Grimsley glides past Western Guilford High School 55-0 to stay perfect on the year
Courtesy of Mike Fanning covering the Grimsley Whirlies football team during their 2023 season
It was Homecoming for the Whirlies and another perfect night for football this fall. Grimsley was looking forward to bringing their high-powered offense back in front of their home fans. And the huge crowd that turned out, was not disappointed. Grimsley would score six touchdowns on their first six drives and cruise the rest of the way to a convincing 55-0 win over Western Guilford.
Excited to be back home in Jamieson Stadium after defeating Northwest Guilford last week 48-14, Grimsley received the opening kick and wasted no time driving 73 yards compliments of a 19 yard Faizon Brandon to Kaden Catoe pitch and catch. Brandon extended the play by moving around in the pocket before finding a wide open Catoe lurching in the back of the endzone all alone. The Whirlies were able to overcome multiple procedure and holding penalties on the drive, a theme that stuck with them most of the first half. After a three and out from Western on their first drive of the game, Grimsley went 65 yards ending with a 27 yard touchdown pass to Alex Taylor to make it 13-0 with 3:37 left to play in the first quarter.
After the Grimsley kickoff went out of the back of the endzone, the very first play for Western was a handoff off to the right that fumbled and recovered by the Whirlies. Three plays later, Grimsley running back Mitchell Summers ran it in from 4 yards out to make it 20-0 and the rout was on. The Grimsley defense would force another 3 and out, punting to Terrell Anderson who returned the ball to mid-field. The Whirlies would quickly score again, this time a 30 yard touchdown throw to Anderson to make it 27-0 with 0:09 left in the first quarter.
The start of the second quarter would not fair much better for the Hornets, Their next drive would result in a fumble and this time the Whirlies would scoop it up and return it 15 yards for a touchdown. After the ball being knocked out of the running backs hands, Grimsley linebacker Ty’quairis Hayes would grab the ball and take it to the house to give the Whirlies 34-0 lead. The rest of the first half would all go the Whirlies way as well. After another punt by the Hornets, Grimsley would go 85 yards and have Summers finding the endzone again for his second rushing touchdown of the game. The next Hornet drive would result in another punt and the Whirlies turned it into points, complements of another Summers touchdown run to make it 48-0 going into the intermission.
The first half saw the Whirlies score touchdowns on 6 of their 7 drives, rack up 306 yards of offense, and get a defensive touchdown. The Hornets on the other hand had 7 drives, committed three turnovers, got 3 first downs and totaled 71 yards of offense.
With the clock now running in the second half, the Whirlies starters were done. Each team wound up with 2 possessions in the second half with Grimsley scoring on one of theirs, a 8 yard touchdown run by back-up quarterback Jaquez Crawford to make it 55-0 before the final whistle blew.
It was a complete effort in all three phases for the Whirlies. The starting defense generated three turnovers; the starting offense scored touchdowns on their first 6 drives. Special teams did miss an extra point, but Luke Barnes kicked 4 touchbacks and the Whirlies never punted.
Grimsley is back home next week to take on Ragsdale with only 4 games left to play in the regular season.