Byrd carries Greenfield past Frontier in OT, 22-20

GREENFIELD — Every eye in the stadium fixated on Greenfield running back RJ Byrd.

The Green Wave had just tied the Frontier Regional football team in overtime with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Owen Phelps to Daniel Vega. Phelps looked right and floated a fade just past the leaping Frontier corner’s outstretched hand.

Greenfield went for the 2-point conversion after that touchdown. Convert and the Green Wave beat the Red Hawks for the first time since 2013. Fail and the contest goes to a second overtime.

Byrd lined up at the back of an I-formation behind fullback Nate Haselton and Phelps. He’d gotten the ball all night, and there was little doubt where Greenfield was going.

“We knew it was going to Byrd,” Frontier senior Aaron Landry said. “We just couldn’t stop him.”

Byrd followed Haselton up the middle after the snap. He ran trough two arm tackles in the final 2 yards and crossed the plane of the goal line, holding the ball in the air with his right hand in the end zone.

The try was good, and Greenfield won 22-20 on Friday.

“You can’t dwell on this, it happened,” Frontier coach Don Gordon said.

Frontier (1-1, 0-1 Intercounty North) led for the first time all game after its turn on offense in overtime. Bryce Dobosz took a direct snap left and dove 4 yards into the end zone. He finished with 108 yards in the game and scored all three of Frontier’s touchdowns. Greenfield strung out the Red Hawks’ pitch left to Garrett DeForest on their 2-point try, stopping him in the backfield.

Frontier rode Dobosz in the second half. He ran for 97 yards and both touchdowns working out of the quarterback position.

“We did that last week (in a win over Pittsfield) and got some stuff off that,” Gordon said.

Dobosz helped Frontier erase a 14-0 deficit.

Greenfield (2-0, 1-0) led 6-0 at halftime thanks to a 47-yard pass from Vega to Phelps in the first quarter. Phelps (202 yards, two touchdowns) found Dionn Casanova for a 52-yard catch and run with 6 minutes, 28 seconds left in the third quarter for a 14-0 lead after Byrd (94 yards) ran in the conversion.

“We just had a bad first half, and our pass defense … we just weren’t making the plays in the secondary,” Gordon said.

Frontier turned the ball over twice in the red zone in the first half. Greenfield nabbed an interception on Frontier’s second drive of the game, and the Red Hawks fumbled on their next possession at the Green Wave’s 19.

“We didn’t play a great first half,” Dobosz said. “It bit us in the butt.”

Forcing turnovers gave the Red Hawks a chance in the second half. After Dobosz tied the game at 14 with a 5-yard run, Matt Hildreth recovered a Greenfield fumble. But Frontier turned the ball over on downs that possession, and Greenfield drove 19 yards before Aaron Landry forced another fumble with 1:19 left. Frontier went 10 plays to the Greenfield 20, but time ran out before it could score.

“We’re tired about hearing all the other teams, honestly,” Greenfield’s Phelps said. “We’re just trying to win every game and prove people wrong.”

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.

Greenfield 22,
Frontier Regional 20, OT

First quarter

G—Daniel Vega 47-yard pass from Owen Phelps (Pass failed), 3:56.

Second quarter

No scoring.

Third quarter

G—Dionn Casanova 52 pass from Phelps (Phelps), 6:28.

F—Bryce Dobosz 28 run (Matt Hildreth run), 5:41.

Fourth quarter

F—Dobosz 5 run (Run failed), 10:24

Overtime

F—Dobosz 12 run (Run failed)

G—Vega 5 pass from Phelps (RJ Byrd run)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Frontier Regional–Dobosz 11-108, Hildreth 9-71, Steven Worthley, 7-33, Aaron Landry 6-24, Garrett Deforest 2-0. Greenfield–Byrd 22-94, Nate Haselton 5-7, Phelps 5-(-2).

PASSING—Frontier Regional–Matt Hildreth 7-13-1-79. Greenfield–Phelps 10-14-1-202.

RECEIVING—Frontier Regional–Cole Price 2-31, Landry 2-24, Dobosz 1-8. Greenfield–Vega 4-60, Casanova 1-52, Jared Hart 3-38, Haselton 1-16 Jacob Sak 1-5.