Tigers give Pioneers a challenge

The Gentry Pioneers got out of Green Forest with a victory last Friday night. But not without a fight.

After a back-and-forth first half, Gentry pulled away in the second half and beat Green Forest 48-28 at Tiger Stadium. The win was the fourth in a row for the Pioneers (5-1, 3-0 4A-1) and kept them undefeated in conference play.

Green Forest (2-4, 0-3) lost despite registering 332 yards of total offense without committing a turnover and being penalized just twice.

“We played well for about three and a half quarters and just couldn’t finish it off,” Green Forest coach Greg Tibbitt said. “When we needed to make a play there at the end, we just couldn’t. But I thought we played really. The kids never quit. Even when we got down, we had some kids get injured and the kids never quit. So that’s something to be proud of.”

Junior running back Ridge Gordon- Swofford continued to set the tone for the Tigers’ offense, rushing for 150 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. Gordon-Swofford also ran for a twopoint conversion and came up with a strip-sack on defense.

“Ridge had another 150-yard night,” Tibbitt said. “That was our goal. We wanted to run the ball, control the clock and then try to make plays where we could. We kind of executed what we wanted to. We just couldn’t finish it off right now.”

Junior quarterback Mason Meador passed for 119 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown throw to classmate Brityn Gilliam, and ran for two touchdowns.

Gilliam finished with three receptions for 58 yards and a TD and was in on 13 tackles defensively, including six unassisted stops. Junior Jaden Kaler had eight assisted tackles and two assisted stops before leaving the game on a stretcher after being injured. Tibbitt said Kaler was treated and released from a hospital after the game.

“By 11:30 he was fully released,” Tibbitt said. “So way better than we expected when we carted him off.”

Things don’t get any easier this week as the Tigers play at Elkins on Friday, Oct. 13. The unbeaten Elks are coming off a 62-7 victory at Berryville last week.

“They’re really good,” Tibbitt said. “I think it’s kind of, hit the repeat offensively. They are really good. Really good. They can throw it. They can run it. I think the game plan is going to be same. We’re going to try to really run the ball and try to be physical. We’re going to preach that all week, try to be more physical than they are because I think they are more athletic than us. So we’re going to try to beat them up, try to control the clock, control the ball and limit their offense.”

Friday’s kickoff at Elkins is slated for 7 p.m.