Cousins lead Griffin into semifinals

At any level of football, from Pop Warner to the NFL, the silliest question you can ask any receiver is, “Were you open?” They will always answer in the affirmative.

Buck Hancock is no different. And fortunately for Griffin, at the most pivotal point in Friday night’s quarterfinal battle with Southwest DeKalb, he was right.

Midway through the third quarter, with Griffin clinging to a 3-0 lead, Hancock’s 29-yard reception on third-and-5 moved the Bears to the Southwest 1-yard line. On the next play, fullback Sheldon Hancock, Buck’s cousin, powered in to score Griffin’s only touchdown of the game, which was good enough for a 10-7 victory.

“When we were in the huddle, he told me to look for him [on the play], because he was open,” said Griffin quarterback Marcus Waller, who was 2-for-2 passing for 44 yards. “Usually on that play, the ball goes to somebody else. But I saw him, he was open and I got it to him.”

The win sends Griffin (10-3) to the Class AAAA semifinals against Tucker next week. Since both teams are No. 2 seeds, a coin toss will determine the home team. It’s Griffin’s first visit to the Final Four since 2005, when the Bears lost to Statesboro 7-0.

After giving up 30 points in last week’s second-round win over Brunswick (34-30), Griffin’s defense bounced back against Southwest. The Bears held Southwest’s bruising junior running back, Kendrun Malcome, to 73 yards on 17 carries. The Panthers didn’t get on the board until late in the fourth, on a 5-yard pass from Daniel Litt to Jacoby Mitchell. The play followed a 23-yarder from Litt to Dion Hamilton.

Southwest failed to recover the ensuing onside kick, and Griffin didn’t give the ball back until there was less than a minute left. The Bears’ defense smothered Southwest’s frantic final drive at midfield.

For senior defensive end Telvin Nash, making a statement was important.

“We wanted to make it known that Griffin has the best defense around. Nobody is better than us,” said Nash, whose father, Ray Nash, was on the Griffin staff in 1984.

That was the year Southwest DeKalb beat undefeated Griffin 27-20 in the Class AAAA quarterfinals.

Southwest DeKalb 0 0 0 7 — 7

G — FG Edward Glanton 25

G — Sheldon Hancock 1 run (Glanton kick)

SWD — Jacoby Mitchell 5 pass from Daniel Litt (Preston McCarthy kick)