No Freedom Allowed: Greenville Suffocates Bulldogs, 43-0

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Shane Lux | October 31, 2026

Greenville – Finishing the regular season in style.

The Greenville Trojans celebrated senior night Friday at Stone-Snyder Stadium and put on a first-half clinic, dismantling Freedom of the WPIAL 43-0 to end their regular season at 8-2.

The Trojans rolled to a 6-0 start, winning five of those contests by the mercy clock, before stumbling against Wilmington 34-14 and dropping a hard-fought 19-10 game against perennial state power Farrell. Greenville returned to form last Thursday night, easing past Conneaut 52-28 before looking like a well-oiled machine Friday before heading to the postseason.

“I think that’s a very good football team,” Greenville head coach Mike Menold said of Freedom. “Our kids played well tonight, and I’m super proud of their effort.”

Greenville scored on five of its six first-half possessions, made three fourth-down stops, and forced two turnovers before coasting to victory with the running second-half clock.

Senior night was fitting for the Trojans as Cael Thurber, Justin Schell, Keith Covert, and Kyle McGirr all had big performances in front of a packed house.

“This is such a great group, and obviously they’re great football players, but they’re very competitive,” Menold said. “They played for each other tonight. That was great to see.”

McGirr opened the scoring on the game’s first possession, rushing for 28 yards on four carries after a 12-play, 84-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run.

Kyle McGirr 6 yd run, Greenville 8 Freedom 0, 8:01 1st, @BobGreenburg @KyleMcgirr4 @AJWPIAL https://t.co/NYGieIcz3a

— Shane Lux (@PFN_Luxy) October 30, 2026

Freedom moved the ball in the first half, but on 4th-and-1 from the Trojan 12-yard line, the Greenville defense swarmed Kaden Bailey for a 2-yard loss.

It was the first of two 4th-and-1 stops made by the Trojans’ defense.

“I think we needed a defensive performance like that,” said Menold. “We know we’re capable of good defense. We’ve just had some lapses at times this season, but to get those stops tonight against an explosive football team was great.”

Three plays later, Thurber rolled out to the far sideline and connected with Justin Schell on an 83-yard touchdown pass, as Greenville led 15-0 after a quarter.

The duo did it again on the next drive when Thurber threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Schell, capping an 8-play, 78-yard drive.

“Early on this game definitely felt closer than it was because we had a few fourth downs we stopped them on,” Schell said. “That 83-yard touchdown, I think, really set the tone, and we kept things going from there. All of us seniors are pretty athletic, so when you give us the ball, we can usually do good things with it. Our offensive coordinator, Danny Reynolds, does a great job getting everyone the ball at some point.”

Cael Thurber completed 8 of 15 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns, while Schell caught three passes for 134 yards and two scores.

“We came out ready to play tonight,” Schell said. “The seniors were amped up; the whole team was because we knew we were facing a good team. They’re a great team, but we came out dominant. We tried to send a message for the playoffs this year, unlike Clairton last year. We were trying to show them what we’re made of and how we can go on a real run this year.”

After recovering a fumble, Schell scored on a 5-yard run, capping a 35-yard drive.

Schell with a 5 yd TD, Greenville 29 Freedom 0, 3:03 2nd, @jschell_1 @BobGreenburg @AJWPIAL https://t.co/qIrtSv1R8u

— Shane Lux (@PFN_Luxy) October 30, 2026

Just before halftime in their 2-minute drill, Thurber connected with Keith Covert on a 53-yard completion before invoking the mercy clock with a 6-yard scoring toss to Covert with 22 seconds left in the half, with Greenville up 36-0.

Freedom ran off nearly the entire third-quarter clock on a 12-play drive that ended with a punt near midfield.

Greenville’s first-team offense took only two snaps in the second half, but the Trojans would find the end zone one final time when Colton Godfrey scored on a 40-yard touchdown run with 1:58 remaining to close the scoring.

The Trojans will now await their fate in the District 10 playoffs as the brackets will be released on Sunday.

“We know there’s going to be a tough road ahead,” concluded Menold. “Whoever we play next, we’re excited, and this is playoff football. We’re excited for the opportunity to see what we can do.”

Game Highlights

Greenville 43, Freedom 0

Score by Quarters

Freedom – 0 0 0 0 – 0

Greenville – 15 22 0 7 – 43

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

G – Kyle McGirr 6 yd run, (Cael Thurber rush), 8:01 – 12-84

G – Justin Schell 83 yd pass from Thurber, (Hunter Cox pat), 3:19 – 3-86

Second Quarter

G – Schell 25 yd pass from Thurber, (Cox pat), 9:15 – 8-78

G – Schell 5 yd run, (Cox pat), 3:03 – 5-35

G – Keith Covert 6 yd pass from Thurber, (Cox pat), 0:22 – 3-56

Fourth Quarter

G – Colton Godfrey 40 yd run, (Cox pat), 1:58 – 3-53

Individual Stats

Rushing: F – Kaden Bailey 13-40, Karter Brown 8-30, Mason O’Donnell 4-12, Finn Hershey 2-20, Zack Shiring 5-5, Kameron Brown 2-4. Totals: 34-111. G – Thurber 5-54, Landon Porter 7-41, Godfrey 3-46, Schell 2-9, McGirr 4-28, Rocky Covert 1-3, Swayze Walker 1-7, Connor Jordan 1-1, Team 2-(-9). Totals: 26-180.

Receiving: F – Landon Palka 4-21, O’Donnell 3-16.Riley Henley 1-4. G – Schell 3-134, Keith Covert 4-80, Zane Tokar 1-22.

Passing: F – Brown 8-for-19, 41 yards, 1 INT. G – Thurber 8-for-15, 214 yards, 3 TD; Rocky Covert 1-for-1, 22 yards.

Interceptions: G – Covert.