, prepare the right way, coach every play, and sometimes coaching is correcting, but it’s also encouraging,” Channell said. “My job first is to help the young coaches become better coaches, encourage the good things they’re doing and remind them of the things that maybe need a little bit of work or an adjustment.”

With the preseason complete, Greenville can now turn its full attention to the games that count.

“Am I pleased tonight? Mostly,” Channell said. “I thought we lost some energy in the second quarter and the second half a little bit here and there, but all in all, you get through the preseason, you do some things well, you have enough that you can work on.

“I’m just glad that the preseason is done, and now we get to start our regular season starting Monday.”