Sandies Swat Yellow Jackets, 50-28

Grapeland Moves to 1-0 in District 11-2A DI

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

ALTO – In years gone by, opening district play against the Alto Yellow Jackets was never an easy task. But this year, the Yellow Jackets simply don’t seem to have the sting they’ve had in the past. Still, the rich gridiron history of Alto, especially when playing at home on Cam’ron Matthews Field, was usually worth at least 12 points.

The Grapeland Sandies, however, were more than up to the challenge as they traveled to Alto for their District 11-2A DI opener against a somewhat bitter rival. The Sandies came into the game with a record of 4-1 while Alto – surprisingly enough – was 0-4 on the season.

Grapeland has developed an offensive juggernaut in the last few years and on Friday night, it was on full display as they crushed Alto by a score of 50-28 to get a leg up in the race for the district crown.

The Sandies opened with possession of the ball at their own 35-yard line. Two short yardage running plays and an incompletion forced Grapeland into a punting situation. With the ball at the 41, Keizion Ashford boomed a 50-yard punt that was returned to the Alto 18.

The Jackets were also forced into a three-and-out, but the Alto punt only traveled 14 yards and set the Sandies up on the 38-yard line.

Armed with great field position, Grapeland wasted little time in finding the end zone. After two plays went nowhere, Sandies’ QB BJ Lamb connected with Ashford for 13 yards and a first down. Cadarian Wiley picked up 11 yards on the next play from scrimmage and then Lamb found Ashford for an 11-yard scoring strike to make the score 6-0 with just over seven minutes remaining in the first quarter.

After the kickoff, Alto took over at their own 19. Vi’Dareous High picked up one on first down, Jackson Duplichain picked up two on second and then Alto QB Will Dixon found WR Jay Pope for 14 yards and a first down.

An illegal motion penalty pushed the Jackets back five. High picked up seven but a second penalty in the series pushed them back another five. Dixon churned out seven, but on third and long, Dixon’s pass fell incomplete, forcing the Jackets to punt.  

Disaster struck for Alto on the next play. A high snap allowed Grapeland’s Colten Franklin to break through the Alto line, stick a hand out and block the punt, giving the Sandies the ball at the Jackets’ 32-yard line.

On first down, Lamb and Ashford hooked up for 27 yards down to the Alto five. Wiley picked up two and then Lamb kept it, slipping into the end zone from three yards out with 1:21 left in the first quarter. Wiley bulled his way across the goal for the two-point conversion to make the score 14-0, Grapeland.

The Jackets’ next possession began at their own 36. On first down, Dixon picked up six, but as he was going to the ground, he coughed it up. Grapeland’s Zamorian Smith pounced on it and the Sandies’ took over at the Alto 44.

A holding penalty on first down pushed the ball back to the 48-yard line, but on the next play Ashford picked up 12 to move the ball back across midfield and down to the Alto 40, as the first quarter came to an end.

Two plays later, Wiley took a handoff from Lamb, found a seam in the Jackets’ defense and outran everyone to the end zone to make the score 20-0 with 11:47 left in the first half.

The Yellow Jackets finally found some offense the next time they had the ball. Starting at their own 45, the Jackets fed High the ball three straight times. He responded with gains of 11, four and eight. Pope added five and then High chipped in another six.

Duplichain came in and picked 12 yards on two carries to move the ball inside the 10. From there, Pope took an end-around nine yards to pay dirt. Duplichain plowed his way across the goal line for the conversion and with 7:31 left in the second quarter, Alto had cut Grapeland’s lead to 20-8.

The score didn’t remain that way for long. After the kick, Grapeland started at their own 41. On first down, Lamb dropped back to pass. Riley Murchison ran a go-route and got behind the Alto defense. Lamb led his receiver perfectly as Murchison caught the ball in midstride on his way to a 59-yard TD reception. Ashford added the two-point conversion and Grapeland was back up by 20.

As time ticked away in the second quarter, neither team could find the end zone after Murchison’s touchdown followed by Ashford’s conversion and the first half came to a close with Grapeland leading 28-8.

As the second half got underway, the Jackets launched a time-consuming drive that chewed up nearly half of the third quarter before ending with six. Alto stayed on the ground as Duplichain and Pope moved the Jackets from their own 45 down to the Grapeland 20.

After stuffing Duplichain twice and forcing an incompletion, it looked like the Grapeland D might stymie the Jackets. On fourth-and-eight, however, Dixon found Logan Rogers on a skinny post for an 18-yard TD to make the score 28-14.

Once again, the Sandies answered right back. Starting at the 43, Lamb connected with Michael Dancer for 23 yards. Ashford added 12 more and moved the ball to the 23. From there, Wiley carried the ball three straight times and blasted his way into the end zone from two-yards out for his second TD of the game. Lekerian Smith added the two point conversion and with 4:06 left in the third quarter, the Sandies now led 36-14.

The Yellow Jackets would simply not go away and on the first play of the fourth quarter, High managed to slip a tackle and cross the goal to make the score 36-20.

If what happened next sounds familiar, it is. Once again, the Sandies answered back. This time, however, they relied on a little trickeration. Starting at their own 25, Wiley was stopped at the line of scrimmage on first down. An incomplete pass from Lamb was followed by a delay of game penalty, which set up a third-and-15. Another incompletion brought up fourth down and what appeared to be a punting situation.

When your punter is one of the best athletes on the field, however, things can change in a hurry. On Ashford’s second punt attempt of the game, the snap was a little high. He was pressured from his left but instead of risking a blocked kick, Ashford tucked the ball and bailed out around the right end for a 30-yard pick up and a first down.

With a new set of downs, the Sandies went to their rushing attack. Wiley picked up two on first down and then Smith ripped off 17 to move the ball down to the Alto 31. Wiley gained six on first down and Smith added another half-dozen to move inside the Jackets’ red zone.

On the next play, Wiley took a handoff and went up the middle where he bounced off several Alto defenders. He kept his balance and managed to elude the defense as he slipped into the end zone from 19 yards out. Lamb and Ashford connected on the two-point attempt to give the Sandies a 44-20 lead with 7:31 left in the game.

To their credit, Alto battled until the bitter end as High added a 31-yard TD along with the two-point conversion to pull the Jackets to within 16 points at the 4:38 mark of the fourth.

It was too little, too late as the Sandies recovered an onside kick attempt and maintained possession until the eight second mark when Wiley bulled his way across the goal line for his fourth TD of the night to bring the scoring to a close and securing the 50-28 victory.

The Sandies big three of Ashford, Lamb and Wiley were on fire the entire game. Ashford caught 11 passes for 150 yards, one TD and one two-point conversion. He also ran the ball five times for 55 yards to go along with a second, two-point conversion.

Lamb was 14 of 21 in the passing department for 240 yards and two TDs. He also carried the ball twice for five yards and one TD.

Wiley had another stellar game from his running back position. He toted the rock 17 times for 140 yards and four TDs. He also chipped in a two point conversion.

Michael Dancer added two receptions for 30 yards while Riley Murchison caught one for 59 yards and a TD. Lekerian Smith carried the ball four times for 28 yards and one two-point conversion.

The Sandies are back in action on Friday, Oct. 9 as they host the Groveton Indians at Sandie Stadium. The kickoff is scheduled for 7 pm. COVID-19 protocols are in place. Tickets for the Friday night game against Groveton are on sale at the GISD administration office from 8 am to 2:30 pm this week.  Tickets are $5 each.  Tickets MUST be purchased in advance to attend the game. Please remember masks are required for entry and you must social distance.   

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].    

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