Greenback, Breeden Gilbert use wildcat to give Coalfield its first loss of the season

COALFIELD – With a dynamic runner, you almost can’t resist trying a direct snap. Greenback has exactly that in Breeden Gilbert, so the Cherokees usually try the wildcat once or twice a game.

The thing is, it often doesn’t work too well and then they go back to a more conventional setup. Thursday, Greenback had a little success against Coalfield with the wildcat in the first half. They brought it out again in the second and had a lot of success.

Gilbert scored three of Greenback’s four fourth quarter touchdowns on the way to a 34-33 win over their 2-1A rival, handing Coalfield its first loss of the season.

What made the wildcat work better this time around?

“Guys just blocked better,” Gilbert said. “They always block well but this was even better.”

That, and Gilbert hit holes hard and doesn’t go down easily. On one run, it took five Yellowjackets to eventually haul him down. The play was called back for a hold, but the player held would have been No. 6.

“He was huge tonight,” said Gray Williams, lineman coach acting as head coach while Greg Ryan served a suspension. “He’s a hard runner and our guys were able to get some blocks up. With his speed and ability, he really did well.”

He racked up 134 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 16 attempts, most of which came in the fourth quarter. Gilbert scored twice on short-yardage plays (six yards and then three) and he also broke open for 58 yards on the winning play.

Gilbert wasn’t thinking much as he ran, just “holy cow” (or something similar).

“I expect that,” quarterback Bryce Hanley said. “When I think of Breeden, that’s what I think of: running over somebody then staying on his feet and getting 30 more yards. It’s always something special.”

Emotions ran high as Greenback (6-1, 3-0) came back from a 27-7 third quarter deficit (“seven points, that just isn’t us,” Hanley said) against their rivals. Gilbert chooses to ride the emotions rather than manage them, if he can use them to keep gaining momentum, he doesn’t have to worry about them overtaking him.

Hanley was preaching calm during the game, but it wasn’t easy as the Cherokees scored two touchdowns in a two-minute span twice in that final quarter. Coalfield (7-1, 4-1) scored once, at the time increasing the margin back to two scores, but Greenback chipped away once again, while also coming up with stops.

“I don’t know how we did it,” Hanley said about managing the emotion. “I don’t really know if we did settle down. We played high intensity most of the game. We were just thinking the whole time: Now the road goes through Greenback, they’ll have to come to us in the third round. That’s what we were playing for.”