For the second time in as many seasons, the Grenada High School Chargers football team has an opportunity to play for the Class 6A State Championship.
Last season, GHS dropped a 23-3 decision to West Jones at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford. This time around, the Chargers face the Hattiesburg Tigers Saturday night at M.M. Roberts Stadium on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi.
It’s an accomplishment that not many teams can claim and one that second-year head coach Michael Fair gives the credit where credit is due.
“It’s a huge testament to our players and coaches,” Fair said. “It is hard to do this once and extremely difficult to do this two years in a row. It takes a mature and experienced group of players to be able to do what they have done this season with a bullseye on them. We played through some adversity during the year. It takes a special group of players and that is what we have here.”
Fair said people just don’t wrap their minds around the work that the coaches and players put in to get to where they are this season.
“It’s consuming,” he said. “There is an old saying that says, ‘It takes what it takes’ to be successful. They say that because nobody knows what it takes. It makes for some long hours at times and some tough practices for our players. More than that, it’s the mental side of it. Our players ability to focus in and keep their composure especially in environments like last week at Warren Central – that is the key. We are not asking teenagers to do that once a year, we are asking them to do it 15 times a year. Our players have risen to that standard. It’s been a lot of fun and they have a lot of ownership in this team.”
That team ownership came to light during last week’s 23-10 win at Warren Central for the North State Title.
“When emotions were running high the other night, I hear a senior say, ‘Hey guys, this is a chance to show how mature we are,’” Fair said. “That’s one of our core values – toughness, effort, attitude and maturity. To hear a senior football player repeat that, it makes me happy as a coach and shows the ownership that this team has right now. This is a player-led football team right now. If I am the only one talking, we are in trouble.”
After facing one of the state’s stingiest defenses a season ago against West Jones, the Chargers defensive unit has the task of slowing down one of the most prolific offenses in the state in the Hattiesburg Tigers (13-0), which are averaging 34.6 points a contest.
“We both won our games in the fourth quarter last week,” Fair concluded. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be, and I would expect the same thing this week. We’ve haven’t seen a group of receivers like this since Oak Grove. They pose a lot of problems with a 5-Star receiver and their second receiver would be the top guy for other teams. These aren’t little fast guys that run good routes. These are bigger guys that run like little guys and have outstanding ball skills, and can go get the ball, which gives the quarterback a safety knowing that. Their quarterback is athletic and the size of their offensive line poses a lot of issues to the defense.”
Grenada High School head football coach Michael Fair huddles up with his offense during a time out last Friday night against Warren Central.
Junior Tristen Keys (6-foot-3, 186 pounds) leads the way with 56 receptions for 1,197 yards and 14 touchdowns. Senior Tyree Barnett (5-foot-10, 163 pounds) is a Southern Miss commit, who has 50 catches for 850 yards and seven touchdowns. Senior quarterback Deuce Vance (6-foot, 186 pounds) is 134-of-151 for 2,410 yards and 24 touchdowns to go with just four interceptions. The South Alabama signee at defensive back also leads the team with 833 yards rushing on 147 carries and 16 touchdowns. He is the son of Hattiesburg head coach Tony Vance, who is in his 12th season at the school after winning 60 games in five years at Charleston.
Senior Macaleb Taylor completes his high school career Saturday and has 2,570 yards on 350 carries and 36 touchdowns going into the contest to lead Grenada.
Junior quarterback Brayden Trusty has completed 125-of-229 passes for 1,716 with 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions. His leading receivers are junior Zayion Cotton with 46 receptions for 648 yards and five touchdowns and senior Chance Jenkins with 23 receptions for 351 yards and nine touchdowns.
Vance credits his success to a veteran team that has been through the rigors of a Class 6A schedule against some of the top teams in the state.
“It starts with our seniors,” he said. “They understand what the expectations are and have goals. This group of guys spend a lot of time with each other away from football, which carries over to the field. We have Bible study on Thursday night and hang out with one another at Raising Canes.”
The veteran Hattiesburg coach also talked about the development of his son, Deuce, who is left-handed.
“He wasn’t always left-handed,” Vance said. “He became a southpaw as he got older and does a good job of understanding the offense. Deuce understands where the ball needs to go on the field. He is able to come back to the sidelines and tell me what the defense is doing and what will work against it.”
However, Vance knows his team will be challenged by the Chargers.
“Offensively, it starts with Macaleb Taylor,” he said. “He is one of the best running backs in the state and is such a patient runner, who is also explosive as well, which is a rare combination. He has a really good offensive line in front of him. You can’t put all your eggs in one basket to stop the running game because they have some guys at receiver that can hurt you and the quarterback does an outstanding job of getting the ball to them.”
Defensively, the Chargers are led by senior linebacker Jahmani Washington, who has 135 total tackles, including 19 tackles for losses. Classmates Sema’j Avery and Jarques Perry both have 103 total tackles. Perry has 25 sacks and 22 tackles for losses, while Avery has 11 tackles for losses and three sacks.
“Their front seven, defensive line and linebackers corps will be one of the most talented groups that we’ve seen all year,” Vance concluded. “They play hard upfront and do a good job of using their hands, getting off blocks. Their linebackers are long and cover a lot of space quickly, while the secondary has two of the longest defensive backs we have seen all season. Our offensive guys will be challenged to move the football.”
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
