Grimsley used 391 yards rushing and the Whirlies made the plays on defense when they had to as the Whirlies won their home opener 35-14.
After the only three and out that Northern Durham had in the first half the Whirlies went down on their first possesion to take a lead they would not relinquish as QB Josh Patterson completed a swift 5 play 59 yard drive with a 18 yard TD pass to Travis Burris to give Grimsley a early 7-0 Edge Multiple times in the first half Northern Durham would move deep into Grimsley territory but failed to convert on any of the three trips they made inside the twenty in the first half. LaShawn Brown scored the first of his two TD’s 3:33 before the break to give Grimsley a 14-0 lead at the break. The run completed a backbreaking 14 play 96yard drive that took just under seven minutes off the clock.
In the second half it was more of the same as Brown busted out on a 43 yard jaunt to extend the lead to three TD’s after the three quarters. Then a 48 yard strut set up David Ray as his 4 yard plunge early in the 4th gave Grimsley a insurmountable 28-0 lead. In the third period the Whirlie defense clamped down as after giving up nearly 200 yards in the first half Grimsley completely shut down the Northern Durham offense as Northern ended up with negitive two yards net offense for the quarter.
But Northern has too much talent at the skill positions to be held down the whole game as they managed to salvage some pride in the final period as QB Andrew Peacock twice hit Cliff Edwards for touchdowns. Peacock passed for 188 yards competing 18-28 and Edwards had 8 catches for 86 yards and the two TD’s to pace the Northern effort but it was too little too late.
Josh Patterson competed the scoing with a 21 yard run with :32 to play as Patterson had 117 yards on 14 carries to go along with 3 for 6 thru the air for another 26 yards and a TD. This evening though belonged to LaShawn Brown as he had 166 yards on only 13 attempts to go with his two scores. Travis Burris also added an interception to go with his early TD reception and the venerable David Ray had a very solid evening with 15 carries for 64 yards and a TD.
2-0, lets GO WHIRLIES!