This was old-fashioned, smash-mouth football. Grayson County (3-3) had 171 yards on offense, including 160 on the ground, led by Holden Cassell, who gutted out 83 yards on 27 carries. The Blue Devils only threw the ball three times in the game, the third of which was picked off by Thompson.
“They just get in there and grind. There is no secret what we are going to do, we are just going to come right at you, we don’t make any bones about it,” McPherson said. “Just try to execute and be disciplined. I am proud of our kids, they gave everything they had.”
Grayson County hit paydirt on the opening possession, surprising the Maroons with a trap play that allowed Chase Poole to bust through the line for a 31-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion run attempt by Aiden McClelland was stopped well short of the goal line.
“If you watched any time Grayson played this year, they are big and very physical and I knew we would have a hard time because they are just so much bigger than us up front,” George Wythe head coach Brandon Harner said. “I thought defensively except for four or five plays there we played pretty lights-out.”
Offense was hard to come by in this one, but bumps and bruises were not. Numerous players were helped off the field, including George Wythe quarterback Ben Jollay, who twice needed assistance, and