Sports

GREENE COUNTY TECH’S RECORD RUN VISITS UNDEFEATED MONTICELLO BILLIES

By Sean Saunders/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, November 19, 2009 11:53 PM CST

Greene County Tech has had a dream season so far. The Golden Eagles won their first playoff game in school history last week when they rallied from 10 points to beat Magnolia 28-24. That victory also gave them nine on the year, a school record for most wins in a season.

But that record run will come across its biggest test when Greene County Tech faces Monticello tonight at Hyatt Field in the second round of the Class 5A state playoffs. The Billies still remain the lone undefeated team in 5A.

“We’ve been very fortunate this year,” Greene County Tech coach Jeff Conaway said. “Boy, I hope we can keep it going. It’s going to be tough going up against a combination of speed and power they have in Monticello.”

Ever since scraping by with a 12-6 victory at White Hall on Oct. 16, the Billies (11-0) have been one of the most dominant teams in the state. They used a combination of strong offense and defense to win their last four games by an average of almost 34 points.

Monticello coach Van Paschal said before the playoffs began he could have had up to seven shutouts this year if he hadn’t “wanted to get some other players playing time.” That thought came to fruition last week when the Billies shut out Vilonia 31-0 in a rematch of last year’s Simmons First/Hootens.com Kickoff Week.

“They continue to play at a high level,” Paschal said. “I continue to live by the fact that defense wins championships, and as long as they keep playing like this, we should go a long way.”

Monticello’s defense will be charged with stopping one of the more productive backs in 5A. Senior Standrick Williams has more than 1,200 yards rushing and 14 touchdowns and can even take direct snaps in Greene County Tech’s (9-2) “Wild Eagle” package.

“He’s been solid all year,” Conaway said. “We’ve had a good group of kids, but he’s easily been our most productive player. There were about three games where he’s carried us to victory.”

All of Monticello’s playmakers were on full display last week, but quarterback Joe Carmical stole the show. Much like former quarterback Ty Ferrell had a huge game in his playoff debut against Wynne last year, Carmical had a strong performance in the first round this year, totaling 300 yards of offense and three touchdowns.

“They’re both really good ball players,” Paschal said. “Good players make plays, and Joe has been able to do that all year.”

Carmical has had at least one rushing touchdown in every game this season.

Monticello and Greenwood are just one game away from a showdown between the two squads that have been at the top of all the 5A rankings this year. But Greenwood still has to get past defending state champion Pulaski Academy tonight, and Paschal said his team has to remain focused on beating Greene County Tech.

“We’ll see. We’ll see if we’ll be on the road next week or we’ll be at home,” Paschal said. “But our task at hand is to win and move on.”

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