By Brad Greer

In their first two games of the season, the North Delta Green Wave had relied on a sound running game to post victories over Lee and West Memphis, Ark.

Friday night however the Green Wave got a taste of their own medicine as Greenville Washington used a balanced rushing and passing attack to post a 34-7 romp over North Delta.

Senior running back Ryan Gober rushed for 116 yards and two touchdowns to help the No. 5 ranked Generals build a 20-0 halftime lead. Quarterback Hayden Lewis threw for 174 yards on 6-of-9 passing and one touchdown as Washington rolled up 433 yards of offense including 236 coming on the ground.

The General defense held North Delta to 166 yards of total offense on the night. Taylor Morris rushed for 113 hard earned yards on 25 carries while accounting for the Waves only score with a nine-yard touchdown run with 8:46 remaining in the fourth quarter.

“Washington had a lot of team speed and was physical on both sides of the ball. We showed our guys a lot of film on them all week because we have never played a team that comes off the ball that fast,” said North Delta head coach Dan Werner.

“They are solid in every aspect of the game and (are) a very well coached team. We had our chances there in the first half to hit on some big plays. We felt like we were running the ball decently, but against a team like Washington you’re not going to bust many 30 and 40 yard runs. They are just too fast,” said Werner.

North Delta suffered a tough blow as starting quarterback Tyler Pirtle left the game early in the first quarter with a collarbone injury. Backup signal-caller Hunt Howell finished the game under center.

The Green Wave started up the game with a little  bit of trickery by recovering the ball on an onside kick.North Delta  then drove to the Washington 27 yard-line before turning the ball over on downs.

There the Generals wasted little time getting on the board as Lewis connected with Dylan Elkins on a 73-yard touchdown reception on the first play from scrimmage to give Washington a 7-0 lead after Nathan Noble’s PAT. Noble would later nail a 38-yard field goal with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter to expand to lead to 10-0.

After a 17-yard interception return by Andrew Steinle, Washington padded its lead to 17-0 with 7:12 left in the first half as Gober plowed his way into the endzone from two yards out followed by Noble’s successful point after attempt.

Noble finished out the first-half scoring with a 26-yard field goal with one second left on the clock.

The second half was much of the same as the Generals completed scoring drives of 74 and 63 yards to build up a 34-0 lead after three quarters. Adam Gober scored on a four-yard run at the 5:28 followed by Ryan Gober’s 44-yard sprint for Washinton’s last score.

“Losing Tyler hurt because he adds another dimension to the game offensively, but like I told our guys that’s part of football and we have got to move on and get ready for a tough Magnolia Heights team next week,” said Werner.

Pirtle’s status for tonight’s game at Magnolia Heights is uncertain.

Parker Jones followed Morris with 22 yards on six carries with Pirtle adding five carries for 16 yards before exiting the game. Hunter Durham chipped in with two carries for 14 yards and Sy Pritchard had one carry for three yards.

Pritchard led the Green Wave with eight tackles followed by Hunter Pitcher with five stops. Blake Snyder and Brett Herrington registered four tackles each.