Georgia Public Broadcasting presents the 2005 Georgia High School Association's Football seven.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Welcome to the Georgia Dome, where it's the Grady Great Nights champions of Region five, Double-A against the Calhoun Yellowjackets and the Champions of Region six Double-A.

A great crowd on hand getting fired up and ready for a classic matchup between a great defensive team and a great offensive team.

Good afternoon, everybody.

This is Tommy Palmer, along with my sidekick, Mark Lassiter.

And we're getting ready to bring you game two of Game ten semifinal final weekend at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

Mark, this one promises to be a classic offensive matchup against a classic defense.

Tommy, you couldn't ask for a better matchup.

You have two undefeated teams.

Let's go ahead and take this.

A Cinderella story because Calhoun wasn't expected to be here this season and Grady hasn't been in the playoffs in 52 years.

Well, the thing that I like about this is that Calhoun did not rebuild.

They reloaded.

They reloaded.

Grady, their quarterback, Simeon Kelly, three touchdown passes in the second half to lead their team to the dome.

He's one of the key players for the Gray Knights.

Also for Grady on defense.

Their leading tackler, number 76, Brandon Thurmond.

Unusual combination of quickness and size for the Gray Knights.

Are coach Ronnie Mullen told us how his gray knights made it to the dome offensively.

We run a multiple offense.

We line up in a variety of formations.

You know, we play a variety of receivers and running backs.

You know, it's corner who's hard at the time and based on the situation.

But we play a lot of multiple sets and defensively, you know, we line up in a43 and I think right now strong points linebackers, they do a extremely good job and you know, different looks in different places and things of that nature.

But, you know, we don't just sit in one thing.

We do a variety thing on defense as well.

Calhoun with 13 and know they had to rebuild their football team.

And Mark, you know something about their offensive and defensive personnel.

When I looked at their stats on offense, I thought it was a typo on some of the numbers they put up this season.

Calhoun has an incredible combination of running ability, but they also throw the ball deep on you when they get a chance.

Their offense is led by a quarterback who is expected to go to the next level.

Incredibly strong arm and Calhoun's running backs are key.

There's Cody Worley, number nine.

He's 34 and three as a starter.

So if you looked up his name in a dictionary, you'd see the name winner right next to Cody Worley.

Coach Howell LAMB is has enjoyed tremendous success and success comes through great playing.

And of course, Coach LAMB is no stranger to the game.

He comes from an ancestry of of a coaching background.

He has some relatives and he has his team well prepared.

And we asked him what his team had to do to win this football game.

Well, offensively, we're based out of the wing.

We're going get a three back set most of the time.

We'll get some two back sets every once in a while, we'll get some one back fit.

Sometimes we feel like we've got a good quarterback that we can throw at some and and run it.

Defensively, we're based out of three, five, three and we're very aggressive on that side of the ball.

And the strength of our defense is obviously our three linebackers and hopefully you'll be able to see that ball.

As you all know, it all happens down on the field.

And Gerald Olvera, he's down on the sideline and he'll give us the atmosphere of what's really happening down on the field today.

Well, Tommy, thanks a lot.

It's electric down here.

And like you said earlier, the big question is, can Grady's defense shut down?

Cody Worley, Chris Durham and the rest of the Yellowjackets offense?

Grady has been holding their opponents to less than seven points a game, but Calhoun has been scoring over 40 points a game.

And Grady didn't give up 44 points combined until the seventh game of the season.

So that's the key matchup here.

And when you put all of that together with two teams that have never played in a dome before, what do you have more time you hear about to find out soon because kick off is only minutes away.

All right.

We are back at the Georgia Dome.

Are you excited yet, Mark?

This should be a good one.

And when?

Key to the game?

Immediately.

Keep an eye on that Calhoun offensive line.

They've been dominant this season.

They match quickness and technique and they're able to get their bigger players downfield for blocks.

That Calhoun outlet to find may be one of the keys.

Well, I really think that the wide receiver from Calhoun, the height advantage, could be one of those things that we really need to look at if they go to him early.

The big wide receiver, Grady, a running football team, as you can see, almost 2 to 3 versus the pass.

They ran for 1913 yards, 30 touchdowns, threw it for 1050 913.

They defeated Brock Mart 3216, Laney 13 to 6, Macon County 20, nothing.

That's how they got to the Dome.

One thing is about Grady, also Tommy's is that they will spread the football to four different receivers.

Calhoun got here by rushing the ball for a ton of yardage.

The 3402 yards, 51 rushing touchdowns, almost 1500 and passing yardage and 16 through the air.

16 six defensive touchdowns to mark, which tells you their defense plays tough and hits is how they got there.

They defeated Walker 41 to 7.

They beat Morgan County 3823 and a very good Fitzgerald team last week, 48 to 20 Calhoun Yellow Jackets and the Grady Gray Knights.

And we're set for the kickoff.

Brady in Red Calhoun with the simulated Georgia Tech uniform almost.

Mark, as you can see.

It's a nice look, a very nice look and a great crowd across the way from Brady.

Tony, it's leather.

We're underway.

Chris Durham through the middle to the 15 yard time.

First down yellow jackets from there.

Marc and Cody Worley is the quarterback for the yellow jackets.

And it's really going to be interesting to see how Brady responds on defense just under underway and here's the Calhoun offense.

Fowler and Ecker are at the tackles Ruff and Hogan, the guards and Adena is the center.

The running backs are Barno, Carter, Strickland, Durham and Welch is here, tied in.

Slot right for formation warming fans to the tailback Urbana up across the.

20 to the 20 well not close to the 20 yard line on the other side of the ball Grady with a four man front Thurman Bryant Phillips spots and Smith the linebackers are Carmichael, Farley and Sykes and in the secondary it's Robinson Coleman Williams and Short House Raleigh has a huddle.

Back to back the 13 now at the 20 looks at a four man front.

Looking to throw now going to run up near the 25 very close to a first down looks like fourth and short yardage here.

Mark tried to reach out at the last second of that tackle to get the ball past the 25 yard line.

Cedric Sykes and Carson Phillips spot on the stop.

No danger of going for it here.

Fourth and very short yardage, rolling to the sideline, talking to his coach.

Now back to kick Jimmy Little.

Standing back at his 11 yard line good snap line recovered at the 18 Brady blocks.

It talked about the.

Possible advantage that Calhoun might have coming into this game, averaging 38 yards per punt.

And what does he do?

BLOCK The.

First kick.

So much for the advantage on the kicking game.

Here's another look at it.

Daryl Farley, excellent technique coming right in front of the kickers.

Lake Grady on offense now.

Down at the 18.

Good Calhoun defense very little gain on the playing Dexter Barnett on the stop Grady across that front lines got journey Bryant Smith Sprague in and good in the backfield Crawford Cohen Thomas watch.

And that was the tight end to give it to the second man through the tailback Siemian Kelly.

Kelley down near the ten yard line mark the game.

Was seven let's set that.

Calhoun's defense for you.

Davidson reeling and half the backers are Locklear kid Specter, Sharpe and Welch Grady down there close to the first down.

Mark.

Looks like they have enough for it.

Quarterback Simeon Kelley at the beginning of the season felt that a lot of people down at this Gray Knights team that he says no one can say anything.

We have here in the dome.

This is the red zone and this is where Grady makes a statement.

There's a lot of emotion and the first four or 5 minutes.

On the other hand, as far as Calhoun is concerned, if you endure the first five minute flurry here, no danger.

Kelly brings him up our formation.

One wide receiver gets to the tailback.

Excellent defense.

Dexter Barnett on the carry, Cliff Locklear on a stop.

You make an excellent point about preparation, Tommy, because Grady is usually in a two hour preparation bowl before kickoff.

Knowing that you have the games sandwich tied it together today, you only have a half hour to get ready and get your offense prepared.

Grady spends a lot of time on our offensive unit.

I think both teams are spending the first few minutes of the game getting used to playing.

In the Dome.

Me and Kelly to the tailback.

Touchdown!

Dexter Barnett.

Cedric fakes through the bluff on the corner.

He's wearing number 22.

Once he got the seal.

Block, it was clear sailing to the end zone and Grady the great nice heavy early lead in the first time in the dome.

Noah Shea will attempt the point from placement.

Specter to hold a.

Good snap kick is up and good Grady seven Calhoun nothing.

Catch the block and then the speed to the outside for the touchdown.

No one laid a hand on him and Grady from Midtown and over to Fourth Ward takes the only lead.

So when you get down to it, it's blocking and tackling five plays, 18 yards, 2 minutes and 4 seconds.

You know, the great nice didn't have far to come.

They could have walked over here their home stadium is only about three miles from the Georgia Dome.

And they haven't been to the playoffs since 1953.

Can you imagine the rush, the supporters of that great school are now feeling?

Well, imagine one of the early supporters, Kirk Russell, the former assistant coach for the University of Georgia, was a coach for Brady.

Witten you call will kick it off.

Ronnie Miller looking very cool on the sideline.

Chris Durham, the highly touted wide receiver back at his five, he is a speedster, just less than four or five, but it's not going to happen.

One of the young men at the 20 is going to slide down Mason Strickland on the return, and Calhoun takes over.

At about the three.

Calhoun first down at the 22.

Yard line, a little hit pass to go out.

To the 33.

Also, a flag thrown behind that last play back at the 25 yard line will sort this one out.

Could have been holding on the left side over their mark.

The gain was eight or nine.

The officials talking it over with the Grady defensive captain and the referee is Danny Westbrooks.

We're having an eligible receiver, downfield only offense, five yard penalty.

The first half.

An eligible receiver downfield.

Here's the rest of the officiating crew today.

Jeff Elwood, Jeff Zimbardo, Mickey Sitton, Eric Patterson and Mark Brooks.

Right back to give to Urbano.

The sophomore running back the game was very little up to about the 17 yard line.

Excellent pursuit at the point of attack by Grady.

Urbano.

Comes into this game averaging 13.3 yards per carry he's the player that Grady has to account for now.

They played a big back last week, so they have some experience loading up the front four and playing their linebackers close to the line of scrimmage.

You're midway through the first quarter, you're down by seven and you don't need to make a mistake here.

Very conservative.

We're only looking to throw four during the big tall six foot five receiver complete.

But about the 28 yard line and the game was ten.

Excellent throw by the quarterback.

It's a tough match up.

He's working against Elijah Carmichael of Grady.

But you have a66 receiver who's able to just lay out, make the catch go.

Out of bounds, Isaac Coleman on the cover and pushed him out.

Of bounds over there.

Third down and five.

Calhoun back at the 28 and a half yard.

Line double wing, one of the wide receiver counters urbanized with open territory get go touchdown Calhoun answers 72 yards or Barno on a counter trap.

The last player that.

Had a shot at Aviano was Brandon Thurmond, number 76.

Excellent blocking at the point of attack, you'll see number 76, line them up and just try to whip right there.

Grading summarization by Charbonneau down the stretch.

Jimmy Little in hot pursuit and Jimmy Little rather attempting the extra point here Good snap kick is up and the kick is good and we've got a new game at seven with 548 left in the first quarter.

Make that 33 career touching touchdowns four out of Urbana came into this game with 2094 yards for his career.

Great Counter Trap which was an excellent call Grady very strong defensively three plays, 77 yards, one of those short and sweet drives at a minute and 42 seconds.

Brady was victimized just a bit by all pursuit on the last play, but give credit to Calhoun for setting it up.

Well, on a third down and medium play, call.

Well.

You know, you look for Durham, you look for the big six foot six wide receiver with a 4.4 540 speed.

You look for him across the middle but that cross everybody up with the counter drive Scott Blair to kick it off Rico Robinson Dexter Barnett our deep.

Soccer style kicker will take a lot of step right?

Kick, high drive and no run back here touchback what a kick.

A long way to go 80 yards away BRADY And an eye formation to the tailback pursuit by Calhoun Dexter Barnett.

The tailback caught for a seven yard loss.

And this is not what you want to happen when you're a ball control offense.

Thing to keep an eye on is that Calhoun's leading tacklers sound like a law firm.

The three linebackers Specter, Wells and Sharpe totaled 276 tackles for the season.

Aaron Kidd, Kurt Welch.

Matt Sharp, all.

And they're on the stop formation with these wide receivers to get us to the tailback on the.

Isolation Dexter Barnett, Nick Davidson, the defensive end steps in to make the stop.

Grady playing it very conservative deep in their own territory.

Barnett, 33, rushes on the year 288 yards for an average of almost nine yards, a carry five touchdowns.

Now, in the other hand, the four wide receivers for Grady Watch, Thomas Strauss and Rico Robinson are the players that like to spread the ball.

To third down and long.

Not your favorite call in your playbook.

Kelly dropping the throw up.

Here midfield incomplete Great coverage out there by Durham the pass was intended for and therefore Thomas.

Thomas was streaking down the sideline into double coverage at about the 45 yard line, and Kelly just reared back and tried to throw it as far as he could down that sideline.

But Cape Grady now must go into punt formation.

Thomas will kick it away from his goal line.

You're in deep to see just pass midfield.

Line drive kick gets an excellent bounce.

That's as good as you could hope for if you're Grady Martin.

Exactly.

They come into this ballgame only averaging 28 yards per punt, so they're going to need every extra bounce they can get their hands on because it becomes a game of field position.

CALHOUN Special teams will have an advantage.

Well, we've played almost 8 minutes here and we're all tied at seven.

Nothing like this atmosphere in the dome.

And you can't help but notice the Grady Partizans across the way.

They're really excited about being here.

Once upon a time, Grady was one of those football games where you only saw their parents, and a few instructors show up for it.

Now it's the thing to do in Midtown.

Eric Carter on the carry up to the 35.

The game is 2/2 down and eight.

This is game two of ten games.

Over the next two days go away mobile and motion yeah excellent.

Defensive play by Brandon Thurmond and he's no stranger to the opposing backfield.

Thurman is the leading tackler on the Grady team.

What I found also interesting, he is on the kick coverage team, very unusual for a defensive lineman, tells you what kind of speed he has.

He's wearing number 76 in red for Grady.

Watch him run down the quarterback from behind showing that speed and closing ability.

Great backside pressure that time by Grady third and long another one of those you.

Hope they have one in their playbook for this the mark in motion.

Just over the outstretched hands of Durham up at the 42.

If he makes that catch it's a first down.

They end the play.

As you mentioned, Dirk was open with enough for the first down ball just slightly overthrows.

Jimmy little will kick it away now for Calhoun fourth down and about 12.

They say Durham runs a four for 40 at six six.

He's a great target.

Rico Robinson and Dexter BURNETT deep jersey for three another good snap.

What a kid back to 27 by now Looking for somewhere to go Great kick coverage by Calhoun.

The punt hung for about a couple of days, allowing the Calhoun coverage team enough time to get downfield and make that tackle with actually a loss after the point of reception.

What great coverage by the Calhoun Kick team.

Simeon Kelly now seven, six yards away, 7 to 7.

Hey, obviously, both teams have survived that first five minute flurry.

We always worry about as football analyst, if you can survive that.

You can settle into your game.

Simeon Kelly on the quarterback draw follows fumble.

Calhoun says We have it.

Grady says we have it.

Calhoun has it.

Calhoun recovers the fumble right at the snap of the ball.

Linebacker Matt Sharp time for his cross.

Into the backfield perfectly but hopefully over in the play.

But after the pickup of the first down, quarterback Simeon Kelley just doesn't cover up gets contact, is pulled out.

Calhoun recovers.

Stricklin on the recovery for Calhoun first down ten now at the 39.

Morley brings them up more than four looking to throw wide open right down to the three Adam Urban who came out of the backfield.

He was.

Wide open.

Urbano came into this game with four catches.

It's like a secret weapon.

When you have a player with that kind of running ability able to get not just downfield but deep downfield made the catch at about the five yard line behind coverage.

The pass a little under thrown and you can see the rush of Grady caused that but Urbano brings it down just inside the two.

Balls in the air to Urbano.

Grady up there in an eight man front.

Lance Bentley up by Grady, Zach Cohen, number 24 on that stop start.

Second down and about six inches.

Looks like the nose of the ball is almost down at the stripe.

There.

You know what's coming?

The question is, can you.

Stop power pull fullback.

Touchdown Specter with the score at the 128 mark so the turnover proves costly for Grady.

And a sudden score as you mentioned, Tommy, you give up the turnover and the long pass play Grady's defense did on the field a lot last 5 minutes.

Jimmy Little will kick.

Trey LAMB.

Will hold that snap.

And the kick is perfect.

One to only eight.

Left in the first quarter.

Calhoun 14, Grady seven three play drive 41 yards.

It took 54 seconds.

This is one of those points in the ballgame.

If you're Grady, you have to regroup and make sure that you remind your players you can't afford another turnover because this game could easily get away from you against a tough team like Calhoun is a touchdown.

So Grady, which led at 1.7 nothing, has given up 14 straight points.

Well.

Grady will have to be methodical in their approach to it here.

You don't want to play too tentatively.

You want to make a good, strong march here and make a statement back to Calhoun.

You got us with a big one, but we're we're coming right back at you.

So I think Grady has to really, really make a statement here.

Scott Blair will kick it off.

Robinson and Barnett are ready for Grady.

What they're hoping for is a returnable kick.

The last one was eight yards deep in the endzone unless.

Blair misses it, I don't think that's going to happen at all today.

Grady and Calhoun both their first appearance in the dome.

Five yards deep.

Eight yards, the previous kick, five yards.

He's weakening.

And you know, if you.

Know Tommy is the third, you can hear the sound of that.

Kick all the way up here in the booth.

He just had some kickers it to separate themselves by the sound of that foot beating the football.

Well, as Allison Ranaldo used to say many years ago, Tom meets leather.

You can definitely hear toe meat leather here in the dome.

It might have been all five toes.

It could have been all five.

BRADY Now at the 28 yards away from there and down by 7/1 down ten yards to go now.

For the very nice Kelly who tailback.

Slashing off the left side.

Barnett One thing Brady has is a lot of team speed.

Tommy when teams come in to the dome and you put on those new shoes, you come out on the field turf, you feel faster if Grady can get their players adjusted again, this is a big leap from where they play on natural grass.

They want to use that speed to an advantage.

Playing on Hit the dome with this very fast field.

When you talk to the players, they say the only thing that is different about playing on field turf versus grass is you have to pick up your feet higher.

It has a catching effect and that's the only difference.

KELLY is tailback, got a hole at right tackle.

That's Barnett excellent run as he ran through the tackle of Jason Murley of Calhoun, who had contact that piece of technique at about 30 yard line.

What's the strength on this run as he pulls away from the first hit?

Aaron Kidd on the stock first down ten now for Grady at the 38 and this is what we were speaking about Mark this is the kind of drive that Grady needs to answer the Calhoun bomb, which just exploded moments ago.

Kelly so deep just.

Overthrown down at the 18, just a foot or two over the outstretched hands of the wide receiver DeMarcus Watch.

They were going for the whole ball of wax there.

What was working the far sideline against number seven Mason Strickland who had actually pretty decent coverage until it the last ten yards where there was some separation.

But what we're finding already is that Simeon Kelly is not afraid to go deep.

The only thing that surprised me was on first down generally at second and long are first and five.

If you're the benefactor.

Of a penalty.

Kelly looking to throw out of the backfield.

Incomplete forward pass incomplete pass intended for Barnett.

Very alert play by the Grady offensive unit to get on that ball and cover just in case it would be ruled a lateral behind the line of scrimmage that's the sign of a well-coached football team.

Very well coached third down and ten well, you've tried to flair out of the backfield.

You've gone for the bomb.

What do you see here?

That's a tough one.

You've got four guys.

Two guys spread to the right and left right.

Now, what?

Man in motion.

Kelly, what are you five?

Barnett, I at the fourth.

45 up here midfield.

Flank came in right at the end of that play as it looks like the mark will bring up that last play about a yard short of the first down.

Kurt Welch on the stop.

There's a flag down on the floor.

Let's see, blocking in the back, obviously our personal foul.

Let's see.

Yeah, personal foul.

On this one.

We'll wait for the referee.

To go back in the back and the offense, ten yard penalty on third down.

Now, tell me what that.

Does in effect is give Brady another shot at the third down long call that play it stood they appeared to be about a yard shy of the first down from ground level.

Watch it this time maybe to the other side.

Very effective play Calhoun and a three.

Man run for the rover Kelly goes complete Rico Robinson on the tip tip by Bruce The four of Calhoun.

The great receiver, showed the presence to keep his balance, make the deception on the deflection and go downfield for another ten yards.

Here's a tip and the catch.

And a nice run after the catch.

So Grady has done exactly what they needed to do.

They have answered, and now they're on the move again.

Another footnote, as you got to look at that play on camera, Simeon Kelly's footwork kept him so balanced, ready to throw adjusted position.

We've played one Calhoun 14 Grady seven quarter to semi and Kelly on the carrying.

Kelly likes to use the ball fake to set up his passing game, but if he doesn't find anyone deep downfield, Kelly will pull it down and run it himself.

He has very quickly.

Ronnie Nolan, of course, talking to Kelly Al LAMB, of course, at the quarter break, encouraging his team.

I'm sure this is probably as good as Coach LAMB could have hoped for.

We have a player down on the field.

Tori Good talking about Henry Grady High School emerge with Tech High and Girls High in 1947 and in 1961, Grady became one of the first high schools in Georgia to open a store to African-Americans.

So Grady has really been a part of the history of this city for a long time.

One of the offensive linemen injured on the play being assisted off the field.

Tori Good Is Grady just an isolation to Cedric Sykes, the tailback across the right side the gain 5/3 down now and about two so Grady is doing exactly what they wanted to do six on the year 234 yards.

Every game Tommy has about 3 to 5 big plays.

This is the first big play for Grady on offense.

A third.

Three nine touchdowns on the year and in motion here he is again across the left side signs.

The workhorse on this drive down to the 13.

Notice a similarity in the play to Sykes and the touchdown run the play call to Toronto both off tackle plays using the quick starts of the running backs covers up well at the point of reception and picks up with the first down.

Breaking two or three tackles as he slashes across the side.

Grady has an unusual number of skill players.

You see them in pregame warm ups here, running to complete unit.

First and ten at the 13.

So they have to get inside the three for another first down.

Kelly looks over a three man slide drop straight back to throw in and out of the.

Hands of a receiver down at about the three yard line pass was intended for Rico Robinson.

Kris Durham With all the speed in the world down there covering, let's take another look at it.

Mark, you're.

Working against a66 defensive back now, Durham, the converted wide receiver.

Excellent coverage and a nice hit in the back.

Durham, quite an athlete speed advertised under for five in the 40 and he's six five.

He's matched up against Ty Collette for Grady right now.

High formation Kelly throwing intercepted talk about Chris Durham a.

Burst of speed.

Down at about the six and Calhoun intercepts.

The semi and Kelly pass.

Kelly was trying to hit Cohen on a bit of a comeback route at the four yard line but working against the large defensive back ball was slightly under thrown.

Here's the play on the ball.

He just turns back to wide receiver.

It makes the reception.

Let's find out what's going on down on the sideline.

Gerald Oliveira Gerald.

Thanks a lot, Tommy.

Right now I have Earth, Wind Moreland with me.

You played for Grady, graduated back in 95.

But right now you play for the New England Patriots.

And first of all, let me see that Super Bowl ring that you got all so the folks out there that now that's nice.

Now that's nice.

Now you also played on the erk Russell for Georgia Southern.

What was it like playing for him?

Oh, man, it was a great experience.

He was one of those guys.

He really taught the game of football.

He was a hard nosed coach and he took everything that we went home doing him practice onto the field.

And what's it like for you to see Grady out there playing in the dome now?

Man This has been a long time coming.

When I was there, we weren't fortunate enough to make the playoff, but now it's been like 5052 years for them to finally make the playoffs and to go this far.

I'm very excited about it.

All right.

Well, there's a lot of excitement out on the field and thanks for stopping to talking with us.

Back up to you, Tommy.

Eric Carter on the carry and a first down, Calhoun up at about 216.

Warner on the toss sweet.

Good blocking out in front up to the 23 Adam Urbano once more on the carry.

That was no ring on his finger That was a recreational vehicle.

Good night.

I thought I had seen rings before.

I've never seen one outside before.

Second down and about three now.

But the 23 or the 24.

Got to go into the weight room just to be able to wear that thing around.

My hands.

Not that big.

Second and long, three more by.

The Carter.

Great Pitt.

Welcome to the dome.

Daryl Farley of Grady wrapped up made the best tackle so far we've seen this afternoon.

Let's take another look at this one.

Oh, my.

Nice to meet you.

Just a little bit of defense, wouldn't you say, Daryl Farley, 30 tackles on the year, three sacks, five and a half thrown, four losses on the year.

Well, let's the statistics.

Remind the audience you talked about it at the opening.

We have two undefeated teams here.

Yes, we do.

13 and.

I war they use a little counter to our.

Bono once more, up to the 27 yard line.

Brandon Thurman on the initial stop.

The leading tackler for Grady Thurman.

We're going to hear that name a lot this afternoon.

He wears number 76, lines up at a defensive line position, but they use him almost as a monster back.

He goes where he wants on the field.

Urbano, 2094, rushing yards on the year 32 touchdowns.

He's no stranger to the end zone this year.

He hit 1558 yards coming into this ballgame on 117 carries.

But that rushing average is what gets you.

That's what jumps out 13 yards per carry for a B.A.. And he's a sophomore measure for a first down here let's see plenty.

No.

Sure they had it.

They had two balls down there.

Yeah, they did.

But you've got the ball to the right.

I got the.

Ball to the right.

Sorry about that.

But you were right.

Just wrong ball.

There you go.

With a seven point lead.

For the short.

Fourth and very short take.

If you make it here, it's okay.

We're taking a little time to decide on the fourth.

Al LAMB has made his decision.

Brady's defensive line has to hold on to watch for any pick on the count.

Got a good snap.

Back a first down now that it's a gutsy call.

And he quick snap it.

One of two things generally happen and that situation Mark and I'm sure you've seen it many times do you either call the long snap to jump them offside or you either make the quick snap before they're ready?

Bam.

Very decisive on that fourth and short call.

Let's mark that one down and the ledger also for a key play on offense for Calhoun.

Is true first and ten yellow.

Jackets a lot of motion looking to throw.

Throwing for Durham who has plenty of company across midfield.

Fake to toss to Chris Locklear setting up the time and freezing the line to give it time to go deep downfield.

But Grady had double coverage.

They've learned that lesson one time with the big wide receiver.

They bumped him at the line of scrimmage and then afforded him double coverage right down the middle of the field, warning with a nice toss second down and ten 741 still before half.

And Calvin leading by seven more motion Carter first down yardage.

Up near the 40.

Thurman had by the shirt, but there was enough of a burst to pick up the yardage for the first down.

CALHOUN Now going to the ground game.

The thing that impresses you about both of these teams as you watch is even in slow motion, there's tremendous quickness on both sides of the ball.

And what you also notice is the complexity of these plays.

They're doing everything off of play action.

None of these plays are very basic textbook plays, if you will.

Carter With 11 touchdowns here.

They're like dropping to throw.

Him out there.

One on one, first down yardage and more down to the 47 yard line where Isaac Coleman.

Rides him down near the out of bounds marker.

Another first down for Calhoun.

They're trying to isolate Durham one on one, which is what you really want to do when you have a receiver of this talent and this size.

And what you need is excellent technique to wrap up, get to the point of attack and not allow him to get down the sideline.

Durham split wide to the left double wing formation.

Warming the counter trap, the touchdown play before there jumps.

O'DONNELL Once more first down.

Down to the 35.

That's the identical play they scored on the first time they scored with the long 76 yard run or brown on.

That run step through two tackles would be tackled by Grady picking up another first down.

Let's watch another angle of that.

Again, the fake pitch inside hand off to our bottle and does the rest with that power and strength right up the middle.

Habana 117 rushes 1558 yards, 26 touchdowns on the year.

This, my friends, is a sophomore.

Year and the tip off is the number of stars on the helmet.

You see, you're Ronald's helmet.

He's got stars under the logo of the jackets.

Now, some players get the logo and the stars near the stripe of the helmet.

He's got so many stars, he's going to be over the air flat pretty soon.

He has the Green Knight.

I wondered before today's game if they had a great night.

Obviously they.

Do.

They wouldn't be complete without the great night at Grady.

At the 36.

Calhoun wide spread.

What it gives to the up back Urbana very little there great defense that time by Grady.

It's amazing when your program turns around your band gets new uniforms, your fans show up and you even get a pass.

Got the boot.

Here's another look at it.

Urbano in the backfield second down and eight That's surprising He got the two checking off at the line.

Of scrimmage Wall-E gaping hole of the right side down to the 11 goes Eric Carter and man what a hole.

On the right side.

Isaac Coleman had to turn around and go get him.

Literally.

You prepare for the strength of a battle and then you come back with the speed of Carter.

Watch the cutback right here.

That's the move that got that run started.

And the rest was just sheer athletic ability all the way down to the greedy 11 yard line.

Strength and the water bug ability, as we call it, very mobile, first down.

And ten open, same play call.

Down to the seven Carter on the carry.

Few teams will have a running back combination Carter with a 12 yard average.

All day we've been talking about Roboto.

Great.

He's been loading up the line.

All of a sudden, they go to their second back who's just as talented?

The danger for Grady as we get to look at their defense, they've been on the field a long time in the second quarter.

Now, fatigue starts to be a challenge as well.

Well, this is what you don't want to happen if you're greedy.

You don't want to leave your defense out there long.

This is a time consuming drive Durham in motion.

They're going to try to isolate him but the handoff is to our Bono right up the middle.

Obviously they use Durham when they need him, but they also use him as a great decoy.

Here's a look at our Bono once more.

Great technique and pursuit to the ball by Grady.

Thurman again on the carry.

Had some help from Robinson but corner we've had to come on third down and to.

Our formation sweet touchdown Urbano.

Credit the block of Matt Sharp on the corner wearing number three for Carroll, who got his man sealed at the five yard line and all Urbano did was play off the block all the way for another score for Calhoun.

To sweep.

That's elementary football.

That's power football.

Little to the point from placement.

LAMB will hold.

Habana is one of those players that once he gets up ahead of steam very difficult to stop.

Very different ball.

That's at that point but.

And the kick is good Calhoun 2187 And then a 113 play 97 yards.

5 minutes and 49 seconds, topped off by Urbano, a three yard touchdown run.

And there's a look at it now.

Lovett is out of the bottle congratulating his teammates, knowing that he had some help on that last run.

Looks like he's ready to go back in the game.

He thought he really hard.

You think the yellow jacket might be happy I think 21 to 7 Calhoun for 34 still in the first half.

Here's another look at it.

Simple toss, sweep.

This is elementary football.

This is just blocking and tackling.

And there was a lot of blocking on the right side.

The blocked by Matt Sharp.

He held that block a long time.

You see it right to left you screen all the way into the end zone he held that block two yards deep.

Try look up Blair getting set let's go to kick it off deep to receive it.

Robinson and Barnett on his first kick.

Blair was eight yards deep in the end zone.

Ten, five yards now, top meets leather.

Let's see where he puts it this time.

Officials ready, were ready to drive and kick.

Which is returnable.

At the one Dexter Barnett with the ball on the right side Barnett got a block and another and breaks it out for and returns it to the 41 yard line of Calhoun.

That return gives you chills because Barnett should have the stuff in the 40 yard line showed the power and the speed, the turn down the sideline.

58 yard return lap, the look of the wall.

Watch the wall set up here.

Great.

He finally gets a kick that they can return.

And then Barnett shows the speed and gets.

Contact right here, breaks the tackle down a bit.

Picks up another ten and another four after the second tipped tackle.

You talking about answering a drive?

Great.

He just answered a drive.

It's first and ten for the gray.

Nice down at the 41 and in motion not much there across the left side.

Calhoun Defense defensive rises up Elijah Carmichael the full back on the carry.

Let's see who was on the bottom of a pile here, Tommy.

With 4 minutes remaining in the first half, Grady would like nothing better than to get a score back up to answer that last touchdown by Calhoun, 2140 would look a lot more respectable there.

21 seven.

It would feel a lot more respectable to anything here.

Even a field goal.

The time of possession tells the story tonight, trying to throw somebody out there wide open.

He got a touchdown DeMarcus watch 41 yard touchdown Toss you talking about answering the phone?

Hello.

What's actually had to slow up for that pass by Kelly who's showing more arm strength than he demonstrated last week?

The ball fake Kelly just keeps it downfield all the.

Way to the goal line.

Excellent reception right.

At the goal that great concentration.

Jay to attempt the point after.

The kick is good.

I don't know about you, but we're having fun this afternoon at the Georgia Dome.

I'm telling you, they talked about the first game.

This was just.

As much fun.

Calhoun 21.

Brady 14.

Two plays, 41 yards.

Those are the kind of scoring drives that you like 55 seconds.

This is like a heavyweight fight.

Tommy won by two, gets it a blow.

The other one comes right back with a counterpunch.

Let's take another look at it.

That's great.

March on the ball.

Great concentration by the receiver.

You see the foot flat planted in the end zone.

Touchdown!

Look at it again.

Worth another look.

Look at this.

He must play a little bit of basketball because he turns his jump perfectly over the two defensive backs.

Let's come back and make the reception the right concentration.

They preach it all week long and practice.

Concentrate.

Concentrate.

Look the ball and you go, well, kick it off deep to receive Durham, the speedster, the wide receiver.

Still 329 to play in the first half.

We've got a football game 21 to 40.

Our short kick taken one of the up.

Men down at the 18 ball loose back to the 11.

Mason Strickland on the return first and ten Calhoun to give his Urbana once more.

We talked about the Cinderella story at the beginning of the contest.

Tommy Calhoun was not expected to be here with a very young team.

And Grady, which has been mediocre too bad for so long, all of a sudden finds himself in the state playoffs.

So you have to energize fan bases that are just happy to be at the Georgia Dome.

Second down and five again.

Here's to Carter.

Once more breaking tackles up across.

The 25 to the 33 yard line.

A saving tackle, because once Carter steps out of the tackle at the 30 yard line, he's just about to get up the full speed.

Another look here.

Tremendous hole opened up by the offensive line of Calhoun, which we alluded to at the beginning of the broadcast.

And Carter does an excellent job of playing off those blocks.

And also does an excellent job of switching the ball.

From one hand to the other.

Now for Butler gets a shot.

And comes up to the 30 before Brandon Thurmond makes the stop.

Unofficially, I'd say Brandon Thurmond has at least six tackles this afternoon.

We don't have the stats at halftime yet.

He's one of the leaders in the recruiting defense.

The Grady defense has been on there.

They've been on the field.

CALHOUN 186 yards rushing.

GRADY 55 yards rushing.

Second down, six or final, once more.

For cross the 40 to the 43 timeout down on the field, 150 left in the half.

Calhoun 21, Grady, 14.

It certainly has lived up to everything we expected it to be.

Sometimes when you have a young team coming into a contest like this for the first time, you almost expected Grady to fall a little bit flat after that second score.

We asked Coach LAMB what was special about his Calhoun Yellowjackets this year.

Well, I tell you, this team has come a long way.

You know, going into the season, we lost a good bit of seniors off last year's team and really didn't expect to have this great year.

And, you know, we've had 13 wins in a row and the senior leadership is incredible on this football team.

We have 15 seniors and they're very loyal.

And I do what our coach to do.

And and the Lord has blessed us with some high character kids.

And we're very fortunate.

Coach Hal LAMB, a great coach.

He's been there for a while and knows the program inside and out and has built a tremendous program at Calhoun.

Sir, excuse me, third and short.

Yeah, here's to Carter.

Close enough, probably, to measure that man, that Grady jump up in there, Thurman, again, Brandon Thurman had some help from the linebacker Daryl Farley from here.

Tommy looks like he's going to be out about an inch shy of the first down.

Let's watch it again.

Great surge by the great defensive line.

And there's Big Thurman.

He is quick as a cat 48 tackles on the year ten sacks and ten and a half thrown for loss.

Interesting.

No measurement.

No measurement.

First down ten.

Whirling double wing formation motion Durham the speedster in a foot race midfield four out of bounds at about the 34.

Chased down over there by Xavier Short pass and also Anthony Johnson that brought the yellow jacket faithful to their feet.

Durham listed at four for five in the 40 had Anthony Johnson to beat Johnson took an excellent angle to make the tackle at about the 34.

Another look long strider.

And again Calhoun Carter.

Down here the 30 and there's Brandon Thurman once more.

He is a busy man.

Grady may not be very big in the defensive backfield, but they have some hitters back there.

Into the last play, Xavier Shithouse made excellent hit.

He wears number 21.

You can see right in the middle of your screen.

He can obviously run as well.

Body and motion rolling.

Rolling before being chased.

Throws for Durham way short.

Good pressure by the Grady defense that time.

Great pressure from Jabari Fletcher.

Double coverage downfield for Grady number 21 short Harris once again assisted by Isaac Coleman from the corner position.

Third down and about six but got to get the nose of the ball inside the 24 time is a factor.

With 41 seconds left.

Now here's a new formation.

Obama on the draw.

To the 30.

Calhoun, of course, will call timeout here with 36 seconds left.

Excellent tackle by Tony Bryant number 55 of Grady right at the point of attack on or bottle an ankle tackle before he was able to get the first down.

We ask coach Ronnie Millen about his special teams this year.

This team, I tell you this, these guys have dedicated themselves.

You know, it's kind of ironic that last year we lost to Calhoun in a playoff and these kids dedicated themselves a week after that loss.

And decided that, you know, hey, we're going to get in the weight room and we're going to get to work.

And the other great thing is this team doesn't have any one particular star.

It's been a total team effort on both sides of the football.

And week in and week out, it might be a different guy to get the job done.

Coach Ronnie Nolan.

He's out of Clark Atlanta University coach held out of West Georgia.

So you have two competitors.

Very close.

In their division, two football rankings.

Yes, they are fourth down and eight.

Calhoun with the ball in the league waters.

And again.

Obama now brings it to a stop and now he's going to check off at the line of scrimmage and now call timeout, obviously trying to get them to jump offsides.

That's all I could think.

Great call you saw of try to use the head bob there but Grady wasn't buying it so on fourth and, about six or seven, Calhoun comes back to the sideline.

But what a tremendous first half we've had so far.

Tommy The ebb and flow, the high powered offense being displayed by Calhoun and Grady showing a resilience to come back and score on the big play themselves.

Well, the thing that you think about here is you see Blair's leg, how strong it is on the kickoffs.

Do you attempt a field goal from here?

You've got 36 seconds.

It's that, hey, you're at the 33.

Do you let Blair try one from here?

He has 42 of 44 points after touchdown.

His range looks like it may top out around the 40 to 42 yard range.

Little is going to be the kicker.

Little will attempt the point will attempt the field goal ball at the 38.

Lamb will hold it snap a little short look like it might have.

Been tipped.

Also at the line of scrimmage there was a second sound once that ball was hit by the kicker may have been a hand on it, but as it stands, the kick is short and Grady will have an opportunity with 30 seconds remaining in the first half to go back on offense.

This is what Grady needed to happen at the end of the half here.

Now, do you take any or do you go for another bomb here?

You're playing in the dome the first time you've had a team that's been down for so long, Grady's not going to go shot.

That won't take a hit here.

I'm going to take a deep I formation.

Coach Simeon Kelly.

Like I was saying, great.

He's going to take a knee.

Takes a knee and they'll let the clock run out here unless Calhoun calls timeout now and the yellow jacket faithful, including their cheerleaders, are definitely happy at halftime.

Calhoun 21, Brady 14.

Mark, let's go down to Gerald Oliver erring on the sidelines.

Thanks a lot, Tommy.

I'm here with Coach LAMB and before the game, you talked about your players being awestruck, but it looks like they got off to a good start in the first half.

Well, actually, you we had that pump block, which is the last first pump we've had brought in all year long.

And, you know, we came back and maintained our focus and we're going into halftime with a seven point lead.

So what do you look for going into the second half?

Well, we've got to maintain some drives.

They're doing a good job on defense and we've got to make plays when they're an area.

We had a couple of situations.

Where were they?

Are we just got to make plays.

All right.

Well, good luck in the second half, Coach, back up to you, Tommy.

We are at halftime where the Calhoun's Yellow Jackets lead to Brady Gray nine five, score 21 to 14.

We're at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, where the great nights of sound are performing to a large crowd here at halftime.

The nights of sound are under the direction of Dion Ryans, an assistant, Ryan Eastwood, drum majors Brad Cox and Sam Odom.

Let's listen to.

The.

Let's go down to the sidelines.

Here's Gerald Oliveira.

Thanks a lot, Tommy.

I'm here with Dion Ryans, the band director for the Knights of Sound.

And there's been a lot of talk about the support that the football team has garnered being the first team to complete a dome.

But I know that's translated into a lot of support for Kevin as well.

Just talk about what the community support has been like for the band.

I know, I know this.

I know there's been a lot of support.

A lot of people have come to come and support the team as well as the school.

I have a group of band parents, a band blues organization, and they've been outstanding.

They've supported the band all year.

They've gone the extra mile and they've done everything that I've asked them to do.

And in the things that I haven't even asked, they've been there to support the band.

And let's talk about what your future plans are for the band going forward.

I'm my plan is to continue to teach music, teach them music.

Next week we're involved in a middle school off and on.

This is a great high school to be here.

Two weeks later, some of our students will be going to our state.

So my focus is actually to teach music, music education.

I'm doing things I'm trying to make them to make the band larger and great.

So I'm going to be spending the next couple of months recruiting.

I know was the holiday season, was there any special preparations coming into today?

There were additional preparations because, as you know, we were out of school as of Tuesday, so I had to bring my students in Wednesday and early this morning to try to get a little extra rehearsal.

And so we've been we've been doing a few extra things in order to prepare for this and just you, what's the feeling like for you to come here and watch a band playing at home?

It's a great experience.

It's great.

I would.

Thanks a lot, Dion Ryans, and we appreciate you.

Back up to Utah.

Okay?

Okay.

We are at halftime, Calhoun 21, Grady, 14, but Calhoun High School marching Yellowjackets on the field under the direction of Michael Clark and Larry Brown.

Drum major is Nikki.

185 members strong enjoy the marching yellow jackets.

And let's go down on the.

Field to Gerald the and see what's going on on the sideline Gerald.

Thanks a lot, Tommy.

Right now I'm here with Michael Clark, band director of the Marching Yellow Jackets.

Man was worried about.

His hair before we came on camera.

Let me tell you, those good.

He's looking good.

But let me tell you, man is looking good today.

What was it like coming down here to playing and going with the preparation?

I was really good.

We were just so excited to be able to come down here and do this, get to play in the big dome.

You know, it's going to be great.

We worked last week because we knew it's going to be a vacation need, you know, just in case we want to have Friday night game.

We practiced real hard last week so that we can take a little time off this week, but then we practice Monday and Tuesday to get ready.

So the kids are really excited.

They're just real pumped.

Now know coming to play in the dome was very big event.

There's a lot of support.

Well, just talk about what the community support, all the peer support was like coming down here to play.

We're lucky in Calhoun and I know another a lot of the communities have that.

But to have the support we have in Calhoun, we have a tremendous booster organization both for the band athletics, just the entire town is just extremely supportive of the school and we can be really lucky to have that.

And everybody was excited, you know, get ready for the dome.

And it's just been a great, great thing.

I know you received some superior ratings before.

Just talk about some of the the ratings that you've received in the past.

Well, we've been lucky.

The kids have done a real good job.

And this past year, we to the Rambler Marching Festival over in Raymond, Alabama and receive straight spirit ratings.

We're just really excited about that.

Kids done a great job.

How about going forward with the program?

Do you have any future plans?

So what do you plan for the program?

Well, we're going to keep going in, hopefully in the same direction.

And we're planning a trip, a big trip for next year.

And we've been invited to play for the Falcons, not the Falcons, the Hawks this year.

So we might see how that works out.

Okay.

Well, thanks a lot, Michael Clarke.

And we're going to send it back up to Tommy.

Good luck in the second it's football team.

Thank you.

Go, Jackie.

Let's go to the highlights.

It was knockout blow after knockout blow in the first half, 21 to 14.

Here's the block punt which set up the first Brady touchdown.

Thurman falls on it.

You get the toss sweep as we go to the house and Brady gets the early lead as Dexter Barnett scores.

First time that.

Kelly had a fun putback ball sees.

Urbano answer for the yellow jackets with this dazzling run.

And you can just see him burn it as he breaks into the secondary on.

A counter trap right up the middle.

What a great run one.

He brought him up for a short run and Urbano scored once more and then on a toss sweep just fundamental football blocking, tackling Urbano once more Urbano great running back and he has had a great first half Grady answered.

Tremendous throw from Simeon Kelly to the Marcus watch who went up and got it.

We're at the half 21 to 14.

Take a look at these stats, if you will.

That was the confidence touchdown that Grady needed in the second quarter.

But the dramatic difference in time of possession is what Grady had to contend with on defense.

60 Minutes, they were on field.

Chris Urbano, 16 rushes, 118 yards, two touchdowns, great half of football, 21 to 14.

We are at the half at the Dome.

Calhoun leading Grady into the second half follows Calhoun 21, Grady 14.

Let's go down to the sidelines.

Gerald Oliveira has coach Ronnie Malone of the Grady Gray Knights.

That's right.

Tommy here with Coach Millan.

Just talk about that last play when you got the touchdown to watch.

Just talk about what that did for your team.

Well, that gave us a good spark.

You know, we were down to touchdown and that touchdown put us within seven points.

So, you know, we know Calhoun is explosive teams and we don't want to get too far behind.

You know, one of the big problems was time of possession Calhoun had the ball for 16 minutes.

Did you talk about that at all or address that point?

Throw ball of it?

You know, we had two turnovers that kind of help that so we just had to cut down on the turnovers and then keep the ball and we hit get it and keep them off the field.

All right.

Well, good luck in the second half, Coach, back up to you.

Tommy.

Mark, as we take a look at this ball game, we felt like it was going to be one of those heavyweight fights.

Knockout blow after knockout blow could a team that had not been offensively dominant in Grady answer a Calhoun score?

And the answer to that was a resounding yes with a tremendous throw by Simeon Kelly, which got Grady back in the ballgame at 21 to 14.

What what a great effort on their part.

Tremendous effort.

And you can compare and contrast the two teams.

Tommy Calhoun comes in with a lot of power and strength, but Grady has a lot of speed.

They've got skilled players from the wide receiver position, especially that can take advantage of this field turf.

So we may see that same back and forth swing in the second half really is going to be dependent upon which team can win that early battle of field position and not turn the ball over.

Well, I think that's been the key in the game because Grady got their seven, their last seven off the turnover and of course, Grady got their first seven off of the blocked punt.

So special teams have been good for Grady.

And of course, the big play, the big gash is what you want to stay away from.

If you're Grady, if you're Calhoun, you want to make this now a time consuming game.

You want to keep the ball away.

And they've done that in the first half because Grady has proved that they are definitely dangerous any time they have the ball anywhere on.

The field, if there's any difference in the first half, Jimmy Kelly's been a lot more aggressive in his passing attack.

Calhoun, on the other hand, with Worley and having a tremendous running game, they've gone to the pass when they need it to.

Blair will kick it off as we start the second half.

Grady will go on offense deep to receive Rico Robinson, Dexter Barnett and we did have a return with Grady, set up a tremendous wall on the last return and it's obvious their special teams are special needs.

BLAIR Back at the 30 board, a leg on this young man and he doesn't kick the extra.

Points or the field goal.

He is just a kickoff guy and now an onside.

Kick, which is a surprise.

And it's going to be recovered at the 35 yard line.

Talk about the leg and then you get an onside kick drilled.

It right at one of the up mean for Grady on the return team ricocheted off him all the way back to the 35 yard line.

Daryl Farley on the ball Grady takes over at the 35 semi and Kelly I felt had a great first half.

He made things happen when he needed but needed to make them happen.

And of course, his tailback Barnett had a great first half as well.

Kelly has a quick release, kind of a slingshot type of delivery once he gets it back.

Doesn't take a lot of time to move five wide.

Swann to the left, Kelly to the tailback.

Just straight ahead, power.

Football to Dexter Barnett.

Barnett with a tremendous run on first down, stepping out of the tackle of number 14.

Aaron Kidd at the minute puts his head down.

Nothing fancy, but Grady on their first offensive play picks up a first down and.

Great blocking at the point of attack if you will watch here the whole opens right there and when you get past the linebackers, you've got trouble.

Barnett Great acceleration as he came through past the line of scrimmage.

Number 22 was Cedric Sikes throwing a key block on the inside of the line of scrimmage.

As we will have a measurement.

I think a little shy just inches second and very short upcoming.

I've got to get the ball just past the 46.

They're almost at that point, we're about six inches shy of the first down.

I noticed right away, Mark.

And you probably did too that Calhoun's adjustment defensively at the half as they're rolling up that linebacker in a hurry now and that three man front linebacker 20 tackles.

Yeah formation quarterback.

Sneak Kelly has the first down up near midfield up near the 48 yard line Welch and Locklear on the stop for the yellowjackets.

The leading tacklers at linebacker for Calhoun's had 76 Matt Sharp 94 and Kurt Wells had 106 tackles for the season.

Rest assured, Simeon Kelley may be just a quarterback, but he is exceptionally strong.

Did you see the third.

Wide receivers right they're going to run the option Kelly near midfield gain of a couple.

Calhoun that one perfectly lock Lior sharp Ken Welch the entire Yellowjacket defense on the carry let's see second down gain of about two so it's second down and eight.

Running the option play as Kelly did on that last play.

You have to be very decisive in your reads and your decision making at the line of scrimmage.

Kelly picked up two yards a short game.

And it also gives the Calhoun defense something else to think about because Kelly had not option the entire game.

Now dropping straight to throw receivers out there intercepted by Durham at the 26 Durham it all the way back.

To the 46 Chris Durham the big wide receiver the defensive back picked it off and returns it back near midfield up to the 4546 yard line.

Kelly trying go on a deep fade route at the sideline about the 25 yard line and throws it to double coverage Here's the pass and there's the pick.

Durham Here's another look at it.

Not a lot of pressure.

Just try to force it in there.

And Durham at that six foot five, six foot six, he was high in the air to get it.

The give is to Carter across the left side, up to the 47 yard line gain of maybe one or two.

Outstanding play by Bryant playing off the block of Connor Stewart of Calhoun.

Coaches always preach technique tremendous fighting off the block and getting in on the tackle.

Warley has him back of the 40, brings them up the yellow jacket offensive line.

Really doing a great job now from the power tight end to the right side of the field and give it to our Barno, who breaks a tackle.

The team gets the Grady Territory down at about the 48 yard line.

Brandon Thurman and Joshua Williamson.

The stop for the Great Knights leaves us with about a third and two.

They do love this kid.

They love to get the ball in Obama's hands at Calhoun.

What a workhorse, over 120 yards, probably up to this point, 17 carries 73 yards, two touchdowns against Fitzgerald last week.

And now the power side, the tight end moves to the left side still without winning formation.

Come on down.

They've got to get on the end around to.

Stricklin and Stricklin has first down yardage and much more, but is upended by Isaac Coleman down at the 30.

Now this is picture perfect tackling watch the end of this play.

Coleman gets a rise out of the crowd, but unfortunately, Calhoun's offense, which comes into this ballgame with 3400 rushing yards, is showing exactly why that last play to the sideline.

You never know who's going to get the ball with Calhoun two running backs, the wide receivers on the end around.

They run the counters, but for him, tackling Adam Green was perfect.

Gonna have to give this to.

Carter once more.

He squirms his way down to the 20, very close to a first down Daryl Farley on the stop.

It's like a pitcher having a great fastball, being able to follow it with the changeup you set up with the power of a bottle, and then you come back with the speed of number 28.

This is inside running.

This is difficult running.

This is not around the hands.

This is inside running.

And you're getting great trap blocking on the inside with the Calhoun offensive line.

Second down and about a yard.

Motion again.

The little counter trap did not work to Stricklin.

It's the very same play they on to the other side with Urbano the loss of about four on the play great defense by Grady.

Here third and five.

Mark this one in the gritty defensive playbook early second.

Third and five the defense needs to stop right here watch Swan for the right wall.

He's going to throw freshman Urbano rebound Urbano touchdown.

Rico Robinson head for final at the ten yard line and Urbano give it the leg and take it away.

This kid is special sophomore watch the missed tackle here there's the pass complete.

You get and went to.

Shoulder shoulder level set to attempt the point after lamb will hold that kick is up the kick is good.

Calhoun 28 Brady 14 707.

Left in the third quarter.

This kid, Urbano.

Brother, he's a receiver here.

He beats here.

Now, six plays, 54 yards, 3 minutes and 9 seconds.

Urbano on a 24 yard touchdown reception.

He's had a career today.

Came in with some gaudy numbers and demonstrating to the Georgia Dome audience exactly why really do you see a player that combines power and the speed to play for Grady?

And they just peeled off of him at the ten yard line and our battle scores once again.

Now, the challenge for Grady is back to 12 turnovers.

The interception sets up the Calhoun touchdown.

Calhoun But this one is in Worley, set motion to the left and then roll to the right hand.

Great protection.

Blair will kick it off.

Now deep to receive Xavier Short House and Rico Robinson.

For Grady it's 28 to 14.

BLAIR The soccer kicker.

With the drive high and very deep.

Short house signals for a fair catch midway through the end zone.

Third time he's done that first kickoff.

It's about eight yards deep, and it's turned out to be one of the great weapons that Calhoun has to slow down the greedy return team.

Well, I've always heard that offense puts him in the house, but kicking and defense wins championships.

And it looks like both teams have the entire package here today.

Now, Grady needs to answer here if this is a heavyweight fight, they've got to get up.

You're not pressed yet.

You have plenty of time.

No reason to start panicking on offense.

Go to do what you do best.

That is trying to pick up first downs first.

That's right formation.

And that's exactly what they're doing.

The give is to Barnett.

Barnett out of the formation.

Just your basic pro set slot, left eye formation, run the isolation and this is a special running back.

He can get you down the field.

A lot of settling of players in and out in this third quarter for Grady on offense, as I mentioned at the top of the game, they have a lot of skill players that they can turn to.

Siemian, Kelly, the quarterback, Barnett the tailback, two wide receivers with a short.

Slot for the right routes to change the formation now got to run the trap and that did not work fumble but I.

Believe he was down and the ball popped out of there.

First disruption on that play was Kurt Welsh running right up to the line of scrimmage and getting early penetration as we have a player down for Grady.

And Locklear over there to help out looks like Barnett may be the running back yeah they separated the ball but his knee was already down obviously according to the officials.

Fans at the Georgia Dome get the benefit of the slow motion replay.

So it was a bit of a rise out of the crowd right below us from Calhoun, Georgia.

That is one thing the officials don't have.

The advantage is the slow motion replay.

So you call it the way you see it.

It is third down and eight.

When you consider the weather outside and the fact that these teams have worked so hard to get to this position in the state semifinals, it's a wonderful thing to see, the joy on all the kids faces and their supporters faces, just being able to make the visit and the trip to the Georgia Dome.

This is a special thing this is not only a special thing for the players and the cheerleaders, the parents, the schools, but across the state, Georgia high schools everywhere their interested in this.

This is one of those points where you want to get to the dome.

The ball pops loose.

BARNETT On that previous carry.

And we're still trying to assume that he's okay and they're just taking some precautionary measures here.

But wasn't the first hit, it seemed like was the second he came in right around his shoulders.

Right.

And he's just now talked to on the field of play, right at the 20 yard line as they're trying to get him at least back into a sitting position right.

BARNETT As I said, the outstanding tailback for the Green Knights.

And you can see the concern on the faces across the way.

What this also does, Tommy, when you have a delay for injury of this nature, it really changes the tenor of a ballgame.

You look at some of the anxious expressions on the sideline, on the Grady sideline.

But one of the biggest challenges, if you're a coach, is if you have a lengthy injury to really keep your players focused and then back into the game once players resume.

Well, you've got Sykes and Cohen and Barnett as your tailbacks.

So you're really concerned for the young Barnett, the tailback who is still down on the field.

And this is something that cuts across competitive lines because football players share bit of a fraternity.

So there's just as much concern on the Calhoun sideline as they arise on the Grady sideline for one of their mates.

Exactly.

Fortunately, he's now in a sitting position, but you can tell just by the position of his head.

On the 42.

Other games coming up later today, Lincoln County Red Devils perennial powers at ten and three against the Johnson County Trojans, 12 and one if you're not familiar with Johnson County, think Herschel Walker many years ago that's the 3:00 game and it's six tonight the Baldwin Braves ten and three against the north side Warner Robins Eagles at 13.

And then our finale tonight and two days of fun.

Another big foray, the Griffin Bears at 12 and one and the state's Boro Blue Devils and 13 and oh what a great two days football on Thanksgiving weekend it doesn't get any better than this mark.

All live on gp-b.

As you can see, dexter barnett holding his mic, going to the sideline.

Here comes Grady now third and long it's third in about eight and a half three wide receivers to the right Kelly.

You drop him the throw chase breaks out of the tackle another now.

Thick heavy traffic back at the 12 tremendous pursuit by Nick Davison by Curt Welch.

Nothing But Improvization by Kelly.

As this play breaks down, you can see him run into his own man and in the grass of number three, Sharpe trying to make something out of nothing.

But the pursuit of Calhoun is just to the present, and Grady now is backed right on the doorstep of its own in zone.

Andreas Thomas to kick it away, standing back in the shadow, the goal post.

Chris Gorham of course back in single safety gear midfield good snap and good kick fair catch taken by Durham at the 49 at the 502 mark for third quarter so Calhoun forces a three and out shot of the young running back Dexter Barnett on the sideline.

The good news for Barnett was he was able to go to the sideline under his own power.

Let's see if Gerald has any information for us down on the sideline.

Gerald Delivery.

Hey, Tommy.

Right now they're taking a look at on Dexter's neck.

They've been trying to massage it back and forth.

He looks like he's going to be okay.

Of course, he was one of the former current players and a very instrumental part of the team.

He rushed for 158 yards in that second round against Laney and so on.

Very important part of the team, but it does look like he's going to be okay.

Back to you, Tony.

Thanks.

Gerald Carter on the carry Farley on the stop.

Obviously adjustments by the Grady defense mark at the half time on the counter.

TRAPP One of the few plays we've seen, Grady Stop Calhoun for a loss on a running play.

Second down and about 13 and a half got to get just inside the 39.

Walling motion dropping straight to throw protection breaks down.

Excellent defense by Grady.

Second Big Play by Tony Bryant Number 55, who came flying in with enough closing speed to stop the pass attempt by Calhoun.

Interesting call the straight drop back with the fake rather than the rollout which we saw on the touchdown play.

Now trying to dodge bullets but not the one as Bryant great defensive effort by Grady that time third and very very long.

The Grady sideline trying to urge on their defense.

Third and the bounce how many motion again for five now going to his two Durham and Grady's ready another loss outstanding play that time by number 30 Isaac Coleman.

From his cornerback position for Grady closing at the moment the ball was being received by Calhoun.

Little will kick it away You knew they were going to look to Durham trying to isolate him one on one, and they did that.

And Grady was right there, nowhere for Durham to go.

Little back at his 20.

Five good snap oh, a little another howitzer shot.

Mark ball for the fair catch late so let's see what they do here.

There's a flag down at the 3525 yard line.

DeMarcus what's now?

There will be some discussion about this one, I'm sure.

Exactly.

You mentioned the signaling of the fair catch.

Calhoun hit excellent pursuit at the point of reception of that last punt.

Let's let the officials explain it to us.

RAM, and then balance back and say no on the receiving team.

Five yard penalty.

First down.

We suspected that it was a little late.

You have to make a clear hand signal and hold it high in the air.

And there you see it late.

Figures, three.

Oh, Mark.

Excellent.

Smash Off the Right Side by Zach Cohen.

Grady has stayed with their game plan 28 to 14 time still not a factor 245 left in the quarter excellent game excellent gain here second down now on about three up but about the 27 or 28 yard line.

Tommy when great has been close to their own red zone, they've been very conservative on offense.

As you mentioned.

Motion now by Grady and again once more to Cohen.

Very little game.

Excellent pursuit by the Calhoun defense.

Matt Sharp, one of the first ones over there.

Kurt Welch, Grady, running substitutions in every play, keeping everybody sharp.

Of course, 94 tackles on the year ten thrown four losses, five sacks.

He's had a great season.

With Barnett Thomas and what's become the focal point for the Grady up it's.

Time out on the field Grady calls a timeout Well the score Calhoun 28 Grady 14.

Here's a comment from coach Malone about what he likes about coaching coach coach.

And I tell you, you get a chance to instill some discipline.

You get a chance to touch kids lives.

You know, a lot of times, you know, it'll be maybe ten, 15 years down the road for these some of these kids can appreciate some of the things that we do as coaches.

And, you know, that's the thing that you know, you, you know, you get in and you try to work them real hard and you don't try to just be their friends.

And I always tell the kids, it may be ten, 15 years down the road and you realize some of the things that we're trying to instill in.

Coaches do make an impact.

And Coach Millen is making impact I formation.

Excellent Pursuit Once More by Matt Sharp.

We had just called his number gave you his stats and he is all over and Kelly.

Match up came into the ballgame today with five sacks chalk one up did not let Kelly go as he's trying to spin out of contact Grady now with a long fourth and 15.

Sharp with great footwork and Darrius Thomas will kick it away.

Durham back at midfield.

For Calhoun good snap.

And again a good kick Durham going to take it fair catch taken at the 45 and the yellow jackets will take over there with 111 left in the third quarter at the 45 and army exchange of possessions, Calhoun comes up with an advantage first down at the 45, both teams have stayed with their game plans.

Very little diversion from their original game plan.

Raleigh takes the right side, the strong side, and gives to Obama a gain of six on the play.

Once again, Tony Bryant, number 55 for Grady.

You said excellent second half, very active in the second quarter as well.

Second down and up, bounce gain of six.

Urbano has been a workhorse the entire game.

Second and four.

We're under a minute to go in the third quarter.

Grady needs to make something happen here defensively.

Double Durham wide to the left or Bono goes in motion first down.

Yardage up to the 43.

As Carter burst forward.

When you put these two kids together, Carter and Urbano, it's really very difficult.

It strains a defense, especially when you've got six, five and a four for four or 540 on the outside out there.

Mark, you know, that's just a lot to prepare for.

Somewhat of a thunder and lightning combination.

You have one power back with people speed, then you have another with.

Lightning quick moves.

Warner brings them up.

Durham, the wide receiver to the left to give once more to Urbano flag goes down right in.

The middle of the line of scrimmage.

Elijah Carmichael, the linebacker from Grady, made the stop very little, if any gain.

Generally when you see the flag go into that portion of the field offensive holding coach lam encouraging his charges.

Holding on the offense ten yard penalty our start.

First down and 20 maybe a little more than 20 here.

If your coach Ronnie Miller out of Grady you're hoping for a big play from your defense.

That's the end of the third.

As we head to the fourth quarter, we're reminded that the quarter cannot end on a penalty.

So here's a play that happened while we were away.

Raleigh tried to hit Durham with the bomb and was overthrown.

So we're back to begin the fourth quarter of play, second down, 2012 minutes of football remaining, mark.

Talk about a big play for your defense.

You want them to turn offensive right now.

Urbano in motion walling dropping the hits his tight end down to the 35.

And that's Curt Welch.

And it's the first time we've seen Raleigh go to the tight end today.

Welch The tight end right down the middle of the field.

So now they've given you something else to think about.

If you're the Grady Defense.

Welch also plays linebacker in that line.

But when asked if he had any preference for playing offense and defense, he said he didn't care as long as he got the hit.

Somebody Xavier a short house on the tackle down at the 35/3 down and about a yard.

Option again and the corner for.

The first down down to about the 29 yard line.

Carter that we've been describing as the speed bet showing some tough running ability inside, picking up the first down for Calhoun.

Inside the 30 watch, the blocks up front.

Well, let's set up the fourth quarter.

Grady's defense would like nothing better than to stop Calhoun right now, with 11 minutes to play in this ballgame, a score here makes it a very difficult challenge.

28 to 14 first and ten block moving to the power side now moved to the left side, going to put a man in motion, going to get to the flanker.

Brooklyn is going to be caught and thrown for a loss back at the 32 yard line loss on the play.

Excellent defense by the Grady defense.

That time.

Joshua Williams makes contact and wraps up for about a two yard loss.

Those who smile when they see those types of tackles.

Love him once this.

In the open field.

WILLIAMS With the closing ability and the proper technique, just like they read up in the book.

That's the third time I've run that very same play and it has not worked to time.

So they may go to.

Press when they think that there's the fake off back play warning throw ankles tied incomplete down.

At the 17 Kirk.

Welch on his back well and as he slipped on the field turf was going down and makes the reception.

This is a linebacker tight end folks watch the hands this linebacker.

Group right there.

Great catch another look they spread WALL-E out.

Now the bad news is there's a flag back at the 32 yard line.

Welch with the acrobatic catch.

WELCH Five receptions on the year 123 yards, averaging almost 25 yards per catch and eligible receiver downfield on the offense.

Five yard penalty, five yard penalty marked off back up to the 36.

So it's second very long now, second down and 13.

Is it just me or does that look a little bit like Greg Maddux?

I think he does resemble.

A double wing formation.

They got Durham isolated on the right side.

Now, the throwback to the left side with blocking about 25, 2015, ten touchdown urban flag at the.

22 yard line tremendous blocking rate at about the 30 yard line.

We'll sort this out.

But our final, as you mentioned, again, with that flash of speed down the sideline.

37 yard touchdown run and catch from Urbano flag down at about the 22 man this kid can accelerate when he gets in the opening fade open field He just turns it on That's coming up to be against Calhoun.

Based on a preliminary indication so that great run by our bottle will be called back.

Flipping on the plate, I think, is what's going to be called here.

Preliminary look, anyway.

They have half clipping on the offense, 15 yard penalty still second down.

945 left Calhoun 28 to 14 over Grady in the double A semifinals for the winner of this one makes it to the state championship game Durham wide to the left, Strickland wide.

To the right.

The short snap to follow follow touchdown key block thrown by Curt Wells at the point of attack allowing for a. Foul on the direct snap as you so accurately call clear sailing all the way in for the score for Calhoun.

137 yard touchdown.

Call back now, ladies and gentlemen, a 37 yard touchdown that counts back.

And we'll take another look at it, hopefully in a moment.

Right now, little will attempt the point from placement.

Calhoun now increasing their lead to 2034 to 14.

That's snap kick his up it is good Calhoun 35 Grady 14.

Two years ago we had the benefit of seeing Brendan settle in for greater than a Christian in the semifinals.

Watch this.

Urbano shores a lot of the same skill as Sutherland as he takes the short snap outside of the key block.

Throw inside all the way for the score.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is a sophomore.

Brandon Sutherland, now playing for the University of Georgia.

But look at the speed by Urbano.

No one really got a hand on him and a great block thrown way downfield by Phillip Parker of Calhoun.

Scoring drives, seven plays, 55 yards, 3 minutes and 28 seconds.

The Yellowjackets lead it by 20.

Well, Blair, to kick it off once more, 943 left in this one.

But Yellowjackets having a good time today.

Xavier short pass and Rico Robinson beat Blair.

If he hadn't.

Got there, what, 163 yards, three touchdowns, 63 yards receiving.

And one touchdown reception, four touchdowns on the day just in the end zone.

BLAIR With the long kick, the thought here is what if he played here every week?

We asked Coach LAMB what he likes about coaching.

Well, I love coach calls.

I like being around kids.

We try to make a difference in kids lives.

We know football is important and winning is important.

But the main objective here is to try to make a difference in kids lives.

And and when they come back to see us, you know, four or five years later, you know, hopefully made a difference in their career.

Kelly hands to the tailback on first down they give is to Zach Coen.

Calhoun is sensing it now you can see the animation on the defensive front line after that last tackle.

Specter on the tackle, a short loss on the play oh 920 Left in the ballgame.

Calhoun with All the momentum at this point.

When I first looked at the numbers on Adam O'Brien, oh, I thought the 13 year on average was a typo.

And getting a chance to see him firsthand, that was no typo.

Second down and 11, Grady.

Mack at the 19 yard line, Kelly brings man in motion.

We've got a whistle down on the field.

Let's see.

It's encouraging to see Barnett back in the ballgame.

Obviously, the neck injury not serious.

That ball file ball start on the offense by the bell.

If you're Grady High School at this point in the game with 8 minutes and 55 seconds remaining, what you want is to maintain your composure.

You're down by a lot.

You've come a long way.

Now you want to see if you can just execute your offense.

This is a team that came in undefeated and you don't want it to unravel here.

Excellent ball.

Good block outside and another broken tackle and there's a flag down on the play.

Durham got knocked down over there.

Dexter Barnett on the carry.

One flag throw into the area of Devonte Angelo Crawford of Grady, right at about the 20 yard line.

It was second and 16 after the illegal procedure penalty.

Let's see now the official will tell us what will happen here.

There is a possibility Calhoun know they're going to take the penalty.

Yes, they've decided 844 left in the ballgame.

Calhoun leads it by 21, Calhoun, 35, Grady, 14 and four, slipping.

On the offense at the distance to the goal.

Half the distance to the goal.

And I'm sure Coach Millen really is very disappointed in the last two or 3 minutes here for Grady.

Got a quick look at Urbana once on the sideline, if I'm not mistaken, Brenda Sutherland wore number 36 for Atlanta Christian.

Also.

I'm not sure.

Kelly dropping the throw in trouble now back up to the ten.

Dexter Barnett.

If you're on the Calhoun sideline, this is at point in time of the game where it's actually fun to play football.

If you're on the Grady sideline, all you can do is try to regroup and say, Fellas, we had a great season.

Let's see if we could play this last 8 minutes.

Out at some price.

There's Mr. R.A.

I'm on the things that I like that he did earlier, and I didn't like much about that I should have, since he does that he always hugs his offensive linemen when they come to the sideline.

Did you notice that he always calls them over and hugs them?

I love his enthusiasm.

When he scored the second touchdown, he went to the sideline, started beating tears.

But with the Cowboys.

Faithful on the sideline, here's Brady going to run the screen.

Kelly in trouble.

And the ball.

Bounces around out there almost.

Caught by an offensive lineman for Joshua Williams, the intended receiver.

Total Yards, that tells the story of the second half.

Calhoun 114, Grady minus one.

The time of possession would be the same back to kick it away.

And Dreyfus Thomas standing in the end zone.

We have an ineligible receiver downfield on the offense.

The penalty is declined both.

That Durham of course and central safety back up around the 44 or 45.

This is no fun there's no fun it's no fun punting when you're 21 points down, but it's no fun putting from your end zone when you're 21 down.

Bad things happened back in there.

Also low cutting to drill, good snap, high kick and Durham Fair catches it up.

But about the 38 yard line.

So Calhoun up at the 36 now will take over at 739 left in the ballgame and a 21 point lead.

Although these two teams are facing each other in the state semifinals, they're also rivals in the classroom.

They are rivals on the debate front, as Calhoun debate coach Lambert says, Grady is their biggest rival.

It's amazing how rivalries spill over from one portion the school to the other.

Calhoun Motion a game against Carter.

Carter breaks another tackle or.

Two and goes down to the 23 yard line.

Speaking of the debate team, Calhoun's junior varsity debate team knocked out Grady in the quarterfinals of a debate meet that was held just a week ago.

And Grady's varsity team won a close 2 to 1 decision over Calhoun in another quarterfinal round.

Jabari Fletcher on the last tackle, first down ten yards to go, 715 left in the ballgame in motion again again the Carter breaking tackles and going to be caught and drawn no gain excellent defensive surge that time by Grady.

Rico Robinson, that time with a tremendous textbook tackle.

When you read the fourth quarter of a game, when you're down 3514, this is where coaches discover which are my real football players.

So I'm sure that Coach Millen is taking notes for next year as well.

Daryl Farley also went on the stop second down in about eight mouths of the ball at about the 22 yard line, 635 left in the ballgame.

Calhoun Yellow Jackets, of course, in no hurry.

Slot to the last.

Move, the tight end to the left side, walling gives to Urbano down inside the 20 to about the 18 yard line.

Farley on the tackle once again for Grady at last man getting up once again number 76 we haven't called his name a lot in the second half, but Brandon Thurmond came in as Grady's leading tackler.

If he's not making the tackle, he's in the neighborhood.

He is in the neighborhood.

Thurmond has had a great game and a great season.

Third down and five boy, take it to the bottom.

Gets the block in the corner.

Obama first down and more down inside the fourth down to about the three yard line.

Well, they're going to market just inside the five.

Speaking of Thurmond, as we were Thurmond on the tackle.

Number two, Haygood, Specter of Calhoun lines up and running back.

He's a linebacker as well, but number two makes a crushing block, allowing Barbato to get to the sideline.

Great, blocking up front today by Calhoun.

More like changing the line now to the fullback right up the middle.

And that's your reward specter.

On the touchdown tremendous tremendous blocking up front by this Calhoun football team.

And it's now 41 to 14 with 508 left.

And the offensive line for Calhoun is not that big.

But what they do is, they use their speed and great technique to create space.

Jimmy Little will attempt yet another point from placement.

Trey LAMB will hold.

The low snap.

LAMB picks it up, puts it on the tee and.

Little drills it home for Calhoun 42, Brady 14.

Last look at the touchdown by Specter and that was a reward touchdown he threw a block on the previous play Wouldn't let you handle the ball your man and see if you can get the end zone.

Talk about wide open spaces up front.

They really did the job.

Five plays, 36 yards, 2 minutes and 31 seconds.

Very workmanlike.

Specter, five yard touchdown drive and the yellow jackets stretch it to 28 with 508 left in the ballgame.

Mark.

Before the game, you talked about players going both ways and we go back to Specter, Matt Sharp and Curt Wells, three players that line up at linebacker, but they all have input on the offensive unit.

Blair will kick it off once again.

Short Haas and Robinson Deep to receive four grading 42 to 14.

Blair very methodical, very methodical.

There is your time of possession that tells the story of 42 to 14, 27 minutes plus to 16 and into the end zone once again.

There you go.

Automatic touchback.

I hope someone at the midtown or old fourth Ward neighborhood decides to throw a party for this gritty Gray Knights team that a few years ago was, well, let's just be honest, they were bad.

And to make it to the state semifinals today, after three years of gradual growth under their head coach, Rodney Miller, they have nothing, absolutely nothing to be ashamed of at Grady.

And I wouldn't be surprised that this exposure will help their program jump to the next level in the future.

Well, they went seven and four, then they went eight and four, and now it's going to be 13 and one.

Certainly a lot to be proud of over the last three years at training I formation and new quarterback at the ball game and a new tailback and fresh legs down on the carpet down there and the ball pop loose.

And I think Calhoun has recovered.

You get new ball players into the game and sometimes that's the downside.

After a first down game, Brady puts it on the carpet and Calhoun recovers.

Joshua on the carry.

Let's take another look here.

There's the gifted Williams excellent speed to the corner ball on the ground backside tackled by Kurt Welch yanked it away.

We keep mentioning those same names for some strange reason.

Kurt Welch, Sharp and Spector.

That time it was Welch punching the ball out from the ball carrier.

There it is on the ground.

LAMB And that quarterback and going to give it to Carter, who turns the corner and goes out of bounds at about the 22 yard line, stopping the clock with 4 minutes and 50 seconds left.

Yet another first down for the yellowjackets.

Just a replay.

Those of you just joining us at halftime, this game was 2114.

Now Grady finds itself certainly on the short end of a 40 to 14 score.

So Calhoun has really asserted itself in the second half.

The turnovers and the time of possession tell the tale.

Four turnovers for Grady, one for Calhoun, 28 minutes of possession now for down the order, down to the 19.

The give is to Carter and the gain is a couple.

Calhoun pulling a.

Lot of its starters out and to the sideline to the applause of it's crowd that traveled down here from, northern Georgia.

A lot of new numbers in there.

Dustin Faber, Trey LAMB will be the quarterback wide receiver to the lamb.

LAMB caught in no man's land back there when he didn't get the handoff exchange at the 25.

Was pretty tricky for a second unit.

Your first play call you calling a double ball fake.

Jabari Fletcher on the stop and scary territory back there would you miss the exchange, mark?

I'm telling you, the first thing he'll say when he goes back to the huddle was, where were you?

Third down now at about 14 yards to go.

LAMB on the counter.

To the 21, Deon Kennedy on the carry.

Grady's athletic director, Douglas Slade, mentioned the fact that he had been around the school for 27 years and he had never seen the type of enthusiasm around the community and mentioned also the team.

Grady High School is really built from the entire community together.

A great effort by this.

Grady Night, great night football team and a great effort by Calhoun.

This has been a great high school football game 42 to 14.

Calhoun But the turnovers and the time of possession tell the tale.

Where do you go for.

The touchdown.

Flag?

Way back at the 18 yard line.

However, we'll sort that one out after the apparent score by Calhoun.

And due to the judging by the initial indication, it will be a hold against Calhoun.

But their second and their third unit ball players showing as much drive and determination as at first string.

That is true.

Listen, they're playing with all the enthusiast as it moves, as if the game has just started.

So you can't ask a player not to play hard in this situation.

Think of it this way.

Playing in the Georgia is one of those experiences that you will remember a lifetime.

Most of these players will not go to the next level holding on their offense in your building down, fourth down.

Just to complete that thought, if you get a chance to play in the Georgia Dome, you're going to go for it.

That's true.

It's a special day for them, even in spite of the loss on the grady side of the field, as you can see the dejection over there.

But it's understandable, Mark.

Just to tell your.

Friends and family, I plead the dome.

The same play once more doesn't work this time as Grady snuffs it out at about the 29, the game was once more to William Combs, who had the penalty touchdown on the play before Coach LAMB, what do you think?

He's excited on the sidelines.

He looks very happy over there.

So it's going to be Charlton County and Calhoun now for the class championship next week, 231 Left of the Ballgame.

Jeremy Turner, sophomore, will run the offense, replacing semi and Kelly Bears No experience like game experience rolling looking to throw.

Down a man out there almost caught up at.

The 49 yard line bounces away tended to Brandon outlaw sophomore tight end.

Outlaw actually had two shots at that pass once where it hit him in the hand second he's going down and the ball ricocheted almost to his chest.

So he had a second shot at the pass reception.

Just a little Gatorade, I'm sure.

I promise you.

Coach LAMB told him if you pour Gatorade on me, there's wind sprints ahead.

They didn't get him with the cooler.

They got to put just two cuts.

Just just a small portion.

Coach, quarterback, mark.

The signals got to get to his tailback, got some room at the corner and a flag goes down yet again.

That's Dexter Barnett who went out with an injury back last quarter.

Back in there, Barnett on the carry.

You can always tell how much respect players have for their coaches.

Now, Coach LAMB must be a taskmaster because he only got two cups of Gatorade.

That was very gentle at that.

I would bet you that he said yesterday, if we win no Gatorade bath.

So they got him two little cups on his shoulders.

What a nice shot.

Oops.

Looks like they got one of the assistant coaches instead of Coach Live.

He's a standard.

There you go.

Well, for about him, bowling.

On the offense, ten yard penalty down, second down.

The body language says it all, doesn't it?

42 to 14 to 14 to go prepared.

I mean they really took it and run.

And get back to the 33.

Oh I get to see.

Justin Grant on the stop is less than 2 minutes left in the ballgame as they play out the string here.

It has been Calhoun in the second half teams make adjustments.

Calhoun made all the right ones in the second half, third down and six wide slot to the left formation and get it on the tramp right up the middle and get the first down the of plays Robert Byrd on the quick hitter here's you here's your Double-A championship matchup Charlton beat Green earlier today 3433 Calhoun over Grady and this one looks like a classic match up Charlton County and Calhoun for the state championship.

But the 42.

I'm going to run the option got a great blocker.

And the runs it down to the 45 Jeremy Turner what a great block on a corner out there.

Another block thrown by Anthony Low of Grady so it shows that they're still trying to play hard and they're into Calhoun territory.

The younger players really need this to help continue build the Grady program.

Excellent point.

And you have to have some perspective on where Grady was just five years ago to really appreciate what they're doing this afternoon.

Exactly.

First down, ten great nights down at the Calhoun 46 yard line.

Got to fake but cannot escape harm's way.

We've got a face mask, I'm sure, at the 45, somebody reaching in there and grabbing.

Great call Tommy play.

You see all the way up here.

He's trying to spin away from pursuit.

And when you get second and third line ballplayers into the ballgame, they get a little overexcited when they get those first facemask.

Pickens and Nicholas on the start, 27 seconds left in this one.

Still three more great games coming your way today.

Five more tomorrow.

I'm having so much fun.

Let's do this again tomorrow.

Let's do it again tomorrow.

No foul facemask on the defense.

15 yard penalty steal first down.

First and five now down at the 40 time for maybe a couple more here.

Don't go anywhere.

Coming up next, perennial power, Lincoln County and Johnson County, your first Class eight match up.

Coming up next, an excellent throw down in the corner over there at the 25 line.

What a great throw to Antonio.

Low enough for a first down.

What a great throw by Jeremy Turner, the backup quarterback drilled out one in there.

Mark, as we mentioned.

Grady has a lot of skill players and even their second unit, they can go 4 to 6 deep at wide receiver.

Now with 13 seconds here's a shot to go one more time into the end zone.

TURNER Looking forward.

Whoa.

Almost intercepted, incomplete over there.

Now the flag down at the 25 yard.

Obviously, someone lined up offsides.

Generally, you don't get that unless the official sees somebody line up offside.

So we'll wait and see on this one.

We're down to 3 seconds.

The Grady supporters on the far sideline are already giving their team a standing ovation and.

Well, they should.

This has been a great year.

Great seen this.

A great team.

13 and one.

Take that one to the bank any day of the week.

Great season.

No announcement from the official or is it forthcoming?

Yeah.

Here he comes.

We have a substitution violation.

On the defense.

Five yard penalty.

Dell first down.

First down and five down at the one 3 seconds left in this 142 to 14 Calhoun over Grady play yellow jackets over the great nice.

Possibly endzone Grady score touchdown.

He got Lovett to tie everybody on the spot Grady runs outside.

And makes the touchdown Reception to Antonio Low.

Jeremy Turner on the toss So with time expiring great he scores and it's 42 to 20 as time expires.

So kick the extra point out I guess that.

Obviously the game is over.

The crowd's already on the field.

What a great effort by both football teams.

You see the fine and Grady coming down the field late in the game, 42 to 20.

Your final score as Calhoun beats.

Grady Your final score.

Calhoun 42 and Grady 20.

Let's go down to the sidelines.

Thanks a lot, Tommy.

I'm here with Coach Lam, smelling like a fresh cup of Gatorade.

I know you said your players didn't need any extra motivation.

Just playing in the dome was enough, and it looks like they came out highly motivated.

Yeah, we got off to a little slow start, but, you know, I felt like might happen, you know, with this dome stuff.

But, you know, our kids refocused and came out and played extremely well.

We moved the ball up down the field.

And, you know, I want to give credit to Grady.

They're a good football team.

I got a lot of respect for Coach Millen.

He's doing a good job over there.

But our kids are very special.

They're high character kids and we wouldn't trade it for anybody.

One kid who played it exceptionally well was Adam or the young kid had four touchdowns on the day.

Just talk about his play.

We're at Adam, really.

You know, we spot him some as a freshman last year brought him along slow but I tell you he's a special football player and you know, we like to give it to him a lot.

But, you know, it's a team and he can do it by himself, I promise you that.

We got a bunch of folks on his football team to believe in what we're trying to do.

And it's a great team win.

All right.

Well, good win, coach.

Good luck next week.

I send it back up to you, Tommy.

Thank you, Gerald.

A final score once more.

Calhoun, 42, Grady 20.

Bye.

Thanks to you, Mark.

Enjoy it.

It was a blast.

Stay tuned for more action.

Coming up next on GPB, this is Tommy Palmer so long from the Georgia Dome.