The Grey Knights opened the football season with high hopes of returning to the playoffs. Injuries to key players may push a postseason berth out of reach.
“It really hurts the team; we aren’t healthy right now,” said Kemari Averett, a junior receiver and defensive end.
Grady (2-3, 1-2 in Region 6AAAA) is eligible to return to the playoffs this year after a season spent on probation in the aftermath of a 2013 investigation into allegations of recruiting.
The Grey Knights dropped three of their last four games, losing 24-6 to Carver on Sept. 4 in a game shortened by gunfire outside the stadium. Grady also lost starting quarterback Caylin Newton to a broken wrist and defensive tackle Kodie Stringer to a dislocated knee as he ran from the field during the shooting at 8th Street and Monroe Drive.
“I’m very disappointed,” junior cornerback Christian Jones said. “We were just getting our minds in the right place when they started shooting.”
Just before the shots, safety Marlon Character intercepted a Panthers pass and set Grady up in good field position inside Carver territory with just over nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Newton, who went down in the first quarter of that game, missed the team’s first three region games against Redan on Sept. 12 (a 12-6 win), Lithonia on Sept. 18 (a 16-14 loss) and St. Pius on Sept. 25 (a 28-8 loss).
In his absence, the team’s offense struggled.
“Caylin is the one who motivates us when we are down,” Jones said. “So when we heard that he was hurt, that hurt the team.”
In the only game Newton played completely, Grady beat Washington 40-13. Since his injury, the team has averaged 8 points a game and has a 1-3 record. Newton’s return date is uncertain.
In Newton’s place, Grady used two replacements, backup quarterback Todd McFadden and starting cornerback Satchel Crawford.
“It’s the next man up, until that person, gets back … It gives another person an opportunity,” coach Earthwind Moreland said.
In the Lithonia loss, starting tailback Jacquez Sloan left the game to receive stitches after sustaining a gash. Sloan missed the St. Pius loss. Starting outside linebacker Craig Philpot left the Lithonia game with a knee injury. Starting lineman Jaelin Whitt hasn’t played this season after injuring his knee in a preseason practice. Lineman Theron Anches missed the Washington game, came back for Carver and injured his shoulder again in that game. Marlon Character, starting safety, hurt his shoulder against St. Pius and Darian Pitts, starting outside linebacker, suffered a concussion during the Redan game and hasn’t played since.
Poor sportsmanship has also hurt the team; several players were ejected from games, costing the school $750 in Georgia High School Association fines. The players, Keenan Marr, Peter Bowden and Brandon Kemp, were each suspended for one game.
“It’s just people being undisciplined,” offensive lineman Ray Crews said. “I think it’s just that when we are out on the field, and it’s emotions running high, and it’s too much testosterone, and then people get mad and want to express it in this way.”
The ejections don’t sit well with Moreland. “I’m really disappointed in my guys as far as the ejections are concerned,” Moreland said. “As a coaching staff, we pride ourself on teaching football the correct way, and the right way and how to play in a respectable manner. They have to understand that they can’t lose their cool because also outside the game, you don’t know who’s watching you. A recruiter sees that kind of stuff and thinks that this kid may be uncoachable, and I know that’s not how we teach things at Grady High School.”
Even in a season beset with challenges, the team remains optimistic the state playoffs are within reach. Grady has crucial region games at home against Columbia (4-3, 4-1 in Region 6AAAA) on Oct. 9 and on the road at Marist (4-1, 3-0 in Region 6AAAA), the No. 7 team in Class AAAA, on Oct. 16.
“I think we have the opportunity to go to the playoffs and even state,” Crews said. “It’s just us getting the simple things correct, like getting the snap count right and knowing what to do at certain times and the healthy guys coming back and people not getting kicked off [the team or ejected and suspended].”
