Late Field Goal Dooms Pride in 9-7 Loss to The Apprentice School

Kicker Blake Penix nailed home a 32-yard field goal with 4:26 remaining in the game to rally The Apprentice School past Greensboro, 9-7. It was the second consecutive year that The Pride dropped a 9-7 decision to The Apprentice School.

Senior running back Robert Byrd started the scoring with a two yard touchdown plunge to give Greensboro a 7-0 lead just 5:46 into the game. The touchdown was set-up by a special teams mistake on the part of the Builders that left the ball on their own two-yard line. It took one play for The Pride to capitalize and jump on top.

The Apprentice School answered four minutes later with a Paul Morgan eight-yard touchdown run. Penix kick was off target as Greensboro held on to a slight 7-6 lead.

The Builders threatened twice in the second quarter, moving the ball deep into Pride territory before being turned away on downs to preserve the advantage heading into halftime.

Greensboro twice moved past midfield in the third quarter but was forced to punt each time. The Pride defense, meanwhile, came up with a couple of big plays of their own after The Apprentice School appeared to be gaining momentum.

The first came with the Builders at the Greensboro 49 when Paul Harold scooped up a fumble by Chris Virgin. The Apprentice School took the ball to The Pride 31 on the next possession before Kendall Hosch came away with a fumble by Paul Morgan.

The Greensboro defense was on the field for much of the fourth quarter as the Builders ate up 5:08 of the clock en route to Penix game winning kick.

The Pride had one more opportunity, however. Rahmel Workman got things going with a 28-yard kick-off return to The Apprentice 49 yardline. Freshman quarterback Cameron Janack hit Joey Porter for a 14-yard gain on the first play to push the drive to the Builder 35. Six plays later, Harrison Grady trotted onto the field to attempt a 38-yard field goal. The kicked was blocked by Brock Bullock and The Apprentice School sealed the deal.

Greensboro finished the day with the day with 102 total yards of offense – 58 rushing and 44 passing – while the Builders racked up 175 yards, all of which came in the air.

Both teams lost four fumbles on the day. The Apprentice School, meanwhile, held a 33:53-26:07 advantage in time of possession.

Janack paced The Pride attack with 85 yards rushing and 44 yards passing. Justin Dukes caught one pass for 28 yards while Porter and Byrd grabbed one catch apiece.

Defensively, senior linebacker Allen Stallings (pictured) had a team high 12 tackles and broke the career school record for unassisted tackles with six on the afternoon. Stallings now has 136 unassisted tackles for his career, passing 2002 graduate Josh Daniels’ 135.

The loss drops Greensboro to 0-3 on the year. The Pride will be off next weekend before hitting the road again for a 7:00 p.m. conference opener at Shenandoah.
(Greensboro College Press Release)