Final on Friday night at Jamieson Stadium:
Grimsley Whirlies 42, Durham Hillside Hornets 7
Grimsley(8-0)/Hillside(6-2)
The Grimsley Whirlies move on to play Matthews Butler(8-1) next Friday night for the NCHSAA 4-A West Regional Championship…Butler topped Providence on Friday night, 35-0….
To go back and listen to some, or all of the Grimsley-Durham Hillside game, CLICK HERE…..
Grimsley got the early grip on the Durham Hillside Hornets, and the Whirlies would not let go…..Just 41 seconds into the game on Friday night, the Grimsley Whirlies were on the scoreboard…Grimsley got a great opening kickoff return by Antoine Shaw, and with Shaw’s kickoff return of around 65 yards, Grimsley is in position to take over the game early, and the Whirlies do just that, as they get a 14-yard pass from Alonza Barnett III to Tyson Repser, and with the Jake Henry PAT kick, Grimsley leads Durham Hillside, 7-0, with 11:41 left to play in the First Quarter…
Still in the First Quarter, Grimsley gets a 12-yard touchdown run from junior RB Jeiel Melton, and Jake Henry is good again, on his PAT kick, and with 7 additional points, Grimsley now leads Durham Hillside, 14-0….
Grimsley is not done yet with their First Quarter scoring as the Whirlies find the end zone again in the first, as the Whirlies’ QB Barnett carries for the TD, with his 14-yard touchdown run…Henry is good again, and Grimsley moves in front over Durham Hillside, 21-0, with 2:20 remaining in the First Quarter…
End of the First Quarter:Grimsley 21, Durham Hillside 0
Durham Hillside got in on the scoring brigade in the Second Quarter, when the Hillside Hornets quarterback Aden Beatty threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Turner, and the Hornets’ Nana Appiagyei converted the PAT kick, and with the TD and PAT, our new score read Grimsley 21, Durham Hillside 7….The TD for Hillside, and what would prove to be Hillside’s only score of the night, this would be the last score of the First Half…
Halftime:Grimsley 21, Hillside 7
In the Second Half of our contest, Grimsley would match their First Half output, as the Whirlies would post 21 second half points to go along with the 21 that they put up on the scoreboard, in the first half…Hillside would not score again on this Friday, as the Hornets were finished, and their hopes were pretty much gone, when the Durham Hillside starting QB, and the man who led them into the end zone earlier in the First Half, Aden Beatty, could not come out and play in the Second Half…Beatty was injured and he was done for the night…With Beatty down and gone for the game, Hillside was pretty much down and out, and finished for the night/game….Hillside could just not get their offense moving, without their starting QB, Aden Beatty…Beatty would not be back, and Grimsley was not going to be caught looking back…
Grimsley goes for one Third Quarter score and that was on a 3-yard Jeiel Melton scamper across the goal line…..Here comes Henry, and Jake will make his fourth PAT kick of the night, and with the Jake Henry PAT kick coming with 5:49 left on the Third Quarter clock, Grimsley now leads Durham Hillside, 28-7…
End of the Third Quarter:Grimsley 28, Durham Hillside 7
With 10:50 remaining in our Friday night Second Round NCHSAA Football Playoff game, Grimsley lays claim to their own home turf, when the Whirlies QB Alonza Barnett III, finds his clutch wide receiver Anthony Dunkins open in the right corner of the end zone, and Barnett hits Dunkins for a 32-yard TD pass, and that now gives Dunkins 8 TD pass receptions for the season….’Jake the Make’ made his fifth consecutive PAT kick of the night, and with the Henry kick going straight through, Grimsley is now up 35-7, over the Durham Hillside Hornets…
The Grimsley Whirlies have one more touchdown up their sleeves and this one will be of the running variety….Junior QB Alonza Barnett III takes off on a 24-yard run to paydirt and with Jake Henry booting one more PAT through the uprights, Grimsley has closed out their scoring, and this most recent TD/touchdown stamps Grimsley’s win in, and the Whirlies will win this Round Two matchup, 42-7…The final score of the night came with just 5:05 left to play in the contest…
Final Score of our ball game:Grimsley 42, Durham Hillside 7
Grimsley got effort from many different directions in this Friday night playoff game…One name that stood out to me on defense, was Jordan Watkins….He laid out a few of the Durham Hillside Hornets, with some hits that could be heard all over the Gate City..Watkins stands at 6’2 and he weighs 200 pounds, so this kid is a big defensive back, and he is a big linebacker too, if he ends up settling in at that position….Watkins is part of that Grimsley junior class that includes Travis Shaw and Tamorye Thompson, two more Grimsley defenders that can lay/bring the lumber…#2(Shaw) and #22(Thompson) were busy again on this Friday night making sure that it was long and hard night for the Durham Hillside Hornets….#5(Sincere Burnette) and #25(Quentin Williamson) also had very productive nights for the Grimsley Whirlies’ defense…Cam Allison(#10) was causing a disturbance from his linebacker spot, and his work added to the big night for the Grimsley “D”….
Grimsley at (8-0) is really getting the job done, and they even got some real nice reps from their punter, Myles Gowens…Gowens made sure that Hillside never got it going on their punt returns…Gowens got off some real nice punts tonight, and although he did not have to punt very often, Gowens was putting his punts in the proper places….Another Whirlie that got in some real nice hits on defense was Charles Busby, on this Whirlie Winning Friday…..
Next up for Grimsley will be those Matthews Butler Bulldogs coming to Jamieson Stadium next Friday night, April 30, and the winner of that game will be the NCHSAA 4-A West Regional Champion….
I remember back in 2011 when Butler came to town/Greensboro and they faced the Page Pirates in the NCHSAA West 4-AA playoffs….Page got the best of Butler and their solid young quarterback Riley Ferguson on that Friday night, and here’s hoping that Grimsley can get the best of Matthews Butler, on this upcoming Friday April 30, 2021, and that the Grimsley Whirlies will become your NCHSAA 4-A West Region Champions…When Butler came here to face the Page Pirates back in 2011, Butler was coached by Brian Hales…
The Whirlies must be ready, and they will be ready next Friday night, when the Butler Bulldogs come to town/Greensboro……