Southeast Guilford up to challenge, hangs around, before Grimsley pulls away for 58-21 win

Southeast up to challenge, hangs around, before Grimsley pulls away for 58-21 win.
from Mike Fanning, covering Grimsley Whirlies football for GreensboroSports.com…

We may never know what Grimsley head coach Darryl Brown said to his team at halftime. Maybe it was a gentle reminder that the Whirlies have a great offense and two quarters still remain. Maybe a more dire reminder that some guys on the field tonight would be playing in their final high school game. One thing I am sure he said was that the Whirlies were not playing at the level many had expected of the number one team in the state. Penalties, turnovers, dropped passes, and broken tackles summed up the Grimsley first half.

He might have also mentioned that the visiting Falcons of Southeast Guilford had come into Jamieson Stadium and were putting up one hell of a fight.

Give credit where credit is due. The Grimsley Whirlies thoroughly dominated the final 25 minutes of this game. They scored five straight touchdowns and added a safety, pulling away for a 58-21 win. But it was those first 23 minutes that belonged to Southeast. In nearly freezing conditions, the visiting sideline cheers drowned out the home faithfull as the Falcons tied the score at 21 with 1:07 to play before half. It was back-to-back scoring drives for Southeast, in the course of about two minutes, that saw the Falcons grab all the momentum and for a moment look like the better team. Southeast senior quarterback Alexander Marsh was playing with incredible composure, running and throwing for first downs. Falcon running backs Ian McKinnon and Teriq McLaughlin were getting running lanes, breaking tackles and scoring touchdowns. Southeast’s defense and special teams created two fumbles, the first when Grimsley quarter Fazion Brandon’s pass went backwards and the second on a muffed kickoff. They took those two turnovers, both on short fields, in for scores and quickly erased a 14 point deficit. Southeast was playing hard, playing cleaner and as the heavy underdog, playing with house money.

Then Grimsley’s stars went to work. With the scored tied at 21 and 67 seconds to play until intermission the Whirlie offense executed a great drive that included a 35 yard run by Mitchell Summers and was capped off by a Brandon to Kaden Catoe 16 yard touchdown throw and catch to the give the Whirlies the lead back at 28-21 as time expired.

Whatever Brown said at halftime worked. Grimsley would score the next four times they touched the ball. First it was Summers scoring his third rushing touchdown of the game to cap off a 70 yard drive on the opening possession of the second half. After a 3 and out by Southeast, Grimsley responded with a 55 yard drive finished off by Summers again to make it 42-21. After Marsh was sacked in the endzone for a safety, the Whirlies and Summers would strike again, his fifth rushing touchdown to make it 51-21 and essentially end the game. Grimsley’s 23 point third quarter proved too much.

For coach Earl Bates, the Southeast Falcons competed hard and for a brief moment had the home fans holding their breath. That alone is a credit to the effort his team competed with. Seniors Marsh, McLaughlin, McKinnon, Gaylord, Arant and others know they went down competing, finishing the season at 7-5. For the Whirlies, the journey continues as Charlotte Catholic comes to Greensboro next Friday.