Brentaro Yamane

WPIAL & City League Football Player Preview: NyaSanu Greene II continues to work hard

New Brighton football player NyaSanu Greene II runs with a football during a game in 2019.

One in a series on motivated high school football players in the WPIAL and City League.

Being a football player at a small high school can sometimes be hard due to not getting enough credit from the media and not being recognized as much. New Brighton football player NyaSanu Greene II is a really good football player that has been making noise at his small school. As a football player, playing wide receiver, running back, and linebacker, Greene II led the Lions in rushing yards (806) and touchdowns (16) in 2019.

NyaSanu Greene II just started playing football in his freshman year of high school in 2017. He couldn't play when he was younger because he was so big. Yes, that's crazy to think about. However, since Greene II has been in high school, his football team has gotten better each and every year.

In Greene II's freshman year, 2017, the Lions finished with an overall record of 2-8 and did not even win a section game. In his sophomore year, 2018, the Lions finished with an overall record of 5-6 and even made the WPIAL playoffs. However, they would lose in the first round of the WPIAL 2A playoffs against Washington by a score of 54-20. Then in his junior year, 2019, his Lions reached the WPIAL playoffs in 2019 and they even won their first playoff game in 20 years against Apollo-Ridge by a score of 35-21 in the first round of the WPIAL 2A playoffs. After that playoff win, the Lions would then lose in the next round to Avonworth by a score of 38-13. An 8-4 overall record in 2019 was a nice record for the Lions and they only hope to get better next season. Greene II is a big reason why his graduating class, New Brighton Class of 2021 football players, is getting better each year with more experience.

"I’ve just been trying me hardest. I started as a freshman and I wanted to show my class that we got to take control because if we want to make a change in the future, it has to start during freshman year," said, Greene II. "Experience is the key to me in football. I think we learned [after the playoff loss to Avonworth] that nothing is going to be handed to us and we have to work. Working harder than you ever have and winning is the best feeling."

Greene II currently has football offers from the University of Montana, Lake Erie College and Bethany College. He felt good about receiving the offers and is motivated to become even a better football player after receiving those offers.

"I felt good receiving those offers, but I know I have to work more. I’m just trying to catch my cousin Josh Hough [football player at Beaver Falls]. The colleges that gave me offers are recruiting me as an athlete. I’m willing to play anything," said Greene II.

Yes, Greene II is cousins with Beaver Falls football player Josh Hough, who verbally committed to play college football at Syracuse back on April 20, 2020. Also, for this upcoming WPIAL and PIAA football season, New Brighton will go to Beaver Falls as the two teams will clash with each other in a section matchup. NyaSanu Greene II vs. Josh Hough? I think so. Greene II works out with his cousin Hough a lot. Greene II also works out with Ameer Dudley (Central Valley), Karl McBride (Aliquippa), and Vernon Redd (Aliquippa). He has been friends with all of them even before he started playing football.

Greene II will be looking to just focus on his senior season of high school football and will wait to commit to a school until after the football season. He said he would probably commit sometime in December.

As a running back, Greene II's patience in running with the ball is a way that he is able to explode, rush for a lot of yards and score a lot of touchdowns. The way he is able to hesitate and wait to find an opening while running with the football is what makes him so successful as a running back as you can compare his game to New York Jets running back Le'Veon Bell. Greene II's work ethic and his relationship with God is what helps him to become a better football player.

"Lifting, working on balance, working on the little things, and little muscles that don’t get worked are exercises that I work on to be a better player," said Greene II. "God runs my life. Everything I’ve done so far is because of God. God puts me in situations to take advantage, so I have to scrape all the extras."

As the WPIAL and PIAA football season is about to begin in the next five weeks, Greene II will continue to work hard to help his New Brighton Lions get back to the WPIAL playoffs and try to hunt for a WPIAL and PIAA championship. So far, in Greene II's high school football career, his favorite moment was helping New Brighton beat Apollo Ridge in the WPIAL playoff game from last season. However, Greene II is looking to hope to say, that at the end of the 2020 high school football season, that his favorite memory was winning WPIAL and PIAA football championships.

Brentaro Yamane: bkyamane@gmail.com and Twitter/Instagram @BYHilton13