Douglass-Atlanta has arrived.
At least, that’s what it looked like during the No. 8-ranked Astros’ 18-3 victory against No. 3 LaGrange in the opening game of the Corky Kell + Dave Hunter Classic on Wednesday at Kell.
“The defense played lights out man,” said Douglass head coach Stanley Pritchett. “They were outstanding performers to hold those guys to three points. We had a couple of turnovers, two interceptions, but they did just such a great job.”
Formerly in Class 4A and coming off a second-round exit in the playoffs last season, LaGrange entered Class 3A after reclassification but couldn’t find momentum in any facet of the game.
The Grangers took a 3-0 lead on a 43-yard field goal from Mason Calhoun with 5:23 left in the first quarter, but from that moment on it was all Douglass in what could have been viewed as an upset.
“We’ve come a long way, man,” Pritchett said of the team’s rebuild. “My first season here, we went 1-9. And now we just have to take it one week at a time. We’re 1-0.”
Pritchett led the Astros to a 6-5 record and first-round exit last season, but in this game, Douglass put things togther. The Astros took the 8-3 lead on a 3-yard run from Casey Barner with 11:53 left in the second quarter. Barner’s 2-point conversion run was good. A 26-yard field goal from Bryant Jose extended the lead to 11-3 with just less than six minutes left in the first half.
John Wilson, who was 9-of-16 passing for 142 yards and a touchdown, hit Jontae Gilbert on a 10-yard touchdown with 2:25 left in the first half to cap scoring. Gilbert caught three passes for 28 yards. Freshman Quintavious Boykin had two receptions for 79 yards to lead Douglass.
Defensively, the Astros held LaGrange to 133 yards – 41 passing, 92 rushing. Andreco Griggs had 10 tackles, six solo, one sack and one tackle for loss. Elijah Hunter made two key interceptions to stop LaGrange drives.
“I look forward to building on this and getting ready for next week,” Pritchett said. “We want to build off being 1-0. Every week, we don’t want to look too far down the field into the playoffs. We just want to be 1-0 every week.”
Aside from the unique Wednesday start, most other 3A teams play traditional Thursday, Friday and Saturday games.
Those include the closing game of the Kell-Hunter Classic, when No. 9 Cedar Grove plays Class 6A No. 4 Douglas County Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
The biggest matchup of the weekend features top-ranked Jefferson traveling to Class 4A No. 3 Marist in what could be a playoff-caliber game. Another televised matchup features No. 2 Sandy Creek hosting East Coweta, which will be aired on GPB.
Other games between ranked teams feature Class 3A No. 5 Bainbridge hosting Class 5A No. 8 Coffee. Unranked programs facing ranked opponents include Peach County facing A Division I No. 8 Northeast-Macon and Monroe at Class 5A No. 5 Thomas County Central.
Class 3A Top-10
1. Jefferson at 4A No. 3 Marist
2. Sandy Creek at 6A East Coweta
3. LaGrange lost to No. 8 Douglass 18-3
4. Calhoun at 5A Creekview
5. Bainbridge vs. 5A No. 8 Coffee
6. Mary Persons rests.
7. Lumpkin County at Cherokee Bluff
8. Douglass def. No. 3 LaGrange 18-3
9. Cedar Grove vs. Class 6A No. 4 Douglas County at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
10. Troup at 5A Villa Rica
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