Grizzlies Roar Past Maury 49-15
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font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>One play into the second quarter, things
weren't looking too good for the Grassfield
Grizzlies. The visiting Maury Commodores
just found the end zone to take a 7-0 lead and had out-gained the Grizzlies
86-4 to that point.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>[rl]But the rest of the way,
it was all Grassfield.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Coach
normal'>Martin Asprey's
Grizzlies rattled off 49 unanswered points in turning an early deficit into a
running clock margin in their favor.
With the 49-15 win on Friday night at Carolyn F. Bernard Stadium,
class=SpellE>Grassfield now moves to 2-0 overall.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We knew they were going
to come out strong. They're 1-0,"
class=SpellE>Asprey noted.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"They had two weeks to
prepare for us and any time you give a team and extra week to prepare for
somebody, they're going to have a little bit more of a game-plan.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> They've got some good players and we just had
to calm down and figure out what they were doing."
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Maury ran 17 plays in the
first quarter, netting 81 yards of offense compared to just five plays gaining
only four yards for the Grizzlies. That
included a turnover, where junior QB Justice
Bigbie's
screen pass went through the hands of Grant
Holloway and was intercepted by Commodores sophomore defensive back
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Javon Elliott.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>In that opening stanza
the Commodores converted a pair of third downs and a fourth down to move the
chains. Grassfield's
premier playmaker didn't let anxiety set in, though.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I came out a little unstable,
but that's the game of football. I've
just got to bounce back, shake it off and keep going," admitted Holloway, a
two-sport standout who was also named the Gatorade Virginia Track Athlete of
the Year for 2014-15.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"If you come out here and
think about it way too much, that's when mental mistakes happen.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> If you do what you're taught and have fun,
everything goes well."
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Holloway would redeem himself
the next time the Grizzlies got the football.
He took a screen pass from Bigbie and used a
stiff arm at the end on his way to scoring a 36-yard touchdown that would knot
the score at 7-piece. However, he wasn't
finished.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>A 14-yard interception
return by Holloway would set up Grassfield with
excellent field position, deep in Maury territory.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Junior tailback
normal'>Darius Hagans capped the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The Grassfield
defense clamped down the remainder of the second quarter, yielding only three
yards over Maury's final 14 plays from scrimmage.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> To end the half, Holloway further boosted his
team's momentum. Although a 53-yard punt
return for a touchdown would be nullified by a block in the back penalty, he
would find the end zone again on a five-yard touchdown pass from
class=SpellE>Bigbie.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>On the play, Holloway was
able to run a fade in the back corner of the end zone and tip the ball with one
hand to himself and haul it in with the other while maintaining his balance
going to the ground for the catch.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Just natural instinct,
having fun," Holloway stated of his flurry of big plays.
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finished with 138 yards passing and three touchdowns, two of them to Holloway,
who ended up with 80 yards on four receptions.
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Collective Effort:
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style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Grassfield's 4-6
record in 2014 was something that the program isn't used to after achieving six
straight winning seasons, all resulting in playoff appearances.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>After the playoff absence
a year ago, it was up to the Grassfield offense to
pick up the slack considerably, but also for the defense to start getting
multiple hats to the football, which they've done through two double-digit wins
over Maury and Deep Creek.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Senior linebacker
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Nick Berning led
the effort against the run with 10 tackles, six of those stops being
assisted. In fact, the
class=SpellE>Grassfield defense had 24 different players record at least
one solo or assisted tackle.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We feel like we had to
mature and change some things in the off-season.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> A lot of it comes from them and felt like
they had to play better," Asprey commented.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "They responded and I'm very proud of them."
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>On offense, six different
players caught at least one pass.
class=SpellE>Racee
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Lucas hauled in a 51-yard reception.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Sophomore tight end
normal'>Nick Burns, younger brother of former Grassfield
standout and current Virginia Tech linebacker Drew Burns, added a touchdown a
touchdown catch early in the fourth period.
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Defense
Gets Timely Stops: Astonishingly,
Grassfield would be out-gained on the evening,
270-266, by Maury, yet led by as many as 42 when backup quarterback
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Luke Bussel
style='font-weight:normal'>'s 43-yard pass to
class=SpellE>Kharron
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Gilliam set up
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Shajuan
normal'> Goodman's second touchdown run.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Even with the sizeable
lead in the second half, Asprey didn't feel at ease,
especially when senior tailback
normal'>Delveon
class=GramE>Little entered the game in the second half.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Little had 82 yards on
nine touches from scrimmage over the game's final two periods.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"There's no doubt about
it; that kid can play. He made some
runs," Asprey pointed out.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "We thought #22 (
normal'>Markell Wood) could make some runs.
Number four (Anthony Williams)
is an unbelievable football player. I
can see him being offered here shortly, if he doesn't have an offer already."
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Despite the yardage Maury
gained, the Grassfield defense stiffened when it had
to, beginning on that third quarter series where the Commodores drove 71 yards, taking
6:17 off the clock. They were forced to
settle for a field goal, which they missed from 25 yards out.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Senior linebacker
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Austin Winslow delivered with a 60-yard
interception return for a touchdown to push the lead to 28.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>There was a pass rush
supplied from senior defensive end Patrick
Jones and junior defensive tackle Seth
Harrell, two next-level prospects that combined for three sacks of Maury QB
Kevin 'Bam' Mills in the first half.
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style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Asprey
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was pleased to see several different contributors defensively.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"There's another kid named
Aaron Bullock who's getting a lot of
attention," the Head Coach noted. "
class=SpellE>Shawndell
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Joyner, who's playing our outside
linebacker, is really stepping up. It took
a little while for our linebackers to settle down and fast flow.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Once we made some adjustments, we felt that
they did a good job."
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Holloway's
Final Four: Ranked #247 in
the country and a four-star prospect by Rivals.com, Holloway seemed to operate
at a different pace than everyone else on the field and for obvious reasons
given his lofty status.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>With a boatload of
scholarship offers at his disposal, the 6-foot-3, 185-poun wide receiver has narrowed
his choices down to a quartet of schools.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Top four right now -
University of Oregon, University of Florida, University of Georgia and Virginia
Tech," Holloway revealed. "That's it;
final."
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>When will a decision come?
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Late October," Holloway
replied. "Most
definitely late October."
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style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Asprey
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style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> is
glad he's on his side and doesn't have to go up against him.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"He's a phenomenal player,"
the Head Coach added. "I think that's
why he's a national recruit."
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Bigger
Tests Await the Grizz:
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> While the 2-0 start is nice,
class=SpellE>Grassfield isn't content.
Over the years, they've become accustomed to winning seven games or more
and the '14 campaign was more of an aberration.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Following a road date next
week with Chesapeake rival Hickory, the Grizzlies will play host to Indian
River. There are some challenging away
games still left on the schedule with Southeastern District power Oscar Smith,
Western Branch and King's Fork. They've
lost five straight to that trio and never beaten the Tigers.
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line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We set our standard high,"
Asprey said. "We
told them we've just got to take it one week at a time, one game at a time."
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href="https://ct.yimg.com/mr/uploads/914/1736483.WMA">
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text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Postgame Audio with
class=SpellE>Grassfield's Martin Asprey
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href="https://ct.yimg.com/mr/uploads/914/1736485.WMA">
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text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Postgame Audio with
class=SpellE>Grassfield's Grant Holloway
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Final Stats:
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115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> Grizzlies 49:
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(2-0 Overall)
Justice Bigbie - - 8-15 for 138Yds. 3-1TD/Int. ratio
Grant Holloway - - 4Rec. 80Yds. 2TD's; 3 Tackles, INT, PBU
Shajuan Goodman - - 5Car. 45Yds. 2TD's; PBU
Darius Hagans - - 10Car. 42Yds. TD
Nick Berning - - 10 Tackles (4 Solo)
Shawndell Joyner - - 8 Tackles (6 Solo)
Noah Tieskoetter - - 7 Tackles (3 Solo)
Patrick Jones - - 5 Tackles, 4TFL, 2 Sacks
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9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Maury Commodores 15:
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(1-1 Overall)
Kevin 'Bam' Mills - -12-21 for 169Yds. 1-2TD/Int. ratio
Markell Wood - - 18Car. 73Yds. TD
Delveon Little - - 4Rec. 44Yds; 5Car. 38Yds
class=GramE>.
Shawn Blount - - 2Rec. 62Yds.
Anthony Williams - - 2Rec. 36Yds. TD
Tyrique Sharpe - - 8 Tackles (4 Solo)
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text-underline:none'>Matthew Hatfield
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115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> has covered football and
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style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>, part of the Rivals.com Network.
href="https://www.twitter.com/hatfieldsports">
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115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>. To contact Matthew, please e-mail
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href="http://www.cox11.com">
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