BENTONVILLE - The season probably couldn't have started any better for Greenland.
Senior Jose Ventura took the opening kickoff and ran it back 87 yards for a touchdown, and the Pirates went on to defeat West Fork 46-27 on Tuesday in the Kickoff Classic at Tiger Stadium.
The Pirates (1-0) trailed 21-18 after three quarters, but by the time four minutes had elapsed in the fourth, they held a commanding 39-21 lead. Greenland forced two turnovers during that stretch, including a 21-yard interception return for a touchdown by senior defensive lineman Guhy Brandt. A third turnover later in the quarter led to an 18-yard touchdown by Jeremy Huber and a 46-21 lead.
Greenland picked off West Fork quarterback Daniel Holiday three times, and it recovered three fumbles by West Fork (0-1).
"Turnovers are huge," Greenland Coach Tracy Sutton said. "Any time you have turnovers and take advantage of it, that's big. We try to be opportunistic, and tonight we were."
Ventura scored four touchdowns. The third came with 10:05 left in the game, when he took a screen pass from quarterback Craig Thornton and sprinted 29 yards to put Greenland up for good, 25-21.
Just over two minutes later, Ventura followed a fumble recovery by rushing 15 yards for his fourth score, making it 39-21. He gained 134 total yards of offense despite sitting out much of the third quarter.
"He kind of got tired there for a while, and we got him out," Sutton said. "I finally told him, 'If you can't go the next play, you're not going back in,' and he sucked it up and toughed it out. ... I expect a lot of big things out of him."
West Fork senior Taylor Genz ran for two touchdowns and caught a pass for a third.
Sports, Pages 23 on 09/03/2008