Greenville Lions to face No. 6 Ennis at home tonight
Sep. 17—Two years ago the Greenville Lions had the heavily-favored Ennis Lions on the ropes in a district football game before Ennis slipped away for a 32-25 victory.
The two teams will meet again in the District 8-5A-II opener at 7:30 tonight at T.A. "Cotton" Ford Stadium.
Greenville jumped out to a surprising 25-7 lead in the first half on Ennis in their 2019 game at Ennis. Ennis rallied to score a touchdown in the final minute for its first lead of the game and for the victory. Ennis went on to go 12-2 that season and go four rounds deep in the 5A playoffs before losing in overtime to eventual state champion Aledo.
That close miss has carried over to this season.
"I feel like the kids feel like we can compete with them," said Greenville coach Darren Duke.
Ennis jumped out early on the Lions in the 2020 rematch and did not let up, rolling to a 56-3 victory. Ennis went 9-1 last season, reaching the area round of the 5A-II playoffs before falling 42-28 to Mansfield Timberview.
Ennis is 3-0 this season and is No. 6 in the 5A-II state rankings. The Lions have beaten Red Oak 56-42, Keller Fossil Ridge 36-29 and Waxahachie 22-21 in overtime last seek.
"They're good," said Duke. "They look like a state-ranked team. Last year I thought they were as good as any team I've coached against."
Duke said the other Lions have lost some talented players to graduation but so has his team. He said the Greenville Lions need to "protect the ball" if they are to hang tough with Ennis.
The Lions lost a couple of turnovers before settling down in their 59-0 victory over 4A Carrollton Ranchview. Greenville ended up with a 534-96 advantage in total yardage as the Lions' T.O.B. (Tough Ol' Boys) defense knocked the Wolves back for a minus 24 yards in rushing.
Jamoriyon Stephenson, Evan Bennett and Joel Luna picked off passes as Ranchview completed only 5 of 23 attempts for 96 yards.
Running back O.J. Johnson ran for a career-high 208 yards and three touchdowns on 20 carries to lead the Lions. Johnson's touchdown runs covered 3, 6 and 82 yards. Johnson leads the Lions in rushing for the season with 405 yards and three TDs on 43 carries.
Micah Simpson also dashed 92 yards for a touchdown and caught a 54-yard touchdown pass from Joe Galay, who was 6-of-10 passing for 109 yards. Galay is 27-of-51 passing this season for 537 yards and four TDs.
Kamron Neal ran for 73 yards on five carries, including a 41-yard touchdown run.
Quarterback Jackson Gilkey, a 6-3, 205-pound junior, leads the Ennis offense. Gilkey is 35-of-57 passing for 575 yards and seven TDs.
The other Lions' top two rushers are Dee Johnson (46-292, 4 TDs) and T.T. Cox (24-201, 1 TD).
Freshman Gracen Harris leads the Ennis receivers with 19 catches for 433 yards and six TDs.
Greenville Lions
2021 Football Season Stats
RUSHING
Att. Yds. Avg. TD LG
O.J. Johnson 43 405 9.4 3 82
Hue Pitts 27 119 4.4 3 18
Micah Simpson 5 103 20.6 1 92
Kamron Neal 5 73 14.6 1 41
Zy Tyson 12 58 4.8 1 28
Joe Galay 10 29 2.9 0 11
Amauryen Nelson 1 5 5.0 0 5
Isaiah Lowe 2 3 1.5 0 3
TEAM 4 -38 -9.5 0 -5
PASSING
C A I Pct. Yds. TDs LG
Joe Galay 27 51 4 .529 537 4 66
Hunter Waters 4 7 0 .571 37 0 25
RECEIVING
Rec. Yds. Avg. TDs LG
Zy Tyson 8 72 9.9 0 19
Micah Simpson 7 217 31.0 2 54
JaQualyn Davis 5 196 39.2 2 66
Degaryion Anderson 2 28 14.0 0 16
Hue Pitts 2 18 9.0 0 17
Amauryen Nelson 2 15 7.5 0 9
Isaiah Lowe 2 -4 -2.0 0 -1
Damian Lewis 1 25 25.0 0 25
Kamron Neal 1 7 3.5 0 7
O.J. Johnson 1 0 0.0 0 0
TEAM RUSHING
Att. Yds. Avg. TDs LG
Opponent 104 636 6.1 10 54
Greenville 109 757 6.9 9 92
TEAM PASSING
C A I Pct. Yds. TDs LG
Opponent 34 65 5 .523 734 5 74
Greenville 31 58 4 .534 574 4 66
TOTAL OFFENSE
Plays Yds. Avg. TDs LG
Opponent 169 1370 456.7 15 74
Greenville 167 1331 443.7 13 92
PUNTING
Punts Yds. Avg. BL LG
Opponent 12 362 30.2 0 48
Greenville 10 373 37.3 0 51
GREENVILLE PUNTING
Punts Yds. Avg. 0 LG
Andrew Ibarra 10 373 37.3 0 51
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Opponent 20 41 36 21 —118
Greenville 7 40 28 41 —116
SEASON RESULTS
Tyler Chapel Hill 63, Greenville 36
Frisco Liberty 55, Greenville 21
Greenville 59, Carrollton Ranchview 0
