With their 42-0 win over Kendrick last week, the ACE Charter Gryphons are off to a 5-1 start. They’ve accomplished as much with a first-year coach despite previously having never won four games in a season, and they may be the most surprising storyline to emerge from the new Class 2A thus far.
Coming over from 1A Public in the reclassification shuffle, not much was known about the Academy for Classical Education (ACE) Gryphons of Macon. For starters, what’s a gryphon?
“I had heard of it — I was not very familiar with what it is, though,” said Gryphons coach Keith Hatcher, who has breathed new life into the program.
(For more from Hatcher, check out Ep. 51 of The Class 2A Blogcast)
Pronounced like the city “Griffin,” a gryphon, according to Merriam-Webster, is, “a mythical animal typically having the head, forepart, and wings of an eagle and the body, hind legs, and tail of a lion.” Art history aside, the Gryphons are on a different trajectory under Hatcher.
The program launched in 2018 and, after last year’s 4-5 finish and first-ever playoff appearance, the Gryphons had an all-time record of 13-23. ACE wanted the Gryphons to be title contenders and recruited Hatcher for the job. Last season, Hatcher was 10 miles down the road coaching his alma mater, Mount de Sales, where he’d also served as athletic director from 2015-20. Through eight seasons, Hatcher had compiled a 46-39 record at Mount de Sales, including a 10-1 finish and Region 7-1A championship in 2019.
When ACE approached, Hatcher listened.
“Mount de Sales is a great place and I have a deep history there,” Hatcher said. “This was more about an opportunity that I saw at ACE. I grew up in Macon, my family is still in Macon and Bibb County is a huge part of my life. I had heard of ACE and saw it start to grow and when they approached me about being a head coach, they were ready to invest in a program and provide the resources it takes to win. So, I was excited about being a part of that.”
Before Hatcher’s arrival, the Gryhpons scored more than 45 points in a game three times. Heading into Friday’s Region 2 home game against Central (1-5, 1-2), the Gryhpons (2-1 in league play) are averaging 46 points in what Hatcher describes as a “hybrid wing-spread” run-first offense.
Hatcher credits ACE with enabling him to assemble a staff that includes offensive coordinator Thomas Darrah and offensive line coach Mark Farriba, who coached 30 seasons from 1985-2001, compiling a 215-134-3 record with two state championships.
“(The staff) has done a great job of teaching the kids exactly what we’re trying to do,” Hatcher said. “The kids have bought in, and success breeds even more opportunity to expand on what we’re doing. We’ve got some guys who are good with the football in their hands, so we’re just trying to simplify things and get the ball in space to our best players and let them capitalize.”
Quarterback Kaleb Scarbary has thrown for 718 yards and 12 touchdowns to two interceptions on 33-of-52 passing, and Hatcher said his mobility allows for him to make plays outside of the pocket. He’s rushed for 175 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries.
As a team, the Gryphons have rushed for 1,262 yards and 17 touchdowns on 108 carries, with Aaron Davis (836 yards and nine touchdowns on 74 carries) leading the way. Brice Whitley leads the team with 16 catches for 342 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensively, linebacker David Rudell has a team-high 70 tackles. He, along with linebacker Gavin West (65 tackles) are the engines of a defense that aggressively blitzes out of a 3-4 formation and has two shutouts in its last three games.
With the exception of West, none of those players are seniors.
The lone blemish on their record is a 47-21 loss to Northeast at home on Sept. 16 that, in all likelihood, cost them the region championship. The No. 8 Raiders (4-2, 3-0) are in line for their first region title since 2009 and control their own destiny.
The ACE-Northeast game was treated by both teams as the region championship, a game the Gryphons aren’t used to playing in.
“It was the first time our guys had experienced a game that had that kind environment and importance,” Hatcher said. “It was a great experience for them to be a part of that. (Northeast) was up 14-13 at halftime, so we competed. But they have an established, good football team and they’ve done a good job building a championship-caliber program. They just wore us down in the second half, but what it did was allow our guys to see what we’re capable of.
“We’re not quite there yet, but we’re working each week, and we’re getting better. We want to be where Northeast is, and the kids believe they can get there.”
Assuming the Gryphons win out, and that Northeast beats Spencer on Oct. 21, the ACE-Spencer season finale on Nov. 4 will determine the No. 2 seed and home-field advantage in the first round.
“Hosting a playoff game would be a huge accomplishment for a program that’s as young as ours and that’s been in the state that ours has the last few years,” Hatcher said. “That’s certainly the goal.”
Between now and the playoffs, Hatcher said he wants to see the team play to its capabilities, instead of to the level of their opponents.
“That’s been our tendency throughout the course of the season,” he said. “We’ve got to focus on being our best regardless of the opponent, and that’s just a maturity process that these kids have not faced in the past, because they haven’t played games this late in the season that are as significant as the ones we’re about to play. So, they’re excited about the opportunity, they’ve embraced it and they’ve done what we’ve asked each week.”
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