Grayson not flashy, but defeats Marietta

By Jeff Haws

For the AJC

It was anything other than flashy, but there are no style points on the way to a state title.Grayson used a grind-it-out style on offense and held Marietta to just three first downs, as the Rams held on late to beat the Blue Devils 21-14 in the first round of the Class AAAAA state playoffs.

This is Grayson’s fourth consecutive trip to the second round. The Rams (11-0) will play at home Friday against Roswell (10-1), which defeated Collins Hill in the first round.

Grayson coach Mickey Conn made a statement from the outset that he was going to trust his offense, going for it on fourth down twice in his own territory on the opening drive, converting both times.Those were the first two of six fourth-down conversions the Rams made in the game, their only failed attempt coming at the Marietta 24-yard line with 4:42 left in the fourth quarter.

That strategy kept the Marietta defense on the field and allowed the Rams not to have to deal with a Blue Devils team that Conn thought could make a big play at any moment.

“Our offense is geared to get at least one yard or two yards anyway,” Conn said. “We didn’t want to give them good field position and, frankly, I didn’t want to punt to them.”

Helping the Rams avoid that was sophomore running back Devin Gillespie, who became the workhorse when Ean Pemberton was limited in the second half by a shoulder injury.

He finished with 98 yards on 27 carries, giving Grayson a power back to grind out yards between the tackles and keep the chains moving.

“We just wanted to try to kill the block and get first downs gradually during the game,” Gillespie said. “The goal was to just keep pounding them and wear them out every play.”

The strategy appeared to be working on offense and defense for Grayson but, after the Rams’ first failed fourth-down conversion, Marietta (5-6) used a 54-yard pass to Charles Francois to get to the Grayson 14, then scored three plays later on a catch by Devin Davis.

The big play was Francois’ second of the game, following his 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second quarter.