After delay, Grayson’s dominant 3rd quarter secures win over Collins Hill

Rain pounded, lightning flashed and hours went by before anyone could step foot on Fahring Field at Collins Hill High School.

The fans waiting outside kept tailgating, seeking shelter and dollar hot dogs delivered from the concession stand.

All the while, the Grayson football team stayed inside Collins Hill’s basketball gym.

Waiting an extra two hours and 15 minutes for kickoff isn’t common, but the Rams had been through it before. It was the same way they started their 2024 season opener.

Weather delayed Grayson’s kickoff against Collins Hill last year before the Eagles dealt the Rams their only loss of the season.

“Last year, we felt like we did some things and didn’t handle it as well as we should have maturity-wise,” Grayson coach Santavious Bryant said. “So this year was about making sure that didn’t happen again and handling things the right way.”

The 6A defending state champions, a year older and 15 games wiser, cashed a 51-3 win to open the season this time. That started with preseason 6A all-state quarterback Travis Burgess, who tried to keep his team focused through the waiting hours.

“I’m kind of just being the leader and just kind of keeping everybody calm and situated,” Burgess said. “It can get kind of hectic sometimes when you want to play and you’ve got to wait an hour and another hour, so just keeping the guys calm.”

Burgess’ message was especially important considering how much the Grayson pass attack struggled early. The 4-star quarterback had just 23 yards passing on two completions at halftime.

But Grayson still rushed for 106 yards, 29 of which came from Burgess.

“When the pass game may not be clicking how it needs to be, you can lean on the running backs, and they were doing a phenomenal job,” Burgess said. “And then the guys up front were dominating the front line.”

The Rams were also without their two best defenders, preseason all-state linebackers Tyler Atkinson, who was an AJC Super 11 selection, and Anthony Davis Jr.

Neither dressed out because of injuries, testing the Rams’ depth and adaptability on defense, too.

Collins Hill made a clear effort to attack Grayson’s run defense, but the reserve Rams were ready. The Eagles rushed for just nine yards on 12 carries in the first half.

“We pride ourselves on development, and we have a 5-star and a 4-star linebacker that don’t play and we’ve got kids that come up,” Bryant said. “Cameron Jones, nobody knows who he is, but you turn his tape on and you watch, I guarantee you number 30 was all over that field tonight making big-time plays.

“It’s good for us to be able to have this bump in the road early and those guys to be able to go out there and gain that experience.”

Grayson went into halftime leading 18-3 despite little to no production from its top three players.

And that was all the time Burgess needed to adjust. The Rams exploded into the second half, scoring three touchdowns in the first 3:32.

Burgess connected on touchdown passes of 34 and 74 yards before his night ended in the third quarter. He finished with 131 yards and two touchdowns passing with another 92 yards rushing.

The Rams scored 30 unanswered points in the third quarter.

“We should have had about 28 to 35 points going into halftime,” Bryant said. “First, it was about cleaning it up and then coming out to play to our standard.