GREENVILLE – The Green Wave led wire-to-wire in defeating the Sidney Yellow Jackets 34-20 in MVL Friday night football action on the Jackets’ home field.
After opening the season 2-0, Greenville was coming into the night on a four-game skid, facing the Jackets on the road in their homecoming game and the Little Brown Jug on the line.
“I’m so proud of the kids,” said Greenville coach Steve Channell. “We’ve been through a tough four-week stretch, and we knew tonight was a very meaningful game for not only our program but the community, and to be able to win the Jug and bring it back to Greenville. I know a lot of the older establishment in Greenville can appreciate winning the Jug, and it’s going to be back in the trophy case Monday.”
“We’re playing away, which is the travel and homecoming, and an hour bus ride, but there are no excuses,” Channell continued. “We came here to win tonight, we accomplished what we did, and we’ll prepare for the next three weeks, but tonight was a really key game, I thought, in our program development.”
Greenville kicked off to Sidney to open play and quickly gained possession of the ball with DeAndre Jones covering a Jackets’ fumble at 10:49 in the first, setting up a first and 10 for the Wave at their own 46-yard line.
The Wave moved the ball in their opening series with senior Gabe Rammel scoring from five yards out and Wayatt Thacker splitting the uprights out of the hold of Grady Looker, giving Greenville an early 7-0 lead at 6:16 in the first quarter.
Sidney answered with an Ishhod Diomande 11-yard touchdown run at 9:46 in the second. Greenville blocked the Jackets’ PAT kick, making a 7-6 score.
“The defense made plays when they had to tonight,” Channell stated. “They came through and had some critical stops beginning with the blocked extra point after the first touchdown because that kept that score difference, and then a couple of the turnovers really helped our momentum offensively, and offensively we did enough.”
With 4:35 in the second quarter and Sidney facing a fourth and one, the Wave stopped Sidney on the Wave’s 14-yard line, keeping the one-point lead intact.
Rammel raced 18 yards for a touchdown with 1:03 showing on the first half clock and made good on a two-point conversion run, giving the Wave a 15-6 halftime lead. Greenville received the opening kick to start the second half play and was forced to punt, with Sidney taking over, only to fumble the ball away to the Wave at 9:30 in the third.
Greenville responded with a third-and-ten 30-yard Aiden Manix to Isaac Kerg touchdown pass completion at 7:32 in the third. Thacker’s extra point kick was on the mark, upping the Wave’s lead to 22-6.
Sidney answered with an Andrew Lundy to Maleek Franklin 14-yard touchdown pass with 6:25 on the third quarter board. Greenville’s defense stopped a two-point conversion attempt for a Green Wave 22-12 lead that would hold up through three periods of play, but not before Greenville chose to go on a fourth and one at their own 37-yard line with Rammell taking the handoff and rushing for three yards, keeping a Wave drive alive.
Greenville junior Gage Denham carried one yard for a Wave touchdown at 4:47 in the fourth. Sidney blocked the PAT attempt, giving Greenville a 28-12 advantage.
The Jackets’ Andrew Lundy answered with a six-yard quarterback keeper TD, and Grady Mitchell pulled in a Lundy two-point pass reception, making it an 8-point 28-20 Greenville lead with 3:31 in the fourth.
Greenville covered a Sidney onside kick and soon were looking at a fourth and two at the Jackets 36 36-yard line with ample time for Sidney to attempt tying the game if the Wave punted. Coach Channell showed confidence in his offense to go on fourth down, and Rammel came up big with a 36-yard touchdown run, putting the game away with Greenville pushing its lead 34-20 with 1:48 remaining on the game clock.
“That wasn’t me, that was my linemen,” Rammel said of his 36-yard late-game TD run. “There was a wide open gap, all I did was run, it was all them, all credit to them. I owe them dinner sometime.”
“It feels great for the community, for us boys,” Rammel continued while talking about getting the Jug back. “It’s huge. We’ve watched Sidney take it home three years in a row now. It feels so great to have it back in Greenville and back in our trophy case.”
The 14-point lead would hold up for the final score of the night, bringing praise from Coach Channell.
“We scored 34, I guess you can’t fault that too much,” Coach Channell said. “Very pleased with the kids’ effort. “I felt like tonight … we talked about this, when something wrong happens, let’s not dwell on that, let’s dwell on the next play and not allow that negativity to creep in. I thought as a whole we did that tonight. I felt that was what prompted us on to that win.”
“If the team wanted to do something specific, it was to win this game,” said GHS senior John Barr. “I know it’s for the Jug, but it’s also a rivalry, so it’s really important. It’s my first time winning the Jug, but the clock is ticking down on my high school career, and it means a lot. As our Athletic Director said, it also means a lot to the community, so it’s really nice to have the Jug finally back for the first time since 2019.”
“This win means absolutely everything to me,” said Greenville senior Landon Noble. “I’ve been working day in and day out, I’ve been playing for this team for four years, and I’ve been wanting nothing more than this moment right now. I knew we could do this, we can do this, and we did.”
PASSING
Aiden Manix 8/12 for 78 passing yards
RUSHING
Gabe Rammel 28 Attempts 192 Yards 3 TD
Gage Denham 11 Attempts 33 Yards 1 TD
Aiden Manix 4 Attempts -2 Yards
RECEIVING
John Barr 6 Receptions 48 Yards
Isaac Kerg 2 Receptions 30 yards 1 TD
TACKLES
Issac Kerg 13 Tackles
Michael Fox 7 Tackels
Owen Shaffer 6 Tackles
Wyatt Hissong 6 Tackles
Gabe Rammel 4 Tackles
Landon Noble 4 Tackles
Gage Denham 3 Tackles
Tristan Bey-Russell 3 Tackles
Greenville Rushing Yards 256 Yards
Sidney Rushing Yards 141 Yards
Greenville Passing Yards 78 Yards 1 TD
Sidney Passing Yards 274 1 TD
