The Page Pirates received the ball first and pounded the ball on the Grimsley Whirlies defense that consistently put 8 to 9 men in the box the whole game. Page moved down into Whirlie territory and scored on 3rd and long, counter run by Drew Rogers. Making it 7-0 early in the 1st quarter.
Grimsley then went 3 and out on their first possession, the Punt on 4th was partially blocked and the Pirates got the ball at the 25 yard line. A couple of plays later, Lenny Gordon rushed up the middle and was stood up by the 6 or 7 Whirlie defensive players, and Cornerback Lashawn Brown stripped him of the football and ran it back all the way 85 yards for the touchdown. Making it 7-7.
Page marched down the field again and scored from 24 yards out, a pass from James Summers to Bruce McKoy. QB to QB. 14-7 Page on top at the point.
With about 5 minutes left before the half-time, Grimsley lined up to go for it on 4th & 2 from their own 45. 2 seconds left on the playclock, QB Kurt McPherson started to move his hands up and call for a timeout just as the ball was snapped by the center. Page DE Jusuf Dunzo recovered the loose fumble.
3 plays later Page with the ball faced their own 4th & short, and couldn’t convert as Grimsley’s DE Jordan Patterson stopped Rogers in his tracks, forcing Page to punt.
Grimsley looked to score again after a nice looking McPherson 29 yard pass to Darius Garner landing the Whirlie offense near the Pirate 30, but again they failed to convert another 4th down from the 25 yard line when Brown couldn’t find any space out of the Wildcat.
With about a minute left on the clock the Pirates enabled their 2 minute drill offense, moving to the shotgun spread. Summers lead the Pirates past midfield in two plays and got it down to the 12 yard line on a 35 yard toss from Summers to Justin Gorman with 14 seconds left in the half. Summers just fired short to Gorman on a slant on the next play, so coach Gillespie ran it again and Gorman hauled in the 12 yard score with four seconds left before the half. Making it 21-7 at halftime.
Grimsley came out in the 2nd half with the ball first, and they wasted to time. A quick pass to the outside, Brown hit Bret Seagal-Adams on a 82 yarder, setting up a 1 yard David Ray plunge. Score being 21-14 in the 3rd.
Page really put the game away from here on out scoring 21 unanswered.
On the next Pirate possession, Summers found a streaking Gorman behind the Whirlie secondary for a 55 yard TD catch. Page would hold Grimsley to minimal gains for basically the whole 4th quarter, and adding 2 more TD scores themselves. A 2 yard rushing TD from Rogers and a Dillon Sykes TD reception from McKoy finished up the scoring.
Page WR Justin Gorman is really the hero of this game, a virtual unknown becomes a instant Page/Grimsley rivalry legend. This is his first year ever of playing football.
Grimsley I think played their best game of football this season. They played some pretty solid defense. Page had to pass, and they showed that they can open up the playbook and get it done through the air. Both teams played their hearts out and really left it all out on the field. Grimsley gave it their all but just came up short this year in The Greensboro Rivalry.
Also, this game was selected in the Great American Rivalry Series sponsored by the United States Marine Corps and Ihigh. Page K/P Austin Anthony and Grimsley DE/OL Jordan Patterson were selected for a $500 scholarship for having the highest GPA on their respective teams. Congratulations to those two student-athletes. Also, Page WR Justin Gorman was selected at the game MVP by the USMC/Ihigh and the GARS. The Page Pirates were also awarded with a trophy from the GARS.
I agree that Grimsley gave a fine effort last night but saying the Whirlies “just came up short” doesn’t really tell the story of the game.
The Pirates dominated Grimsley last night. But for the fumble recovery/TD, Page would have been up 21-0 in the first quarter. Every time Page needed a big play or needed to move the chains, they were able to do so.
Page broke Grimsley’s back with the long TD drive that took up most of the third quarter. On that drive, Page consistently ran the ball at will despite Grimsley stacking the box with as many as 8 defenders. Coach Gillespie’s strategy was to simply wear the Whirlies defense down, which he did. Then he switched to the pass with success. It was a very solid game plan that Gillespie designed and his team executed it to a T.
On offense, Grimsley had maybe 3 or 4 plays that went for 15 yards or more. The Page defense was outstanding, and unlike the Ragsdale game, made some adjustments to prevent the deep ball from hurting them.
Grimsley made it interesting for about the equivalent of a quarter. But Page was in the driver’s seat for the majority of this game. It really wasn’t close.
I was there it was 28-14 going into the 4th quarter, so it was a ball game for 3 quarters. I also did not see #40 A. Oliver on the field, must have been injured or something and #3 did not play either for Grimsley. At one time I counted 4 soph. and one freshman playing on the defense for Grimsley, But Page did look good and will do well in the playoffs, but I am looking to future games, Grimsley is very very young
onewhoknows, I do realize that Grimsley has a young team. Most likely it is just as young as Page when the Whirlies won 3 in a row and had a team loaded with seniors that went to the state finals. That’s how it goes sometime.
Yes the score was 28-14 going into the 4th quarter. But that quarter began with Page on a very long time consuming touchdown drive that lasted most of the third quarter. The N&R did not print statistics, but I can only imagine what Page’s time of possession was in that game. Cosmetically the score was close, but in reality Page asserted its will over Grimsley anytime they needed to. Again, the Whirlies gave a great effort and maybe in a couple of years this series might be interesting again. From where I sit, it looks like Page is in the driver’s seat of this rivalry.
Page has owned this game for decades, but I did look at something on the two teams rosters, Page has 31 seniors Grimsly has 13. Now that does make a huge difference. Page’s coaching staff has been there for several years, this is the first year for Grimsley’s staff. Page is further along in the process than Grimsley. I also have found out why #3 did not play on Friday and it has nothing to do with the coaches. #40 Oliver i guess was hit with the flu and was pulled by the doctor only minutes before gametime, or at least that was what I was told
What? Even if what you say is true then obviously they are not cheating because they are not winning. Isn’t it past your bedtime.
Page went through some similar things when coach Gillespie was first hired. Kids transferred to other schools.
Grimsley will have to get through these tough times and just rebuild. Some kids will leave for greener grass.
It happened to us too.
Hard work by both teams and Page is on the way and Grimsley is working to get in that direction.
We need to give the Whirlies a chance to re-build. It won’t come over night and they have some good kids over there and they deserve the opportunity to try and get it the program headed back in the right direction.
Let’s give them a chance and let’s move on to another topic………
Great job Page and Grimsley will be back.