Sandies Slay Dragons in Season Opener
Grapeland 50 Shelbyville 30
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
SHELBYVILLE – It’s usually the defense that’s ahead of the offense at this point in the season. When you have an All-State running back like Cadarian Wiley, however, that offense can be expected to be ahead of schedule and on Friday night Wiley and the Grapeland Sandies offense gave a preview of just how good they can be.
Wiley ripped off a school record 292 yards, to go along with four touchdowns and a two-point conversion, as Grapeland beat up on the Shelbyville Dragons by a score of 50-30.
The game started off on an ominous note as the opening kickoff to the Sandies saw a Shelbyville player sustain an injury and stay down on the field for an extended period of time.
After the player was helped from the field, Grapeland took possession of the ball at their own 33-yard line and wasted little time in finding the end zone. On the Sandies’ second play from scrimmage, QB Johnny Lamb connected with Riley Murchison for a 67-yard touchdown strike. The two-point conversion was no good, but with 11:11 left in the opening stanza, Grapeland had taken an early 6-0 lead.
The Dragons battled back to tie the game on their first possession. Starting at their own 36, Shelbyville’s Zay Cartwright moved the Dragons across the mid-field stripe with a pair of rushing attempts. QB DJ Barnes picked up 12 yards on the ground and then added another 23 through the air as he connected with Jakory Standley and Jedd Wagstaff on back-to-back plays.
With the ball now inside the 15, Cartwright moved the ball inside the five and Standley took it the rest of the way to make the score 6-6 with 8:15 left in the first quarter.
Jayce Elliott
After the two teams exchanged punts, Grapeland took over on their own 49. Wiley did the heavy lifting on this drive as he carried the ball three times in a row and found paydirt on his fourth carry of the possession. The try for two was no good, but with 3:28 remaining in the opening period of play, the Sandies had reclaimed the lead, 12-6.
Following the kickoff, Shelbyville started at their own 36. Barnes and Standley helped the Dragons move inside the Grapeland 20 and it looked as if the home team might waltz into the end zone. The Sandies’ D had other ideas, however, as they stuffed Standley at the line of scrimmage three times in a row to take over at their own 14, which brought the quarter to an end.
On the first play of the second quarter, the Lamb-to-Murchison connection was back in action. This time, Lamb found Murchison all alone after he got behind the secondary. Murchison caught the ball in mid-stride and a few seconds later, he strolled into the end zone with an 86-yard TD reception to make the score 18-6.
A fumble on the Dragons’ next possession gave the ball back to Grapeland on their own 29. A facemask penalty pushed the ball back to the 14, but to no one’s surprise, Wiley made it up. He picked up six yards on first down and on second down, he blew past the Shelbyville defenders on an 80-yard dash to the end zone to make the score 24-6 with 9:36 remaining in the half.
To their credit, the Dragons fought back. Starting at their own 40, Shelbyville mixed it up with the pass and run. The Dragons moved the ball inside the Grapeland 10 and on third-and one from the five, Barnes found Kevin Jones in the back of the end zone for six. The two-point conversion was good and with 5:33 left in the second quarter, Shelbyville had cut the lead to 24-14.
The score didn’t remain that way for very long. After the kickoff, the Sandies started at their own 43. Wiley picked up nine yards on first down but on second down, an illegal procedure call backed Grapeland up five yards. A 20-yard burst by Wiley got it back but a three-yard loss and a sack pushed the ball back to the 48. Wiley picked up 15 yards on third-and-25 while Lamb connected with Zandric Anderson who bulled his way for 17 yards and a first down at the 17.
From there, Wiley did the rest as he plowed into the end zone two plays later for his third TD of the first half, making the score 30-14.
Riley Murchison
Shelbyville began their next possession on the 41 and after an incompletion on first down, disaster struck for the Dragons as Jayce Elliott picked off an errant Barnes’ pass and returned it to the Dragons’ 42. Four plays later, Wiley was back in the end zone after an eight-yard blast up the middle to make the score 36-14 with 40 seconds left in the half.
On the ensuing kick, however, the Dragons’ showed they had some quick-strike capabilities of their own, when Cartwright fielded the ball and weaved his way downfield for a 60-yard kickoff return for a TD. The two-point conversion was good and just when it seemed Shelbyville was circling the drain, the Dragons had trimmed the lead to 36-22.
That brought the half to a close. The Dragons seemed to feed off of the momentum from the kickoff return for six when they came out in the second half as Shelbyville took the opening possession of the second half and drove right down the field.
The Dragons marched from their 45 down to the Grapeland five and when Barnes found Dylan Parker in the end zone, Shelbyville had the game to a single score. The try for two was good and with 7:22 left in the third, Shelbyville only trailed by six.
The Sandies next possession stalled at the Dragons’ 16, but a fumble three plays later gave the ball back to Grapeland at the 28.
Hit of the Week
The Sandies took advantage of the excellent field position two plays later as Murchison slipped around the right end of the offense and outraced the Dragon defenders to the front corner of the end zone for a TD. Wiley scored on the try for two and with 2:33 left in the third, Grapeland now led 44-30.
Try as they might, the Dragons didn’t have any fire left while the Sandies added a 10-yard scoring romp from Tray Gilmore to close out the scoring as Grapeland won their season opener by a final score of 50-30.
Following the contest, Coach Jordan Wood discussed his team’s performance. “We responded the right way. We had a lot of opportunities when things could have gone badly for us. Shelbyville made plays over and over. They were in the game the whole way,” the coach said.
“We are a long way from our goal, but we did what we came here to do,” Wood added. “They know our goal and we took a step in the right direction tonight.”
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
