A year after allowing the most points in school history, the Grayson defense appears ready to get back to the brand of stingy play that has long been the anchor of the program.
The Rams, ranked No. 2 in Class 7A, kept Marietta completely bottled up for three quarters and scored enough points in the meantime for a comfortable 32-12 victory Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Marietta had just 22 total yards and two first downs in the first half and finished with 153 yards, including minus-21 rushing on 19 carries, in large part because of four Grayson sacks for 46 yards in losses. Almost 40 percent of the Blue Devils’ yards and all of their points came in the fourth quarter with the outcome no longer in doubt.
“We graduated 38 seniors from the state championship year [in 2020], and I think eight starters on defense, so we had our bumps,” Grayson coach Adam Carter said. “We started three freshmen in the playoffs last year, so we had some bumps and that’s how it is. Now we’ve got some kids that have been in it, been in the fire, and they just came out and played hard. So I think that was the difference.”
The game, a matchup of the schools that won state titles in the highest classification in 2019 (Marietta) and 2020 (Grayson) was the finale of this year’s Corky Kell Classic, an event that included 11 games over four days at four locations.
The victory was Grayson’s fourth against Marietta in the four-game history of the series.
Grayson turned two short Marietta punts into 10 points in a four-minute span to break open what had been a tight game for most of the first half.
Grayson led 8-0 when a 13-yard punt gave the Rams the ball at the Marietta 20 with 57 seconds remaining in the first half. Two plays later, Mason Humphrey scored on a 15-yard pass from Jeff Davis II, and Paul Duncan’s extra point made it 15-0 with 28 seconds left.
Marietta handed the ball back to Grayson in great field position less than two minutes into the second half when a punt that officially went for zero yards put the Rams at the Marietta 13. After three plays and a Grayson penalty, Duncan kicked a 29-yard field goal for an 18-0 lead with 10:33 remaining in the half.
Joe Taylor essentially put the game away about five minutes later with a 34-yard touchdown run to make it 25-0.
Taylor ran for 110 yards on 19 carries to lead the Rams, who finished with 335 total yards. Davis was 13-of-19 passing for 157 yards.
Grayson’s defense made life tough for Marietta quarterback Chase McCravy, a junior transfer from Hillgrove who was making his Blue Devils debut. McCravy completed 19 of 30 passes for 174 yards, but he was sacked four times, was intercepted once and spent most of the night on the run.
The Blue Devils finally got into the end zone on the second play of the four quarter when McCravy scored on a 1-yard run to cut the lead to 25-6. He later threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Christian Mathis for the game’s final score.
Grayson got inside the Marietta 25-yard line on its first three possessions of the game but failed to put up points until Dylan Elder ended the third drive with a 7-yard touchdown run. Myles Woods took a direct snap from center and ran in for a two-point conversion that gave the Rams an 8-0 lead with 9:35 remaining in the second quarter. At that point, Grayson had a 154-9 advantage in total offense.
“I actually think we left a lot out there, to be honest with you,” Carter said. “If you look at the first half, we had done some good things defensively and some good things offensively, but we didn’t capitalize. But I thought for the opener, in all three phases, I thought our kids did well.”
Grayson - 0-15-10-7 - 32
Marietta - 0-0-0-12 - 12
Second quarter
G - Dylan Elder 7 run (Myles Woods run), 9:35
G - Mason Humphrey 15 pass from Jeff Davis II (Paul Duncan kick), 0:28
Third quarter
G - Duncan 29 field goal, 8:29
G - Joe Taylor Jr. 34 run (Jimmy Gonzalez kick), 3:51
Fourth quarter
M - Chase McCravy 1 run (pass failed), 11:28
G - JoJo Stone Jr. 36 run (Gonzalez kick), 8:41
M - Christian Mathis 49 pass from McCravy (pass failed), 2:52
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