A second-half surge from the Selma Saints proved insufficient to stop an overwhelming Greenville offense as the Tigers held on to a 33-22 win.

Though Selma’s offense took to the field first, it was the Saints’ defense that struck first with a fumble recovery with 8:07 remaining in the first.

The Saints were unable to capitalize on the other side of the ball, however, leaving Greenville quarterback Javion Posey open to counterattack with a 25-yard touchdown run.

A Chris Bedgood PAT made the Greenville lead 7-0 at the end of one.

A Greenville sack courtesy of Jeremiah Owens set the Tigers up for a short field and an 8-yard touchdown run from Arick Boggan with 6:03 remaining in the half.

Boggan would strike again with barely a minute left in the half, giving the Tigers a 20-0 cushion at the half.

Greenville head football coach Josh McLendon said that despite the first-half fumble, he was proud of the Tigers’ resiliency, particularly on defense.

“Overall, I thought things went well thought we played hard and came out a little slow on offense,” McLendon said.

“Defense did a great job the first half. Offense took us a minute or two to get going, but once we got going I thought it was good.”

The Tigers continued to pour it on in the second half as receiver Malik Bunch came down with a clutch grab, setting up Posey for his second touchdown of the evening barely two minutes into the third.

A Saints fumble further cemented the Tigers’ lead as receiver Jabez Sims proved the third Tiger to score.

The Saints found the end zone on three consecutive trips, including a pair of touchdowns from [#25], narrowing the margin to two scores. Though time ultimately proved Selma’s biggest opponent.

Despite the preseason win, McLendon said that the Tigers’ less-than-graceful defensive finish leaves plenty of room for improvement as Greenville prepares for its first regular season opponent in the defending Class 5A state champions, Beauregard.

“The second half was good to start with, and not good to end,” McLendon added. “We’ve got to definitely work on that and understand that it’s a four quarter game and we’ve got to continue to work.”