Grimsley vs. Weddington NCHSAA 4A fourth round takeaways
MATTHEWS — Grimsley held a halftime lead and played turnover-free football. Weddington's best receiver had just two catches for 19 yards. Yet, the Whirlies' season is over after a 44-27 loss in the fourth round of the NCHSAA 4A playoffs.
“We just didn’t play well in the second half,” Grimsley coach Darryl Brown said. “Credit to Weddington, they are a good football team obviously and we knew that, but man, we just didn’t make some plays that we’ve been making in the second half that we have made most of the year.
“Really in the second half, we’ve played some of our best football like last week against Hough and other times come out and played well. We didn’t do it on either side of the ball tonight in the second half and just ended up where we were at. You can’t do that against a really good team,” he said.
The No. 4 seed Whirlies (13-1) hadn't lost since a 41-27 setback to Porter Ridge in the second round of the 2021 4A playoffs. Beating Weddington would have meant a fourth trip to a regional final in five seasons. Instead, Brown is saying goodbye to a talented group.
“They’re winners,” he said. “Our senior class is just unbelievable and there are several of them but Alex Taylor, Terrell Anderson, Graham Buckrham, Jaden Staton, Deon McLaughlin, Jamarie Davis, I’ll leave guys out, but that whole senior class, I just wanted to win for them because those guys have been tremendous leaders for our program, great heart, great players and what a legacy they leave for these other young guys coming behind them.”
Weddington (12-2) reaches a regional final for the second consecutive year and for the fourth time in six seasons. The No. 1 seed is scheduled to face No. 23 Independence, who defeated No. 6 Butler 10-7 in its biggest of four road-game playoff upsets.
Here are my biggest takeaways from the Grimsley-Weddington game.
Weddington’s effective run game
Weddington changed its offensive emphasis from its passing game to the ground attack. Quarterback and Georgia Southern recruit Tyler Budge threw for just 97 yards, and his primary target, Keenan Jackson, had just two catches for 19 yards, although he returned an onside kick for a touchdown that resulted in the final score. However, Weddington ran 39 times for 272 yards and five touchdowns.
“We felt like they were going to give us a light box,” Weddington head coach Andy Capone said. “I think they were worried about Keenan in the pass and our other receivers, so we went with some six-lineman stuff and just told them that they have to win up front. They (Grimsley) are very well-coached, they do a great job, it’s just one of those things where we felt like we could run. We kept it really simple, ran base blocking and told our backs ‘You have to make one guy miss.’”
Weddington junior running back Nick Diamond had a 52-yard touchdown run that gave the Warriors a 21-20 lead with 5:35 in the third quarter. Senior teammate Brady Ritter had a 33-yard run up the middle to give them a 29-20 lead after a two-point conversion.
Brown said that Weddington didn’t show anything scheme-wise that Grimsley wasn’t prepared for but said the Warriors were more physical at the point of attack.
Grimsley offense slows in second half
In the first half, Grimsley sophomore quarterback Faizon Brandon completed 11 of 15 passes for 142 yards and rushed for 97 yards and three touchdowns.
Grimsley had a 20-14 halftime lead, with junior running back Mitchell Summers having 16 carries for 81 yards and all three of Grimsley’s touchdowns, the last coming with 13.8 seconds left in the second quarter.
In the second half, Grimsley had 11 carries for 27 yards, all in the third quarter, although two of those carries were sacks for minus-20 yards.
In the third quarter, Summers had eight carries for 46 yards, but the team didn’t have any rushes in the fourth quarter as it fell behind by two scores.
“When we got in that situation, obviously, you have to push the ball down the field. You’re trying to conserve as much time as you can and that just changes what you can do,” Brown said. “The game dictated what we had to do in that situation.”
In the second half, Brandon was 8-for-18 for just 77 yards, although a 17-yard touchdown pass to Terrell Anderson narrowed the gap to 10 points. That touchdown was the only score in five second-half possessions.
A revision in the Triad rankings?
Grimsley has been ranked No. 1 in the News & Record/Winston-Salem Journal Piedmont Triad football rankings from the preseason through the end of the regular season.
Dudley (14-0) has been ranked No. 2 since week six and remains in the NCHSAA 3A playoffs after knocking off No. 1 seed Crest (13-1) on the road, 46-34. The Grimsley loss and Dudley’s win may lead to a change at the top. .
Only Dudley and No. 3 Reidsville (13-1) remain in play. Reidsville’s only loss this season was 19-14 on the road to Eastern Alamance at a time when the team was dealing with key injuries.
The final rankings will follow the conclusion of the playoffs.
Team Stats
Grimsley Weddington
First downs 20 19
Penalties 6-50 6-55
Passing 19-33-219-1-0 8-13-97-0-1
Rushing 35-124-3 39-272-5
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Team Leaders
Passing: Grimsley: Brandon: 19-33-219-1-0; Weddington: Budge: 8-13-97-0-1
Rushing: Grimsley: Summers: 19-127-3; Weddington: Diamond: 14-125-3, Ritter: 10-73-1
Receiving: Grimsley: Anderson: 10-122-1; Weddington: Javon Barber: 3-45-0
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