The Greenbrier Wolfpack dominated the Grovetown Warriors 35-0 on Friday, Oct. 2, at Greenbrier.
On Greenbrier’s Homecoming night, the Wolfpack delivered a masterclass to take down their county rival Grovetown Warriors. The Pack dominated on the ground, rushing for a total of 310 yards, 202 of which came in the first half.
The charge was led by senior quarterback Parker Brantley, who put together a fantastic performance: 101 yards through the air (completing all 11 of his attempts) and 131 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Joshua Jefferson followed behind him, with 111 yards on six carries, one of which was an 85-yard house call.
Deion Mitchell was the leading receiver for the Wolfpack (2-4) and the game, totaling 48 yards on three catches.
The Warriors (1-5) couldn’t find momentum anywhere, only managing 46 yards on 27 rushing attempts. Kaiden Carmen had the most rushing yards of any Warrior, with 29 on six touches, all in the first half. Three different quarterbacks attempted a pass for Grovetown but were held to a stat line of eight completions on 14 attempts for 54 yards.
Greenbrier received the opening kickoff and almost immediately set the tone for the rest of the game, with Brantley finding a massive hole on a quarterback option and running 64 yards down the middle of the field to score.
Grovetown’s initial drive might’ve been the Warriors’ best of the night. Trying to respond, the Warriors moved the ball down the field steadily, and Nahjee Pollard would find Cameron Wilkerson for a 27-yard pass (Grovetown’s longest play of the day) on third and 14 to keep its scoring hopes alive.
Jared Mendoza would ultimately miss a field goal from the 25, though, and Greenbrier running Jefferson took the ball 85 yards for a touchdown on the very first play in response.
Now down by 14, the Warriors had all their momentum killed a second time as Pollard took a huge 12-yard sack. The Wolfpack’s Chance Gunter made a fantastic effort to get the pressure and chase Pollard down, a common theme as he virtually lived in Grovetown’s backfield the entire game.
The Warriors would fail to convert and shank a punt, giving the ball back to Greenbrier at midfield. More dominance on the ground and a facemask would take the Wolfpack to Grovetown’s 30 before the first quarter ended with them up 14-0.
Greenbrier continued to control the ground, and a play emblematic of the night for the Warriors would see Brantley fumble the ball at the 10-yard line. Instead of this helping momentum swing their way, the Warriors and their butterfingers accidentally knocked the ball forward, allowing the Wolfpack to recover it in the end zone for a touchdown, extending the deficit to 21 points.
A poor kickoff by Elijah Shearl would give them the opportunity to start their drive at their own 40. They’d effectively run the ball to Greenbrier’s 32 before stalling. Needing a big swing, Coach Dedrick Mayo elected to go for it on fourth and five, but Grovetown was stopped.
With 6:21 left in the half, the Wolfpack went to work, and a surgical drive from Brantley (who accounted for all but one of the team’s scrimmage yards on this 67-yard effort) would see the Pack extend their lead to 28 points, with just under three minutes left before halftime.
The Warriors simply couldn’t get anything going and went three and out, another poor punt giving the ball to their opponent at midfield with 1:59 left. Greenbrier diced up their defense some more, getting down to the 1-yard-line, but were unable to punch in another score before the clock died.
Getting the ball first out of the half, Grovetown whimpered instead of roared. They went three and out on all four of their drives in the second half.
Greenbrier scored one more time for good measure on their first drive of the half, exclusively running the ball; as a matter of fact, the Wolfpack only ran the ball the entire second half.
Brennen Bjorkman saw his largest workload on this drive, taking six carries for 34 yards and a score, the only one by either team for the rest of the game. The drive also took the third quarter down to a mere five minutes left. Greenbrier would put their backups in for the remainder of the game, as would Grovetown, and a fourth quarter running clock would ensure a swift finish to the bout.
Coach Sean Tiernan of the Wolfpack was enamored with his squad’s ability to execute their assignments.
“It was domination in every phase of the game,” he said. “We’ve had games where we would only play three quarters and fall off for one. Today was an example of who we can be when we execute well and play physical for the entire game.”
Tiernan also praised his backfield trio of Brantley, Jefferson and Bjorkman (who left the game cramping after his touchdown).
“Those guys have been doing this for us all year,” he said. “It’s just been overshadowed in games we fell short. Brennan and Josh run so hard, and Parker is great at executing his reads.”
His defense might be where his greatest pride came from today, though.
“Our defensive line was flying around tonight,” the Greenbrier coach said. “We haven’t seen them play with that kind of pace this year, and we love it. That can be the difference in the future in us getting the ball back and winning.”
Coach Dedrick Mayo of the Warriors was not quite as glowing.
“We have to look at everything,” said Mayo. “We didn’t do anything well. This is the first time this year I’ve been disappointed. This is not the standard of execution we hold ourselves to, and it’s certainly not the level of passion I expect from my guys.”
The Grovetown Warriors will take next Friday off and instead look to rebound against a winless Lakeside Panthers team on Friday. Oct. 16, at home. Greenbrier will also take a break this upcoming week and look to pick up their third win of the year on the road against the Bradwell Institute Tigers, also on Oct. 16.
Cooper Brady is an Augusta University student. Augusta Good News is an award-winning member of the Georgia Press Association, receiving a second place General Excellence in 2025 and 2026 Sign up for our free weekly newsletter here.
