Douglass 18, LaGrange 3
Douglass entered its first Corky Kell matchup as the No. 3-ranked team in Class 3A and a stifling performance from its defense propelled the Astros to an 18-3 victory against Class 3A No. 2-ranked LaGrange in the opening game of the high school football season in the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic at Kell.
“The defense played lights out man,” said Douglass head coach Stanley Pritchett. “They were outstanding performers to hold those guys to three points. We had a couple of turnovers, two interceptions, but they did just such a great job.”
Formerly in Class 4A and coming off a second-round exit in the playoffs last season, LaGrange entered Class 3A after reclassification but couldn’t find momentum in any facet through its first game in its new home.
The Grangers took a 3-0 lead on a 43-yard field goal from Mason Calhoun with 5:23 left in the first quarter but from that moment on, it was all Douglass in what could have been viewed as an upset of sorts.
“We’ve come a long way, man,” Pritchett said of the team’s rebuild. “My first season here, we went 1-9. And now we just have to take it one week at a time, we are 1-0.”
Pritchett led the Astros to a 6-5 record and first-round exit last season but in this game, Douglass held serve.
The Astros took the 8-3 lead on a 3-yard run from Casey Barner with 11:53 left in the second quarter. Barner’s 2-point conversion rush was good on the play. A 26-yard field goal from Bryant Jose extended the lead to 11-3 with just under six minutes left in the first half.
John Wilson – who was 9-of-16 passing for 142 yards and a touchdown — hit Jontae Gilbert on a 10-yard touchdown with 2:25 left in the first half to cap scoring. Gilbert caught three passes for 28 yards. Freshman Quintavious Boykin had two receptions for 79 yards to lead Douglass.
Defensively, the Astros held LaGrange to 133 yards – 41 passing, 92 rushing – and no touchdowns. Andreco Griggs had 10 tackles, six solo, one sack and one tackle for loss. Elijah Hunter – who had two tackles – made two key interceptions to stop LaGrange drives.
“I look forward to building on this and getting ready for next week,” Pritchett said. “We want to build off being 1-0. Every week, we don’t want to look too far down the field into the playoffs. We just want to be 1-0 every week.”
Douglass travels to Class 6A No. 9 Westlake next week while LaGrange will face Class A Division II Early County.
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