GF gives Ewing 1st win as head coach

The Green Forest Tigers gave Dalton Ewing his first victory as a head coach on Friday, Sept. 5, riding a power running game and a stingy defense to a 28-6 victory at West Fork.

Senior Gabe Serna ran for two touchdowns and classmates Ryne Stone and Jaden Ochoa added one TD apiece for Green Forest, which evened its record at 1-1 in its first season under Ewing.

“Our kids played really good,” Ewing said. “I’ll be honest, we left quite a few points on the board. We probably dropped five interceptions. We dropped a touchdown right before half that would have put us up 21-0 at halftime. So we have a lot of stuff to improve but I was very pleased with our kids.”

Serna’s 8-yard touchdown run and the first of four extra points by junior Brandon Perez put Green Forest up 7-0 with 5:53 left in the first quarter. Stone scored on a 3-yard quarterback keeper with 2:47 left in the second quarter to make it 14-0 with the point-after.

Green Forest’s defense put the clamps on West Fork for most of the night. Senior Luis Bathen led Green Forest with eight tackles, while Grady Gordon, Jace Meador and Radon Lawrence had seven stops apiece.

“Our defense played lights out,” Ewing said. “They flew around and made tons of plays. Offensively, we were just

physical.”

Serna’s 5-yard touchdown run and Perez’s extra point made it 21-6 with 2:58 left in the third. Ochoa scored Green Forest’s final touchdown in the fourth quarter.

“I felt pretty confident but we had eight minutes to go there in the fourth quarter and we ran the ball and used all eight minutes,” Ewing said. “That just shows you how our O-line dominated and our backs ran hard.”

Green Forest has an open date this week before hosting Greenland on Friday, Sept. 19.