Dallas County wanted to turn Thursday night’s class 5A playoff game against Greenville into a grind it out, physical game. For a quarter, the Hornets executed their game plan perfectly and it kept both teams scoreless.

Then, the Greenville offense woke up. De’Quarius Peterson scored three rushing touchdowns and the Tigers recorded a safety and blocked a punt on their way to routing Dallas County 42-15.

The third-ranked Tigers had 410 total yards and held Dallas County to only 161, with a majority of those coming once the game was well in hand.

“We’re just not at the level yet of the top teams in the state,” said Dallas County head coach Marty Smith. “We’ve got to get there and that’s just consistency, discipline on and off the field and the weight room.”

Dallas County showed the intensity you’d expect from a school playing in its first playoff game since 2004. The Hornets held Greenville’s high-powered offense to 19 yards until the final minute of the fist quarter.

At that point, Greenville opened up its playbook and found the spark it needed in the passing game.

Tigers’ quarterback Brandon Simmons connected with Jonathan Powell on a 41-pass and hit Skilar Moorer on a 24-yard throw to move Greenville to the Dallas County 2-yard line.

Peterson finished off the drive with a 2-yard run to put Greenville up 7-0 with 10:49 left in the first half.

After the teams traded punts, Greenville got back on the board. Peterson rushed for 53 yards on the next drive, including a 9-yard touchdown rush, to make it 13-0 Tigers. Dallas County blocked the extra point.

Dallas County’s ensuing drive ended on a fumble by Derrion Atchison. The Tigers took advantage two plays later, with Simmons finding Kendarius McCoy for a 24-yard touchdown to put Greenville up 20-0 at the break.

Any chances of a comeback ended quickly in the third quarter, which couldn’t have started much worse for the Hornets.

Following Antonio Alvarez’s 33-yard field goal that made it 23-0, Dallas County kickoff returner Anthony Oliver was tackled in the end zone for a safety. Three plays later, Peterson found the end zone again on a 5-yard rush, making it 32-0 Greenville.

On the next possession, Calvin Starks mishandled a pitch and Greenville fell on it at the Dallas County 24. After the Hornets held the Tigers out of the end zone, Alvarez nailed a 36-yard field goal to put Greenville up 35-0, but by that point the damage was already done.

In the third quarter, Dallas County allowed a safety, a blocked punt and fumbled in its own territory. Greenville took advantage of all three of those mistakes.

“We’ve got to learn to overcome those things on a consistent basis and understand that we can do things in this program that can be very special, we just have to find a way to find consistency,” Smith said. “We’re going to get there.”

After the blocked punt, Simmons found Jonathan Powell open for a 9-yard touchdown that made it 42-0 Greenville just seconds into the fourth quarter.

For most of the night the Dallas County offense couldn’t get much going, but defense has been Greenville’s calling card most of the year.

The Tigers have held 10 of their 11 opponents to 15 points and under this season.

“Defense leads us,” said Greenville head coach Josh McLsendon. “They just did a good job of coming out and shutting those guys down and giving us opportunities on offense.”

However, the Hornets didn’t quit and fought for two late touchdowns.

Starks ran for a 37-yard score with 7:17 left to play and Delando Atchison added a two-point conversion to make it 42-8. Backup quarterback Hunter Skinner also rushed for a 1-yard quarterback sneak touchdown in the final minutes.

Even with the loss, Dallas County finished with its first winning season in eleven years. Smith said the next step is finding a way to be a consistent playoff contender.

“These kids have got to understand what it means to play in a playoff game, what it takes to win a playoff game and then what it takes to beat a top caliber football team on a consistent basis night in and night out,” Smith said. “We’re just not there as a program, but hopefully we will be able to get there.”