Jamal Haynes fielded the second-half kickoff about three blades of grass within the field of play and took off.
Fourteen seconds later he crossed the Harrison goal line with a kickoff return of 99.99 yards, a spark that No. 1 Grayson needed to funnel the momentum in its direction and send the Rams on their way to a 30-6 win in the second round of the Class 7A playoffs at Grayson Community Stadium.
“We just needed something to spark us up,” said Haynes, a Georgia Tech commit. “I told them if you give us just two seconds coming off the block on the kick return, I’d take it to the house for them and that’s exactly what I did.”
Haynes said he knew the return was there “about three steps after I got the ball. I caught the ball about the inch-yard line and all I saw was green grass.”
The quick strike enabled the Rams to take a breath after they led only 8-0 at the end of the first half. From there the Grayson offense – playing without Clemson commit Phil Mafah, who was carted off the field with a right leg injury in last week’s playoff opener – began to get in synch and eventually led 30-0.
“It changed everything to be able to get a big play like that coming out of the half,” Grayson coach Adam Carter said.
Grayson quarterback Jake Garcia said, “He really changed the momentum of the game. I truly believe we would have scored on our first drive, but Jamal being able to take it to the next level just set the tone.”
It took the Rams a while to get on the board in the first half and Harrison’s pass rush made things uncomfortable for Garcia and Grayson shuffled through several running back before finding the right combination. The breakthrough came on a 68-yard drive, sustained by a 23-yard run from Joseph Taylor and capped by an 11-yard Jayvian Allen run. Grady Bryan ran for the two-point conversion and the Rams led 8-0.
After the kickoff return, the Rams added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter – a 6-yard from from Garcia on a drive that started with Victoine Brown’s fumble recovery and an 18-yard run from Sean Downer.
Harrison scored with 2:33 left on a 6-yard pass from Tripp Richardson to Jay Ziglor.
The Hoyas (4-6) did little offensively against Grayson fast, physical front. Richardson completed 4 of 11 passes for 45 yards, one interception and one touchdown. Ziglor was the leading rusher with 23 yards on 14 carries; his 11-yard pickup was the only double-digit run of the night.
“We’ve played well against the run the last couple of weeks,” Carter said.
Grayson (11-0) was led by Garcia, who completed 7 of 14 passes for 101 yards and one interception. His biggest hookup was a 49-yard connection with Haynes, who caught five passes for 79 yards. Taylor carried 11 times for 88 yards and Downer ran 10 times for 54 yards.
After the game Carter told his team, “You cannot afford to have another bad week of practice.” After the postgame huddle broke up, Carter said, “Yesterday was one of the worst Thursdays we’ve had all year. It’s my fault. I’ve got to figure out a way to get them better focused so they’ll come back out there and play better on Friday night.”
Grayson will host Region 6 champion West Forsyth, a 17-16 winner over North Gwinnett, in next week’s quarterfinal.
