Griffin's Malik Miller (10) runs down the Memorial Stadium field past Jonesboro's Keith Kent during their Sept. 14 game. (File photo courtesy of Kyle Chambers)
Griffin High football dominated the early part of the season, going 4-1 and jumping from the No. 7 state-ranked team in Class AAAA in the preseason to No. 2 by the end of the month.
The Bears’ superb early performance started with some late-game heroics. Down 16-7 at halftime, Griffin rallied on Aug. 31 to beat Dutchtown on the road 42-16 behind sophomore Malik Miller’s three rushing touchdowns and quarterback Jaquez Parks’ two passing TDs. Griffin wide receiver Quay Mangham had 4 catches for 117 yards and Miller had 8 carries for 80 yards total.
Now No. 6 state-ranked, Griffin won handily at Northgate, beating the Vikings 35-6 on Sept. 7 behind Miller’s two TDs and Parks’ 240 yards on 15-of-25 passing. The Bears were able to coast to a 22-0 halftime lead; apparently the team didn’t enjoy the whole comeback thing from last week.
No. 3 ranked Griffin played poorly in their third game Sept. 14, narrowly edging out No. 9 Jonesboro 34-33 in a game that featured 25 penalties by both teams and a total time of 3 hours and 35 minutes. It was the Bears’ first Region 4-AAAA Division B game and with the win, Griffin cemented its status as a top-10 team.
Running back Devontae Freeman ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries to help the Bears destroy Woodland-Stockbridge 52-20 on the road Sept. 21. This game helped Griffin gain the No. 2 state-ranked position and Parks ended the night with 164 passing yards and 2 touchdowns to wide receiver Keyston Fuller.
The Bears were upset 17-14 in their last September game at home, losing on the 28th to a Stockbridge team which was on a three-game win streak. Griffin had its own win streak of 8 straight regular-season games snapped with the loss, thanks to a 27-yard field goal by senior Stockbridge kicker Andrus Guillen that broke a 14-all tie as the final buzzer sounded.
Other noteworthy area events in the month of September:
*After going 3-6 in August, the Griffin Lady Bears softball team pulled together a 4-0 start in the first half of September. It went 2-4 in a rough North Cobb Tournament Sept. 14-15, but managed to secure an 8-7 record by the end of the month, bringing their season total to 11-13 heading into the Region 4-AAAA Tournament in October.
*Spalding Lady Jags softball went 3-6 in August as well, but brought its winning percentage up to .500 with a solid 6-3 run in September, including a 7-2 win at Griffin in the teams’ first meeting on Sept. 19.
*Skipstone Academy football made a strong push in September, winning 3 games and outscoring their opponents 97-24 after going 0-4 in August to start the season.
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