As the clock was ticking towards triple zeros, the Grayson student body knew what was about to happen. Head football coach Mickey Conn knew what was about to happen. The players, though tired from a hard-fought game, knew what was about to happen. The Brookwood Broncos’ stranglehold on Region 8-AAAAA was coming to an end. The Rams were about to give Brookwood its first region loss since 2004, a streak of 29 straight region games.
So please forgive the student body for getting a little premature in its celebration of arguably the school’s biggest regular-season win in history. The Grayson Rams, after knocking off Brookwood 10-7 and Parkview 24-22, now have the inside track to the Region 8 title. Still, Conn is quick to point out that nothing has been won yet: “We’re now getting everybody’s best game.” That may be true, but Conn’s team is meeting all of the challenges and is led by two strong-willed offensive standouts.
LEADING THE WAY
Quarterback Tyler Horne had Conn excited entering the season, and the senior has done nothing to temper his enthusiasm thus far.
“Tyler’s very capable and we have a quarterback that can win a game,” Conn said.
Horne, noted mostly for his quick feet, was forced to pass in a game earlier this year against South Gwinnett and he shredded the Comets through the air en route to a 49-14 win.
“We’re not going to change the way we prepare [for anyone],” Conn said. “We have a balanced offense with Horne and [Ean] Pemberton, and we think we can win playing our style of football.”
Horne has gotten a lot of help from Pemberton this season. The diminutive running back stands only 5-foot-4, but he plays much bigger with a huge heart. Conn says, “He’s got tons of talent and he’s going to make somebody a heck of a college player someday.” In just the past three weeks, Pemberton has averaged 183 yards per game, and two touchdowns against Parkview helped knock off the Panthers. Pemberton toted the ball 39 times that game, but that doesn’t seem to faze him.
“We completely controlled the line of scrimmage in the second half,” Conn said. “We can do a bunch of things offensively, but we’d rather run the football [with Pemberton].”
As good as Grayson looked entering the Brookwood game, however, the Broncos were still the three-time defending region champs and head coach Mark Crews had his team clicking. The Broncos appeared to have gotten past the team’s early losses and Brice Smith was leading a pumped-up offense.
But Grayson’s defensive line allowed just seven points to the potent Bronco rushing attack – and Conn wasn’t necessarily surprised.
“[The defensive line] has been the biggest surprise of the year,” he said. “They play with a lot of heart.”
A turnover on special teams allowed Horne to show his quick feet with a touchdown, and a field goal from Austin Clark iced the game for the Rams. Pemberton became the first 100-yard rusher Brookwood had allowed all season; he finished with 140 yards on 27 carries, leading Conn to say, “This kid’s unbelievable.”
AIMING FOR NO. 1
Grayson may be well on its way to a region title, and while the regular-season title is nice, the home-field advantage it brings delights Conn the most. Last season the Rams’ hopes of a state title ended in South Georgia with a 22-7 loss to Camden County, but Conn is hopeful that won’t be the case this season.
“We would like to be the No. 1 seed and not have to travel,” he said. “We got into trouble at Camden last season. We will just keep fighting and scratching every game to reach the playoffs.”
With the team’s recent success, the playoffs are all but assured and now the team can focus on advancing back to the Georgia Dome where the Rams kicked off their season with a 31-21 victory over McEachern in the Corky Kell Classic. The key will be for the Rams to keep the momentum rolling with Meadowcreek and Central Gwinnett remaining on the schedule. Win those games, and the Rams will be able to celebrate a perfect region record and that No. 1 seed they wanted entering the season.
“It’s been a great building process and we’ve got great kids,” Conn said. “We’ve built this the right way and these kids play with such heart.”
Proctor can be reached at fproctor@scoreatl.com.
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