One thing is for certain for the Greenbrier and Vilonia football teams — both teams will represent the 5A-West Conference in the first round of the playoffs next week.
Unfortunately for the Eagles, they have a trip to undefeated Monticello on Friday. Vilonia’s last trip to the 5A state playoffs was in 2007 when the Eagles made it to the semifinal round. This is the first time that Greenbrier will play a playoff game since its 1995 trip to Paris. The Panthers will host their first-round game next week
“Monticello is good,” Vilonia coach Jim Stanley said.
In just his second year, Greenbrier coach Randy Tribble has raised the Panthers program from the doormat of the 5A West to a second seed. The Panthers’ offensive attack has gotten statewide attention after posting a 7-3 overall record and a 5-2 conference record.
“The community is awesome,” Tribble said. “There are signs all over town, and it’s just good that our kids get to enjoy that. It just seems like that they’re enjoying it big time, so it’s just really rewarding.”
One of the keys to the game in Greenbrier’s win was how they were able to match Vilonia’s physical play.
“We just knew that their philosophy was to be physical on offense and milk the clock,” Greenbrier’s two-way starter Matt Cain said. “We really wanted it. We knew that we had to beat them at their game, and still play our game at the same time. That’s what we focused on all week.”
HEAD’S BIG NIGHT
Greenbrier’s Justin Head had a career-high game against the Eagles.
Head, one of the seniors who got their first victory over their county-rivals in high school, caught 10 passes for 101 yards. Head also had a key touchdown catch in the third quarter, which helped extend Greenbrier’s lead to a full possession.
DON’T DUNK ON US
Apparently, the Panthers had plenty of bulletin board material going into Thursday night’s game.
“Coach photocopied some pictures of Vilonia players dunking on us, and they put them up on our lockers,” Cain said. “That was kind of our motivation was to unleash a reckoning. Our theme of the week was ‘The Reckoning.’ We just really wanted to give them some payback.”
