The Wetumpka Indians’ 20-point second-quarter surge, orchestrated by maestro and quarterback Jadarious Martin, put a relatively close contest between themselves and the Greenville Tigers well out of reach as the Indians ran away with a  51-14 win.

The Tigers and Indians exchanged stops to start the game, but the Indians struck first on a 33-yard touchdown pass with 2:45 left in the first quarter, though a deflected PAT left the Indians advantage at 6-0.

The Tigers soon responded as an explosive kickoff return from Bishop Riley started Greenville’s possession with excellent field position, though the team ultimately paid for it as Riley suffered a leg injury in the process of being brought out of bounds on the kickoff return.  He wouldn’t return to the game.

Greenville running back Arick Boggan picked up the slack and found a seam for a 30-yard burst up the middle to even the odds at 6-6.

Momentum shifted even harder in the Tigers’ direction as defensive back Demetriez Bedgood scooped up a Wetumpka fumble at Greenville’s 43-yard line, but a three-and-out squandered the opportunity.

It was then that Martin came alive on a slippery 21-yard QB keeper for a touchdown, despite the Indians’ play nearly being blown up in the backfield on third and long.  Greenville Tiger Laun Pryor saved another Greenville three-and-out with a booming punt that pinned the Indians deep within their own territory at the 10-yard line, but it was quickly negated by Martin on a miraculous 87-yard touchdown run with 3:52 remaining.

The Indians defense forced a third consecutive three-and-out for a struggling Tiger offense, giving Martin and the Indians plenty of time to score before the half.

The Indians would only need to call one play as a halfback pass sailed into the end zone on Wetumpka’s very first play of the drive to make it 26-6.

Greenville head football coach Josh McLendon said that an exemplary individual performance from Martin made an already tough night for the Greenville defense even tougher with three consecutive explosive scores.

“And that’s how they’ve been all year,” Norris said. “They’re an explosive offense.  As for [Martin]… I don’t know if we could tackle him in a phone booth.  He was dynamic, and we knew that.  We’ve got to tackle better, but we’ve also got to do a better job on offense of not putting the defense in those situations. 

“They have athletes all over the field.  They do a good job of just spreading you out and moving from spot to spot.  I thought we played well that first half.  We kind of showed them something a little different and hung in there with them a little bit.  But they’re so explosive that it’s just tough.

The road remains tough for the Tigers as the team travels to face Eufaula Friday.  Both teams sit at 1-1 in region play behind Charles Henderson and Rehobeth (both 2-1) and Carroll (3-0).

“They’re a good football team and they’re well coached,” McLendon said. “And it’s going to be a tough game, but it’s one that we’ve got to have to get us rolling in region play and hopefully give us some momentum rolling into the next few weeks.

“And they’re always tough at home, so it’ll be a tough road game.  We’ve just got to have a good week of practice, and if we do that we’ll be fine.”

The Tigers travel to Eufaula Friday.  Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.