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Greenville High School kicked off the football season with a resounding 35-0 victory over long-time rival Georgiana in a home game Thursday night. In the game some fans refer to as the “Battle of Butler County” the two teams met on the gridiron for bragging rights going into the season.

“I learned that we have a lot of things that we’re good at and a lot of things we need to get better at,” Greenville Football Coach Garrick Pimienta said following the game. “The main thing I want them to focus on now is knowing how to win and be successful. There’s a lot of things that we did showboating-wise that I don’t necessarily like. I think we need to learn how to act like we’ve been there before because that’s what we’re trying to get to.”

Greenville set the tone early, leading 13-0 at the end of the first quarter. The Tigers extended their lead to 19-0 by halftime, showcasing their dominance on both sides of the ball. Georgiana struggled to find their rhythm, trailing throughout the game.

Late in the third quarter, No. 2, Ka’Tyleon Phillips found the end zone with a three-yard rushing touchdown. With 11:21 left in the fourth quarter, Greenville pushed its lead to 35-0. A fumble by Greenville near Georgiana’s 15-yard line with 7:16 remaining gave the Panthers a brief glimmer of hope, but they were unable to capitalize.

Despite the lopsided score, Georgiana Head Coach Berry Bess remained optimistic about his team’s performance. 

“We did some good things here and there,” Bess said. “We forced some turnovers, but we also turned it over sometimes, so we’ve just got to fix those, make corrections and stuff. One or two plays here and there changed the game, and they made more plays than we did in the last quarter.”

Bess emphasized the importance of the rivalry between the two schools, noting its significance for the local community. 

“I think it’s good for both programs,” Bess said. “For the community, we’re 15, 16 miles apart. The community is getting together to play, the whole county is here pretty much. We need to play this just for the energy, the atmosphere…to have all these people in the same place at the same time in a good environment for a good football game.”

Greenville will look to build on their early success as they prepare for the next game, while Georgiana aims to regroup and correct their mistakes. The Tigers host Wilcox Central tonight, and Georgiana meets Ariton on their home field with kickoff for both games at 7 p.m.