GREENBRIER — Playing opposite one of the best quarterbacks in the state, Greenwood's Hayden Smith made his own statement Friday night.
The Bulldogs signal caller completed 29 of 36 passes for 416 yards and four touchdowns, out-dueling Neal Burcham in a 59-35 victory over Greenbrier at Don Jones Stadium in a match-up between 5A-West unbeatens.
"He played really, really well," Greenwood coach Rick Jones said. "I told Hayden, he's the best quarterback on this field tonight, no doubt about that. And that's no degradation to (Burcham), that kid's a great quarterback. But our guy was something special tonight."
Neither team had a problem going to the air, with both quarterbacks combining to complete 71 of 97 passes for 862 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions.
The Bulldogs (9-0, 6-0 5A-West) pressured Burcham all night, forcing him into four interceptions in his 42-for-61, 446-yard, four touchdown night.
With both teams averaging more than 40 points per game, fans got the high-scoring affair they expected, but a few mid-game plays made the difference, and essentially lost it for the Panthers (8-1, 5-1).
Burcham hit Reid Cone deep down the middle for a game-opening 80-yard touchdown and Greenbrier held Greenwood on fourth-and-1 at the 1-yard line to begin the game.
The lead didn't last long, however, as Drew Morgan picked off a tipped Burcham pass and dodged some goal line tacklers to score from nine yards out and tie the game 7-7.
Trailing 21-14 with less than five minutes left in the second quarter, Burcham rolled left looking for a receiver on third down. After being wrapped up, the senior heaved it downfield while falling down, right into the hands of Morgan for his second interception of the half. Greenwood added a second score to make it 28-14 at halftime.
"I thought turnovers in the first half made a big difference," Greenbrier head coach Randy Tribble said. "(Greenwood is) a great football team. You can't make mistakes against them. They've got great speed and play as a team. They're really good. We have to play close to perfect to beat them, and we didn't."
The quarterbacks combined to go 39-for-53 for 533 yards and four scores in the first half alone.
The Panthers began the second half with a score on a touchdown pass from Burcham to Scott Cavin to trim the margin to 28-21, but Greenwood scored the next 14 points and was never threatened again.
"I think we took it all as a challenge, just reading all the hype and stuff," Smith said. "You know, it's just a challenge and we stepped up and made it ours."
Burcham was never able to get comfortable in the second half, constantly rolling out for passes and never settling in the pocket. Burcham was only sacked once but pressured 12 times and threw two of his interceptions on the Panthers' final two possessions of the game.
Cole McAlister was Smith's favorite target on the night, finishing with eight catches for 160 yards and two touchdowns.
Greenwood, which won its 20th consecutive game, will look to wrap up a perfect regular season next week against rival Alma (7-2, 5-1).