The Grey Knights jumped to an early lead but fell 42-15 to 2014 Class AAAAA state finalist Mays in preseason action Saturday. Grady opens the regular season Aug. 22 against Washington in a 2 pm contest at Lakewood Stadium.
“My main focus isn’t just Washington,” said coach Earthwind Moreland. “It is getting our team ready for this season offensively and defensively…we will be just fine.”
Grady took a 7-0 lead with 9:22 left in the first quarter after defensive back Craig Philpot scooped up a fumble following a bad Mays snap and raced 30 yards untouched. Will Taber added the extra point.
Mays cut the lead to 7-6 on a 26-yard touchdown run by tailback Randercous Davis with 4:19 left in the first period. The point after attempt failed.
After driving to the Mays 12 yard line to start the second period, the Grey Knights settled for a 33-yard field goal attempt by Taber that went wide left at the 11:50 mark of the quarter. Two minutes later, Grady increased its lead to 9-6 on a safety by junior defensive end Kemari Averett.
Mays took its first lead, 13-9 on tailback A.J. Ceyetano’s 15-yard run with 6:15 left in the second quarter to lead the game at halftime.
Both teams pulled their starting players for the second half.
“This scrimmage is giving us a good chance to evaluate other guys on the team because the offense is missing a lot of players,” Moreland said at halftime. “I like the effort, but there are a lot of simple mistakes that can be easily fixed.”
Backup quarterback Todd McFadden opened the second half leading the offense on a 70-yard drive, highlighted by runs of 19, 26 and 9 yards. McFadden put Grady ahead 15-13 with a 14-yard jump ball toss into the leaping hands of Averett over two Mays defenders with 7:11 remaining in the third quarter.
Both teams eventually substituted less experienced players for the remainder of the game, and the Raiders went on to score four unanswered touchdowns to put the game out of reach.
Although the Grey Knights defeated next week’s opponent Washington a year ago, the Bulldogs are led by a new coach, and Moreland said the team knows the season starts for real Saturday.
“We will be okay,” Moreland said. “Washington’s got a new coach who is very good, but regardless, we have to come prepared.”