1 week Ago By Ethan Strang
Make it three wins in a row for the LaGrange football team over their arch rivals Troup. While the last two seasons have featured competitive games between the two teams, the year’s game was anything but as the Grangers ran away with the game early and never looked back in a 49-21 win. “The kids believe in what we do and are showing up and working their tail off,” LaGrange coach Matt Naper said “You know, any time you play that team and you’re able to win like that, there’s a simple sense of humbleness to it.
We have a special group of young men, and it’s fun to coach them every day.” Despite playing for the first time in the rivalry game, the night belonged to LaGrange’s starting quarterback Dylan Barber, who scored four touchdowns in the game. “It makes it easy to call plays when you have guys like that that can create, and then it’s a lot of fun when you come up with stuff like the chance to throw it to him,” Napier said.
“When you have a guy like that, it is important to build a game plan that can utilize him to the best of his ability.” Barber was electric, scoring two rushing touchdowns, a passing touchdown and a receiving touchdown as the junior showed his all-around game. The night also belonged to his senior running mate in the backfield as Malachi Fannin-Render finished with three rushing touchdowns in the game.
“Players like Malachi make me a good play caller, because they can make a bad play call into a good play,” Napier said. “We are so fortunate to have him, he’s very coachable, and he works his tail off every week.” It was Barber who opened the scoring as he connected with Julian Jones on a 40-yard touchdown.
The Tigers had an answer, marching down the field on their next possession to tie the game up. Javarris Warner got the honors as he plunged into the end zone a little over halfway through the first quarter. That was as good as it would get for the Tigers as the Grangers extended their lead early in the second quarter when Barber scampered into the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown.
LaGrange was able to extend its lead before half as Malachi Fannin-Render got his first of three rushing touchdowns in the game when he ran the ball into the end zone from two yards out. This was all set up by Harris Grace’s first of two interceptions in the game. “I saw that they had a four bunch of wide receivers on that side and I was thinking to myself ‘they are about to throw a quick pass here’ and I was able to jump it and come way with the pick,” Grace said.
Napier emphasized what a high-IQ player Grace is for his play on that interception and his ability to lead a defense. “He is a veteran player that has a high football IQ. He understands the game and studies the film, so that he can go out there and make plays like that.
” Grace intercepted another pass with under a minute to go in the first half, giving the Granger offense great field position that they capitalized on when Fannin-Render found the end zone for the second time in the half on a 12-yard touchdown run to put LaGrange up 28-7 at halftime. “This feels so good after they had been talking all that smack this week,” Grace said. “This is my senior year, so to get out with a win over that team is super special.
” The senior linebacker completely swung momentum in LaGrange’s favor heading into the locker rooms at halftime. The Ganger momentum continued in the second half when a trick play saw Denorayon Reid throw a touchdown pass to Barber. Barber was not done there as he rumbled into the end zone for his second rushing touchdown and fourth touchdown overall to put LaGrange up 42-7 halfway through the quarter.
The touchdown was set up by a 50-yard connection from Barber to Jones. The Grangers let their foot off the gas towards the end of the game as Troup was able to grab a couple of touchdowns and make the final score a bit more flattering. Garrison Edwards, who made first appearance since his injury against Whitewater earlier this season, got a short rushing touchdown late in the third.
Davis Moncus would catch a 59-yard touchdown for the final score of the game. In between those Tiger touchdowns, LaGrange got one final score with Fannin-Render delivering the dagger on a 79-yard touchdown run with just seconds remaining in the third quarter. The fans were treated to a relatively quick night at Callaway Stadium as a running clock in the second half speeding up proceedings.
Troup fell to 4-4 overall and 3-3 in the region. The Tigers will likely not be able to get back into the chase for a guaranteed playoff spot by finishing top four in the region. Troup will host Spalding next Thursday and will likely need a win in that game to keep its hopes of getting an at-large bid to the playoffs alive.
LaGrange has now won six games in a row to improve to 7-2 overall and 6-1 in region play. The Grangers will have a bye week next week before traveling to Upson-Lee for their regular season finale in two weeks. “With the new ranking system, it’s the playoffs every week, we want to get in the best position from a playoff standpoint that we can be, so we’ve got to get ready to go Uposn-Lee who has got a good team and everything to play for,” Napier said.
The Grangers have already locked in a playoff spot, but are chasing the right to host at least one playoff game..
