GREENVILLE – Greenville Head Coach Sean Ford had to be feeling pretty good about the play of his young Green Wave football team about halfway through the second quarter in a Miami Valley League matchup with undefeated Vandalia-Butler. Trailing only 7-0 and facing a third down and six at their own 45-yard line, the Wave had no way of knowing that the next five-plus minutes were about to become a span of “error and terror.”
A Butler interception of Wave quarterback Aiden Manix’s pass was returned to the Wave 39, leading to a Butler score on the next play by way of a Mason Reckner to Trayvon Crump aerial strike, leading to an Aviator 13-0 lead with 6:18 left in the first half.
On the Wave’s next possession, a fumble on a fourth-down play at the GHS 27 eventually led to another Butler touchdown, as Reckner and Crump again teamed up for a 37-yard scoring pass. With the conversion kick by Gryffin Bradley, the Aviators stretched their lead to 20-0, with 4:17 showing on the Harmon Field scoreboard.
Another Butler interception followed on the next set of downs, setting up a 12-yard scoring run by Kaiden Bates, putting the Aviators up 27-0 at the 3:01 mark.
A shell-shocked home crowd was further stunned when Butler regained possession following a Wave punt and scored with 49 seconds remaining in the half, compliments of a 37-yard touchdown pass to Julius Rusk from Reckner, his fourth scoring toss of the half.
When the carnage was totaled that was a 27-0 run by the Aviators in a little over five minutes with a running clock coming into play for the entire second half.
Israel Cunningham added a three-yard TD run in the third quarter, expanding the lead to 41-0 as Butler played the second half with their starters on the sidelines. The Wave finally put points on the scoreboard with sophomore quarterback Isaac Kerg connecting with Lukas Thorp on a 13-yard scoring pass with 8:12 remaining in the game. Mason Pierri’s extra point kick made the final score 41-7 as Butler moved to 4-0 and 3-0 in MVL action with the win, while Greenville fell to 0-4, 0-3 in league play.
Odds and Ends Zone—
Butler outgained the Wave offensively 305 yards to 158, with 202 of those coming through the air. Reckner was 9 of 17 with the four scoring strikes, with Tayven Crump hauling in 3 receptions for 93 yards and two touchdowns, while his brother Braylen also had three catches for 55 yards and a TD. Julius Rusk added two receptions for 45 yards and a score, while Kaiden Bates rushed for 61 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries. Bradley converted 5 of 6 extra point kicks.
Wave junior QB Aiden Manix left the game midway through the second quarter with an apparent arm injury after completing three passes for 61 yards with one interception. Kerg was 5 of 8 with one interception and the scoring pass to Thorp. The Wave running game was held to only 29 yards on 23 carries as Butler dominated the line of scrimmage both offensively and defensively.
The new lighting and audio systems at Harmon Field continued to earn great reviews after the second game, as did the new turf that was installed following the May 7th storm damage.
Greenville next travels US 36 to Piqua to face the 1-3 Indians at Alexander Stadium Friday evening. The Aviators host a mid-season showdown with an undefeated Xenia Buccaneers squad in an interesting clash between the leaders of the Miami and Valley divisions.
Elsewhere in the MVL, Tipp remained unbeaten after beating Piqua, Troy bounced back from a loss to Butler by routing West Carrollton, and Sidney moved to 2-1 in league play by handling Fairborn 37-27
