Friday Night Finish:Battle of the Bands, No more like “Battle of the Backs”:Quarterbacks Zellous(Grimsley HS) and Hooker(Ragsdale HS) combine for 8 TD’s and Grimsley holds off Ragsdale, 33-25

This was a BATTLE…

Not really one of those Battles of the Bands, like we had out at the Guilford County Agricultural Fair a few weeks back.

This was more like a “Battle of the Backs”, quarterbacks that is, with Chris Zellous(Grimsley HS) and Alston Hooker(Ragsdale HS), being the primary players in this Big-Time Battle, at Jamieson Stadium…

This game was a game involving two very talented teams, but the QB’s really stood out, when the game was on the line this evening…

The football game was on the line the minute the Ragsdale Tigers walked off the bus and entered the Grimsley High School stadium parking lot…The Tigers, of Ragsdale and the Whirlies, of Grimsley, in what would amount to the Metro 4-A Conference Championship.

Grimsley came in at (8-1) overall and at (2-0) in the Metro, while Ragsdale arrived at (4-5) in all of their games, and the Tigers hit the parking lot, with a perfect record of (2-0) in the Metro, just like Grimsley…….

Both teams at (2-0) and they were still fighting for an edge, even as we hit halftime and 24 minutes were in the books already, but nothing was even close to being settled/determined, as our halftime score was knotted at 13-13…..

For the game, Grimsley’s quarterback Chris Zellous threw for 2 touchdowns and he also ran for two TD’s…Zellous’ counterpart, QB Alston Hooker, tossed four Touchdown passes and it was almost like Hooker and Zellous were going toe-to-toe…

Zellous would throw a jab, and take off on a 53-yard run for a touchdown, or he might just load up and hit his tall tight end, Lawson Albright, coming across the middle and the play would cover 55 yards and also go for a TD…In between those two BIG plays, Chris Zellous also ran 9 yards for a score and he hit Anthony Dunkins with a 25-yard pass that resulted in a Grimsley Whirlie touchdown…Zellous ran for 130 yards and the two TD’s and he threw for 122 yards, and the two TD’s…252 Total Yards for Zellous and his team totaled 375 yards…

Grimsley had it rolling from A(Albright) to Z(Zellous) and you had guys like Nora and Dunkins in-between…Quan Nora ended up scoring what turned out to be the game-winning TD, when he ran loose up the field for 29 yards and that game-winning Nora TD came with just 1:25 left in the ball game, and when Nora hit paydirt, the Grimsley Whirlies were only leading Ragsdale by two points, 27-25…

The game was again all tied up, 13-13 at the half…Then in the third quarter/period Grimsley went up 27-13 and it looked like the rout may on, but Ragsdale battled back and cut that lead to 27-25 and there was still 6:44 left in the contest…Grimsley got that last TD coming from Nora, and ended up winning the game by eight points…The final score of 33-25 was just that close, and the game may have been even closer, in phases, than the final score indicated..

The Whirlies of Grimsley took the early lead in this matchup of Metro unbeatens, with the Blue and White getting the first score of the night, with Zellous taking off on that 26-yard run and the Jake Henry kick was good and Grimsley led 7-0, with 9:29 left to play in the first quarter….

Alston Hooker got his Ragsdale Tigers going with his 35-yard TD pass to Donovan Platt and the Bradley Tullar kick failed, so with 7:52 to play in the first quarter, our score was now, Grimsley 7, Ragsdale 6…Hooker came out slinging tonight, and his right hook was sharp and he used the Hooker right hook to his advantage, and hit Josiah Muldowney from 8 yards away and Muldowney raced into the end zone and after the PAT kick from Tullar, Ragsdale now led Grimsley, 13-7 with 4:03 to go in the first quarter….

Hooker was heaving the passes tonight and he ended up with 4 TD heaves, and according to our Ragsdale stats main man Marco, this would give Alston Hooker 14 TD passes over the last three weeks/ball games…Hooker has been on a pass production parade and something is really clicking right now for this Ragsdale Tiger…Four TD passes tonight and from the Don Tilley stat sheet, with Marco assisting, Hooker goes for 236 yards on his 16-29 passing night, with the four TD passes that hit key receivers, who hit the end zone…

The score at the end of the First Quarter:Ragsdale 13, Grimsley 7

It was truly a battle of those backs on Friday night, the quarterbacks Alston Hooker and Chris Zellous….And you had some excellent defensive efforts that were added for good measure and you had those offensive lines digging in to help their teams get this win…

Back to our game flow chart and some more numbers from Marco and Don Tilley and with Andy’s mind putting/sending all of these details onto the computer screen, we hit that second quarter and with Grimsley down 13-7, the Whirlies find a way to retake the lead, as #1 Zellous goes to #14 Anthony Dunkins and Dunkins is on his way to the house, carrying the pigskin into the promised land/end zone from 25 yards away, as QB Zellous hits his man and with the PAT kick being off, it misses and we are tied at 13-13 and that was our score as we hit the half, Grimsley 13, Ragsdale 13, or you might want to call it Ragsdale 13, Grimsley 13…

We some outstanding reads by the QB’s and some outstanding play calling coming from the coaches tonight and it showed on the field, as this game wore on…

In the third quarter it was all Grimsley on offense, as Zellous found tight end Lawson Albright wide open across the middle and Albright had got behind the defense and he just took off and left the opposition way behind, racing 55 yards pretty much untouched to the West end zone, and Albright scored his 10th receiving touchdown of the season…With the Jake Henry PAT boot, Grimsley had regained the lead, and it is now Whirlies 20, Tigers 13…

One of the turning points of the game came next, as Ragsdale recovered a muffed punt return by Grimsley and the Ragsdale Tigers marched and drove the ball down near the Grimsley goal line, where Ragdale had the football 4th and goal from the Grimsley one, but on the fourth down run, Ragsdale fumbled the ball into the Grimsley end zone where the Whirlies recovered the pigskin and Grimsley got the ball out to their 20 yard-line and went to work….Grimsley advances the ball to their own 47 yard-line and from there, QB Chris Zellous takes off on a 53-yard dash, and he goes all the way and scores the big touchdown that puts Grimsley up 27-13, after the made Jake Henry PAT kick…The long Zellous run came with 2:36 left in the third quarter and this is the point where you thought Grimsley might be able to walk away with a dominating victory, but that would not be the case…

The Tigers came roaring back behind Alston Hooker, as he hooked up with Devan Boykin for a 32-yard TD pass play and after the kick by Tullar is no good, Ragsdale has kicked aside all the thoughts of a Grimsley route, and we have a whole new ballgame, with Ragsdale within 8 points, down 27-19, with Grimsley in front, with 9:12 left in this contest on a cool night, at Jamieson Stadium…

Behind Hooker, Ragsdale is within 8 points and there is over nine minutes left in this game…

This is about the stage of the game, where we got that perfect Ragsdale onside kick and with the Tigers recovering the onside kick, Ragsdale is ready to score again, and cut this lead to just two points with 6:44 left in regulation…Alston Hooker goes back to Josiah Muldowney and the TD grab from RHS senior Muldowney, makes the score Grismley 27, Ragsdale 25, and like so many other times in our ball game, Ragsdale misses out on the PAT play and this time they went for two, by way of air, and have what appears to be a bit of a strange looking score on the Bob Jamieson Stadium scoreboard, with Grimsley leading Ragsale, 27-25…

Grimsley is only up by two points and the Whirlies are trying to find a way to pad their lead and they get it, with just 1:25 remaining in the contest, when Quan Nora breaks off a run on the right side and he hits the East end zone from 29 yards out, and with a bad snap on the PAT attempt, Grimsley leaves the door open or a bit ajarred, as we still have an eight-point game, but on its last possession Ragsdale can not get anything going and the Tigers end up going home to Jamestown, with a 33-25 loss to the Grimsley Whirlies at Jamieson Stadium, on this chilly Friday night, on the first day of November…

Final score again, Grimsley 33, Ragsdale 25….

Grimsley now at (9-1/3-0) and the Whirlies are headed to Marion Kirby Stadium, to face Page Pirates next Friday night…
Ragsdale now at (4-6/2-1) and the Tigers set to face the Bison of High Point Central next Friday night at A.J. Simeon Staduim, in High Point….

Back on those numbers from our main man Marco and Don Tilley….

For Grimsley:
Chris Zellous 16 carries for 130 yards and 2 TD’s…
Quan Nora with 23 carries for 123 yards and 1 TD…Nora only had 25 yards on the ground at halftime on Friday night…

Zellous goes 5-11 passing for 122 yards and 2 TD’s…
Nora with 2 receptions for 10 yards…
Anthony Dunkins with 1 reception for 25 yards and one TD…
Lawson Albright 1 reception for 55 yards and a TD…
Jaquavion Mayo 1 reception for 19 yards…

For Ragsdale:
Alston Hooker goes 16-29 for 236 yards and four touchdowns…
Tyrell Carmichael 3 receptions for 50 yards…Carmichael with 3 carries for 17 yards…
Josiah Muldowney with 3 receptions for 37 yards and 2 TD’s…
Isaiah Carbajal with 3 receptions for 37 yards…
Devan Boykin with 2 receptions for 48 yards and 1 TD…
Donovan Platt with 2 receptions for 47 yards and 1 TD…

**********This is our wrap up on our big ball game from Jamieson Stadium on Friday night…We will have a look at how all of the teams did in our Saturday Morning Rewind….**********
++++++++++++Be sure to check out Wyatt Smith and his report on Dudley at Southwest Guilford, plus D.J. Wagner and his look at Smith at Western Guilford, and the Hornets’ Homecoming from Friday night…++++++++++

$$$$$$$$$$ The wildest score of the night appears to be that WS Parkland 6-0 win over Mount Tabor….Dudley over Southwest Guilford, so the Dudley Panthers still have a good shot at First Place in the Piedmont Triad 3-A Conference…Southeast Guilford over Burlington Williams, so that should give total First Place claim to the SEG Falcons, in the Mid-Piedmont 3-A Conference…Second year in a-row SEG takes the top spot in the conference…Big meeting next with with Northern Guilford vs. Western Alamance, in the Mid-State 3-A Conference…Third Place and key playoff spot at stake in that meeting…Grimsley has the Top Spot in the Metro 4-A Conference secured…Grimsley wins the conference…Ragsdale can lock down the #2 spot in the Metro, with a win next Friday at High Point Central…Again, if Dudley beats Western Guilford, the Panthers have shot at #1 in the PTA 3-A Conference….Eastern Guilford at Southern Guilford is a very big game next week in the Mid-Piedmont 3-A Conference…Lots of action and key games left on the table for next week….$$$$$$$$$$

6 thoughts on “Friday Night Finish:Battle of the Bands, No more like “Battle of the Backs”:Quarterbacks Zellous(Grimsley HS) and Hooker(Ragsdale HS) combine for 8 TD’s and Grimsley holds off Ragsdale, 33-25

  1. Much respect for Ragsdale and their QB and their D. Quite a showing tonight. I believe that week off may have hurt instead of helped us. I think our game plan was to run, run, and run some more but Ragsdale loaded the box and stopped us. Whew what a fight!!

  2. That was some kind of battle and Ragsdale would not go away and I know now/this week that Grimsley must work on some of the things that went wrong last night and get those corrected as they head into PAGE Week..

    Page will see some of the things that the Ragsdale defense was able to do and they will follow suit…Page will challenge their defenders to become the Player of the Game vs. Grimsley and stop that Grimsley run…

    The Grimsley pass looked good/solid, with that pass that Zellous laid over the middle to Lawson Albright and Albright had gotten behind the defense and that kid was GONE…Albright in the Page Camp last year and now with the Whirlies this year and congrats to him on his offer from Illinois this week….

    Going in Grimsley will be a heavy favorite as they head to Marion Kirby and I wonder how an oddsmaker would lay down that line…Grimsley by at least two TD’s going in and maybe a 17 point favorite for Grimsley over Page or something like that….

    Page has had the off week to get ready and healthy for Grimsley and this should prove to be another one of those battles and the Grimsley fans will need to get there early, should be a strong turnout for this Rival Game, especially with Grimsley bringing in their best overall team since 2005…

    Alma Pinnix Drive should be ready to come Alive, next Friday night….

  3. from Coach Tripp on Twitter:

    With last nights performance
    @chris_zellous
    went over 1,000 yards PASSING and 1,000 yards RUSHING for the season. Also,
    @quan_nora
    is now over 1,500 yards RUSHING for the season.

  4. The Grimsley Page game needs to be move back to Jameson Stadium. Not sure how much money is made off of this but the visitors side is horrible. I’m sure they will need to add extra bleachers behind the goal post. They always played at the bigger stadium because of the crowd size. It will be a transportation nightmare. Split the totals 50/50 so everyone can be happy.

  5. There were a couple of years there when the Grimsley fans just did not show up when the game was played at Page…There was plenty of room on the visitors side..

    This should be different with Grimsley hitting on all cylinders this season/year…

    There may be some room on the Page side with Page being down, and if so, then the Grimsley fans could move in and sit on the Page side…

    Just not sure what the Page turnout will be like this year, in a down year/season….

  6. Don’t sleep on the Pirates. Down year, but the Whirlies probably are not all they are cracked up to be.

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