The Grey Knights opened the 2015 season with a second-half shut out to dominate Washington 40-13 at Lakewood Stadium in the first annual Atlanta Public School Football Classic.
Despite the performance, the team still has a ways to go.
“We do have a lot of work to do,’’ said coach Earthwind Moreland. “We had a lot of mistakes, too many penalties. When we play a very good team, we won’t be able to do that. So we’ve got to correct those mistakes in order to be a much better team.”
Grady (1-0, 0-0 in Region 6AAAA) scored in the first quarter when senior captain and receiver, Ahmad Herron, returned a punt more than 50 yards to Washington’s 7-yard line. On second down, the Knights took a 7-0 lead as Herron reeled in a 5-yard strike from quarterback Caylin Newton. Will Taber added the extra point.
Washington (0-1, 0-0 in Region 5AAA) got on the board at the 1:36 mark of the quarter, knotting the score at 7-7.
Grady countered with a 74-yard, second quarter drive capped by Herron’s 16-yard grab on a right side fade route with 7:36 left in the half to go up 14-7.
The Bulldogs put up a good first-half fight, scoring a second touchdown before intermission to trail 14-13. However, Grady scored 26 unanswered points in the second half.
“We are very underestimated,’’ said Newton, the game’s offensive MVP. “This game opened a lot of people’s eyes.’’
The Knights took control in the second half. Tailback Jeffrey Black widened the lead with a 37-yard run less than three minutes into the third quarter to extend the lead to 21-13.
Newton connected with junior receiver Jacquez Sloan on a 19-yard touchdown to put Grady up 27-13 with 4:09 remaining in the period.
The Knights recovered a Bulldogs’ fumble at the 3:04 mark of the quarter to continue to dominate time of possession.
Grady added two fourth quarter rushing touchdowns. Junior tailback Babakarr Randall scored on a 4-yard run, and Newton closed the scoring with a 10-yard run to add to his three touchdown passes.
The Knights have a bye next week before facing rival Carver (0-1, 0-0 in Region 5AAAAA) in the home opener Sept. 4 at 8 pm. Carver lost its season opener 28-24 to Carver-Columbus.
“It’s a very big game,’’ Newton said of Carver. “Carver talks too much. They’re going to put their foot in their mouth when we bring the pain to them.”
Moreland took a more reserved tone concerning Carver.
“The first thing we have to do is focus on ourselves, correct our mistakes from this game,’’ said Moreland. “From there, then we’ll start focusing on what Carver does well, and then we’ll exploit what they don’t do well.’’
