Grayson does its part, now 9-0

INDEPENDENCE – It was a rainy, cold night Friday night but it didn’t make any difference to the Grayson County Blue Devils.

Larry Chambers

Xavier Rodriguez breaks loose on a 30-yard carry to the Narrows 1, from where he would score on the next play in Grayson County’s 48-6 win Friday.

The Blue Devils rolled over Narrows 48-6 in a key Mountain Empire District game that kept them undefeated and tied with Galax for first place.

Grayson started early. After Narrows kicked the opening kickoff out of bounds, the Blue Devils took over at the 35.

The brother combo of quarterback Max Rodgers to Mikey Rodgers produced a big gainer with Mikey rambling to the Narrows 31. On first down, Xavier Rodriguez squirted through the Narrows defense and was stopped just short of the goal line. He finished off the drive when he scored from the 1-yard-line with 11:26 left in the quarter. Spencer Roberts was stopped at the goal line on the extra point conversion to give the Blue Devils the early 6-0 lead.

After Ruiz boomed the kickoff into the end zone, the Green Wave started at its own 20 and after three running plays, was forced to punt. It took the Blue Devils just three plays before Rodriguez, after being blocked around the left side of the field, tried the right side and scooted into the end zone for a 40-yard touchdown. Roberts tried the other side of the field for the PAT and was once again stopped short.

Grayson County had another good drive set up by  a fumble recovery by Johnny Warren but the drive was stopped on downs at the 5-yard line.

The Blue Devils made it 20-0 as the first period ended and added another touchdown on a 5-yard run by Jarel Smith and a kick by Mario Ruiz to make it 27-0 with 10:57 to play in the second period.

With 8:51 on the clock in the second period, Rodgers drilled a strike to Roberts who raced 51 yards for the touchdown. An extra point kick by Ruiz made it 34-0.

James Williams closed out the first half scoring when he fought his way into the end zone on a 20-yard touchdown run and Ruiz kicked the extra point for a 41-0 halftime lead.

The Green Wave took the second-half kickoff and returned it to its own 33. Three running plays brought up a fourth-and-4 and Narrows decided to go for it, which was a mistake. The Blue Devil defense stiffened it out and stopped the runner short of the first down.

John Bilbrey closed out the Blue Devil scoring with 6:41 to play in the third period on a 5-yard-run. Ruiz kicked the extra point for a 48-0 lead.

Narrows put together another drive only to have it end at its own 38 when Dustin Sumner recovered a fumble for the Blue Devils.

Grayson County was playing mostly third string players when the Green Wave scored its only touchdown of the game. Brad Bryson rolled around his left end and scored on a 38-yard run for the final margin.

Blue Devil coach Brett McPherson said it was a happy night for the Blue Devils since it was homecoming. “Every player got to play and we came away without any injuries,” McPherson said. “They made some big offensive plays and our defense kept Narrows in check all night.”

The Blue Devils, 9-0, will entertain the Maroon Tide, also 9-0, at Bill Strong field this Friday night to decide the winner of the Mountain Empire District championship.

Narrows...................0    0   0  6––  6

Grayson County......20  21  7  0––48

First quarter

GC–Rodriguez 1 run (run failed) 11:26

GC–Rodriguez 40 run (run failed) 7:30

GC–Rodriguez 39 run (Mk.Rodgers pass from Mx.Rodgers) 1:39

Second quarter

GC–Smith 2 run (Ruiz kick) 10:52

GC–Roberts 51 pass from Mx.Rodgers (Ruiz kick) 8:51

GC–Williams 20 run (Ruiz kick) 6:59

Third quarter

GC–J.Bilbrey 5 run (Ruiz kick) 6:07

Fourth quarter

N–Bryson 38 run (run failed) 0:45

 _______________________________

                                  N  GC

First downs                  6  13

Rushes-yards        30-99  30-252

Yards passing              0  138

Comp-Att-Int        0-9-1  4-8-0

Return yards              60  0

Punts-average      5-25.4  0-0

Fumbles-lost             2-2  0-0

Penalties-yards         1-5  2-15

 _______________________________

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Narrows, Robertson 13-52, Bryson 1-38, Butler 12-37, Hall 4-(-11). Grayson County, Rodriguez 5-109, Williams 4-70, Funk 7-33, Smith 9-30, J.Bilbrey 2-13, OSborne 2-1.

PASSING–Narrows, Hall 0-9-1-0. Grayson County, Mx.Rodgers 4-8-0-138.

RECEIVING–Narrows, none. Grayson County, Mk.Rodgers 2-70, Roberts 1-51, Morris 1-13.