The Grayson Rams controlled the clock and the line of scrimmage to contain No. 1 Lowndes’ high-powered rushing attack to defeat the Vikings 17-7 at Britt Moody Field.
The state quarterfinal matchup paired two of the finer offensive players in the state—Florida commitment Greg Reid of Lowndes and Ean Pemberton of Grayson. The Rams’ diminutive junior stole the show, rushing for 191 yards and two touchdowns on 35 carries. Reid made the most of his 11 carries, chewing up 171 yards including an 81-yard touchdown jaunt in the second quarter.
Reid’s score came with 5:33 left in the half and broke a scoreless tie. The sensational senior took a pitch off the left side of the Lowndes line and outran several Grayson defenders for the score. Due to Grayson’s ball-control offense and a physical defense, Reid would not hit pay dirt again.
“Football is a physical game,” explained Grayson coach Mickey Conn. “Your number one goal is that you have to be more physical than the other team and that’s always our number one goal each day in practice and in everything we do. It wins.”
The Rams won the time of possession battle 32:22 to 15:38 and ran 62 plays to the Vikings’ 28. Grayson seemed to frustrate the speedy Viking defense by converting several third downs and by pounding the ball up the middle.
“I think we wore them down. They play a lot of kids both ways,” declared Conn. “We knew that they were fast and we were going to have a hard time getting outside, so we were going to try to run right at them. Those fast kids don’t like to get run at. And that’s what we did.”
Grayson clinched the game with a 19-play, 80-yard fourth quarter scoring drive to increase its lead to 17-7 with just 1:13 left in the game. During the drive, the Rams converted three fourth downs, including a 22-yard touchdown run by Pemberton on fourth-and-8.
With the win, Grayson joined three other Gwinnett County programs in the state semifinals.
“Success lives here—isn’t that what they say?” asked the proud coach. “I mean, that’s what it’s all about. Gwinnett county football, it shows everybody how tough it is. I’m just real proud to be part of North Georgia football. “
The Grayson defense knew before the game that it would have to tackle well to slow down Lowndes’ backfield duo of Reid and Florida State commit Gerald Demps. The talented pair had been ravaging foes for the past two seasons, which helped the Vikings win 26-straight games.
“I think we tackled real well, except that long one they busted,” said Conn. “The defense was great. That number 24 (Reid), he’s something else. But our defense is something else too. We’ve been bragging on that kid all week and we need to brag on our defense a little bit for how well they shut him down.”
The Rams got on the board with two minutes left in the first half as Pemberton took off on the right side of the Grayson line and sprinted 38 yards to tie the game at seven. The run capped off an impressive 76-yard drive after Lowndes had taken the lead.
Grayson took the lead in the second half on a 36-yard field goal by Austin Clarke.
The loss was the first for Lowndes since Aug. 31 of last year, a 9-0 loss to Harrison, which was also played in wet conditions. The Vikings were clearly frustrated at the end of the game, taking three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the final 1:23. The last one sparked a near brawl between the two squads, as the entire Lowndes bench cleared and sprinted towards midfield. Cooler heads—and an intervention by both coaching staffs—prevailed and Grayson ran out the final seconds on the clock.
With the win, Grayson advances to the state semifinals for the first time in its nine-year history and will face Peachtree Ridge next Friday. The two teams played last season, which resulted in a 17-14 Grayson win.
Black can be reached at sblack@scoreatl.com.
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