Photos: Grayson Tops Parkview for Georgia Region 4-AAAAAAA Title

LILBURN – Looking to clinch their second straight Region 4-AAAAAAA championship with a win, the Grayson Rams relied on a heavy dose of the run, and rumbled their way to a dominant 41-14 win over Parkview Friday night.

Grayson, who found a weakness in Parkview’s run defense midway through the second quarter, finished the game with 327 yards on the ground – including 262 in the second half – and scored 34 unanswered points after being tied at 7-7 heading into halftime.

The Rams were led on the ground by senior running back Dylan Elder, who rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Amari Alston rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, and Elijah Miller rushed for 31 yards and a touchdown while catching a touchdown pass out of the backfield.

“That’s Grayson football,” Grayson first-year head coach Santavious Bryant said. “That’s what Grayson was built on long before me, and that won’t stop with me. Physical football, especially up front, is who we are. So we’re going to continue that.”

Parkview, who would have clinched the region championship themselves with a win over Grayson Friday night, had their chances in the first half.

They out-gained Grayson 171-65 in total yards in the first half, but were only able to score once. The Panthers dropped a touchdown pass on their opening drive, and fumbled in Grayson territory later in the half.

Elder got the Rams offense going midway through the second quarter with a pair of long runs, and that led to a short touchdown run from Alston.

Parkview managed to answer back with a 13-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from Jaiden Jenkins with 13 seconds remaining in the half, but little did they know what they would be in for in the second half.

Grayson went on to score touchdowns on each of their first five possessions in the second half and never looked back.

Three Takeaways from Grayson – Parkview

Don’t sleep on the Grayson Rams

Heading into the Class 7A state playoffs, you likely won’t hear many predicting the Rams to win the state championship with the likes of Mill Creek, Buford, Colquitt County and Walton all in the mix.

But after securing the Region 4-7A championship and a No. 1 seed in the upcoming playoffs, don’t count out the Rams, who appear to be peaking at the right time.

The Rams have been playing playoff-like football for each of the past two weeks. They played back-to-back road games to end the regular season, and needed victories in both to win the region championship.

In those two games, the Rams out-scored Archer and Parkview 82-28 and rushed for 539 yards.

Barring any upsets, Grayson would match up with Buford in the quarterfinals, a game that would be hosted by the Rams.

With how deadly the Rams’ rushing attack has been this season and with star power at virtually every position on defense, the Rams are more than capable of making a deep run in the Class 7A state playoffs.

Parkview’s night goes from bad to worse

In what could have been a storybook night for the Panthers with an opportunity to win the Region 4-7A championship on their home field, it went from bad to worse following their disappointing 41-14 loss.

Parkview’s loss, compiled with an Archer loss to Newton, set up a 3-way tie for second place in the region. With point differentials serving as the tiebreaker, the Panthers lost out to both Newton and Archer and will enter the playoffs as a No. 4 seed.

That sets up a date with Colquitt County, the No. 3 ranked team in Class 7A on the road in the first round of the state playoffs.

Injuries played a huge part this season for Parkview, who lost both of their starting running backs to knee injuries. And on Friday night, they lost starting quarterback Jaiden Jenkins, who left the game midway through the third quarter with a lower leg injury.

Traveling to face Colquitt County in the first round is as about as tough as it gets, and they might be without Jenkins.

Parkview isn’t a team Colquitt County wanted to see given that the Panthers aren’t your average No. 4 seed, but the Packers will without a doubt be favored to win the game against the Panthers.

Dylan Elder is finally healthy

Grayson senior running back Dylan Elder had a rough start to the season after going down with an injury in Week 1 against Walton.

He missed three games and after returning in late September against Lowndes, hadn’t done very much for the Rams. Heading into last week’s game against Archer, Elder had rushed for just 270 yards and two touchdowns on 46 carries.

But after rushing for 166 yards and two touchdowns against Archer last week – his first 100-yard rushing game of the season – Elder followed that up with 174 yards and two touchdowns Friday night against Parkview.

Parkview had no answer for Elder Friday night and the senior has now rushed for 340 yards and four touchdowns in his last two games.

Elder is finally healthy and he makes an already good Grayson offense that much better heading into the playoffs.

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(All photos by Colin Hubbard)

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