Greenbrier escapes Alma, 36-33

By Demetrice Elmore
UCA sportswriting

The Greenbrier Panthers defeated the Alma Airedales in a conference game Friday at Don Jones Stadium, 36-33.
Greenbrier’s season now stands at 3-1 in the 5A-West conference and 5-2 overall.

"It was a really great game,” Greenbrier coach Randy Tribble said. “It felt really good to win and I was very proud of the players' performance.”

Greenbrier was able to steal the game away from the Airedales in the last 21 seconds when sophomore quarterback Neal Burcham completed a pass to Tanner Howland for a seven-yard touchdown.

“The game had a lot of big plays and the pass to Howland was a huge game-winning touchdown for us,” Tribble said.

He said the Panthers wanted to keep the Airedales from scoring so much, but they were happy to outscore them and come away with a big conference win.

“We had some trouble stopping them," he said. "They have great offensive talent, but we knew we would have to hold on and stop the ball. We didn’t want them to score 33, but we are just glad they we scored 36 to take the win. The kids played hard and got the big stops when we really needed them.”

Burcham completed 25 of 35 passes with a gain of 367 yards with five passes completed as touchdowns. Justin Head had five carries for 53 yards and did a tremendous job blocking the defensive line, Tribble said.

The Panthers' leading receiver for the night was Tyler Hardee. Hardee caught seven passes for 138 yards and scored three touchdowns Junior Hunter Winston carried 14 times for 101 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown. Winston also was the leading tackler with seven.

“Hunter Winston, one of our consistent standout players, scored the next-to-last touchdown with a 40 yard touchdown on fourth down at the 19 yard line,” Tribble said. “It was a really big play for us.”

Greenbrier will take on the Morrilton Devil Dogs in a conference game Friday at Don Jones Stadium. This game will also be Greenbrier’s Senior Night.