Grundy County earned a spot in the TSSAA playoffs last Friday night in Coalmont with a 28-20 come-from-behind victory over Community High School.
GCHS sophomore quarterback Kaeden Sitz rushed for 68 yards, collected a pair of scores and ran in the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter to lift the Yellow Jackets (1-9) over the Vikings (1-9).
It’s the third season in a row Grundy has qualified for the postseason and the second year in a row the Jackets defeated Community for the region’s final playoff spot.
“This was a huge win for the program, players and fans,” GCHS head coach Nick Bryant said. “It has been a tough year. One of our opponent’s coaches called our schedule ‘death row,’ but the kids kept battling, kept their heads up and now they’re getting to go to the playoffs.”
Junior Kyler Hopkins lined up at running back and matched Sitz with two scores on 10 carries. Along with 62 rushing yards from Colton Rogers and two from Javon Brown, the Yellow Jackets totaled 199 yards of offense without throwing a single pass.
Grundy switched up its offense for the regular-season finale. The Jackets moved away from the spread, installed the triple option and placed Sitz under center.
Kirbee Hart photos
“Javon Brown did a great job at quarterback all year, but we wanted to go with a package change to catch Community off guard,” Bryant said. “Sitz ran a great offense for our first game in the new package, and Hopkins and Rogers did a great job on their reads. It really threw Community off-kilter.”
The Vikings scored on their first possession and converted for two points to take an 8-0 lead, but Grundy answered immediately with a scoring drive of its own to pull within two. Rogers started the series with a 40-yard run, and Sitz snuck over the goal line four plays later to make it an 8-6 game at the end of the first.
Community found the end zone on a 5-yard quarterback keeper to open the second period to extend its lead to 14-6, but the Yellow Jackets repeated their first-quarter success with another scoring drive right after. Hopkins recorded his first touchdown of the night on a 15-yard run off a direct snap to pull within two, 14-12.
Junior defensive back Dakota Grayson snuffed out the Vikings’ final drive of the half when he intercepted a pass to send the teams to the locker room.
Trailing by two to open the third quarter, Sitz faked a handoff left and cut right through the CHS defense for a 15-yard scoring run to cap off a five-play, 56-yard drive. The touchdown and ensuing 2-point conversion gave Grundy a 20-14 lead and it never looked back.
The Yellow Jackets forced a turnover on downs on Community’s following possession and capitalized with another touchdown and 2-point play. Hopkins rounded out the GCHS scoring with a 16-yard TD run to make it a 28-14 contest.
The Vikings added one final touchdown midway through the fourth and found the end zone in the waning minutes, but the Grundy defense took a stand and stranded Community’s offense on the 15-yard line to end the game.
Hopkins finished the night with 67 yards, recording his best night in the backfield of the year.
“It felt great to get that win and send our seniors off on a high note,” Hopkins said. “I felt like that was the best game I played all season, and it is nice to get a win over Community in back-to-back years to claim a spot in the playoffs.”
Grundy punted just once the entire game and had just three total possessions that did not result in scores - the possession following Grayson’s interception to send the game to halftime and the final snap that ran out the game clock for the last time this season at Crisp Field.
On defense, Will Foster tied for the team lead in tackles with 12 and totaled three hurries. Cantrell collected the other 12 takedowns, and the Jackets had season-best six tackles for loss with Cantrell leading the way with three. Senior center Joshua Turner had two TFLs, and fellow senior Luke Hobbs had one.
“It felt great to go out there and compete,” Foster said. “Those 12 tackles were the most I’ve had in a game this year, and it was great to get a win in front of our home fans.”
In eight seasons as the Jackets head coach, Bryant keeps alive a streak of never missing the playoffs. Bryant credits the players for the accomplishment.
“That all falls on the kids,” Bryant said. “We coach them up and they do all the hard work. They find a way to win the games we have to win to make it to the postseason.”
Kirbee Hart photos
Bryant now owns 35 career wins - second only to Chris Pickett’s 55 for most wins all-time at Grundy.
Box Score
Community 8 6 0 6 - 20
Grundy 6 6 8 8 - 28
Next Game: Sweetwater High School
With the postseason berth, Grundy is scheduled to take on top-seeded Sweetwater tomorrow night in Sweetwater at 6 p.m. CT.
The Wildcats (8-2) are Region 3 champions and dropped just two games this season, falling to 2A Meigs County and 5A McMinn County.
“Sweetwater has a great program,” Bryant said. “They’ve always been a great football school. They’re a big, physical team. Hopefully our tough schedule has prepared us for a team like this. If we can get the option going early in the game, we aim to keep the game close and eat up a lot of clock.”
Bryant and the GCHS defense will have to keep an eye on running back Malik Arnett. Arnett carried the ball 25 times for 153 yards and a touchdown last Friday in the Wildcats’ 24-17 win over McMinn Central.
“Arnett is their workhorse,” Bryant said. “He’s a thick kid who can run fast, and their quarterback, Landen Boyd, is a big key to their offense.”
Grundy Game Notes vs. Sweetwater
• Grundy enters the TSSAA playoffs as the No. 4 seed from Region 4.
• GCHS has been the No. 4 seed in each of the last three seasons.
• The Yellow Jackets are going to the postseason for the third season in a row.
• GCHS head coach Nick Bryant has never missed the playoffs. Bryant led the Yellow Jackets to the postseason from 2009 to 2014, and made the playoffs again upon his return in 2021.
• Bryant is the only coach in GCHS football history to qualify for the TSSAA playoffs eight times. Chris Pickett led the Jackets to six TSSAA playoff berths from 1991 to 1996.
• Bryant ranks second all-time at GCHS with 35 career wins in eight seasons. Pickett sits atop the leaderboard with 55 wins in nine seasons.
• Sweetwater is region champions for the first time since 2002.
• This is also the Wildcats’ first season with eight wins since 2002.
• Sweetwater is set to host a postseason game for the first time since 2012.
• SHS leads the all-time series 1-0 over Grundy.
• The Jackets’ only prior meeting with the Wildcats came in 1991 - Grundy’s first-ever trip to the TSSAA playoffs.
• Sweetwater won the 1991 matchup 28-14 as a No. 1 seed over No. 2 Grundy.
Around the Region
Giles County claimed the Region 4 crown with its 42-0 win over Cannon County, and Sequatchie County dropped a non-region contest 53-21 to White County. In postseason action, Giles is a No. 1 seed and will line up against No. 4 Brainerd in the first round. No. 2 Sequatchie hosts No. 3 McMinn Central, and No. 3 Cannon goes on the road to take on No. 2 Loudon.
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