Solid. That's the only way to describe the Greenville Tigers effort in front of the homecoming crowd. The Tigers put on a hitting clinic on defense and capitalized on the chances given to them on offense to roll to a 28-0 region win over Russell County.

The Tigers were in the face of the Russell County ball carriers all night. It seemed as if every time the Warriors tried to rush the ball on the first half they had a Tiger with a helmet in their chin.

The Tigers forced a total of six Warrior turnovers while taking care of the ball on their own possessions.

Greenville High School Head Coach Alvin Briggs said the biggest motivation for his Tigers all week was simply to get the first win.

"I just think they were hungry for a victory," said Briggs. "They worked hard all week and never let up. They really wanted this game."

The win was made more special because of the overflow homecoming crowd. Biggs said he was very happy to get the win for the students and alumni.

"It was good to get a victory in front of the home folks and it was great to see these guys get to taste a win," said Briggs. "Now if they can just build from this and get stronger from this it is going to make us a better team for the future."

The Tiger defense got the ball rolling as Matthew Holley blew through the Warrior offensive line causing the Russell County quarterback to put the ball on the ground. Akeva Owens was there to scoop the ball up and ran it all the way to the Warrior 15 yard line. Michael McDonald would finish the drive with a six yard touchdown.

Devoski McMeans came through with the extra point to make it 7-0 Tigers late in the first quarter.

The Tigers would then force fumbles on three straight drives scoring more points off the last.

William Thomas would scoop up the loose ball for the Tigers this time setting up a 30 yard touchdown pass from Andrew Hartman to Isiah Mack, who was all alone in the endzone. The PAT was again good making the score 14-0 in favor of thew Tigers with 3:12 to go in the half.

The Tigers held strong and took the two touchdown lead into the locker room.

Greenville needed little time to strike again in the second half. The Tigers took the opening kickoff to their own 43 yard line and went to work from there. A dump pass to Kelcius Savage moved the ball to the Warrior 19 yard line. On the next play fullback Michael McDonald sprinted into the endzone to make the score 20-0. Again, the PAT was good giving the Tigers a 21-0 lead with only two minutes off the clock in the third quarter.

From there the Tigers kept the ball between the tackles and ran the clock. In doing so they also found a few diamonds in the rough in the backfield.

Jeremiah Mosley, who has been a standout defensive back for the Tigers all season, also proved he is more than capable of carrying the ball for the Tigers. Mosley carried the ball almost exclusively for the Tigers on their final scoring drive capping it with a seven yard touchdown run. McMeans finished the night a perfect four for four on PAT's to cap the scoring at 28-0.

For the Tiger seniors the game was huge.

"This was great," said Tiger quarterback Andrew Hartman. "It was big for the seniors to get this one. It was also special to get the win at homecoming."

Tiger offensive lineman Josh Hawkins said the game was a result of a good week of preparation.

"We really worked hard all week," said Hawkins. "We felt like we got some momentum earlier in the week and just carried it over."

Briggs said the game was an even more positive experience because it shows what can come of hard work.

"Now they know what they can do if they just keep playing hard," said Briggs. "They know what they can do if they just keep working. That's all that we can ask of them."

The Tigers hope to make it two in a row as they host Charles Henderson next week. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.