Published: November 15, 2008 01:18 am            

Grafton rolls over PB, 41-16

GRAFTON — If No. 2 Grafton had a message to send to the Class AA teams remaining in the playoffs after being upset last week by Magnolia, then the Bearcats sent it loud and clear.

Grafton’s defense forced six turnovers and quarterback Cameron Gallaher ran for 152 yards and two scores and threw two more TD passes as the Bearcats routed No. 15 Philip Barbour, 41-16, in the opening round of the AA playoffs Friday at McKinney Field.

“It’s like I say every time, (the defensive players) are the ones that make the difference,” first-year Grafton coach Mark Yoho said. “They put the offense in position to score, and tonight we took advantage of the turnovers.”

Damon Waters opened the scoring for Grafton and the game when he plunged in from four yards out to put his team up 7-0.

The two teams then traded punts, before Philip Barbour put together probably its best drive of the game — a four-play, 53-yard drive — that ended with quarterback Jewel Short scoring on a 1-yard run to tie the score at 7-all.

PB then attempted an onside kick and recovered it near midfield.

But the Bearcat defense came up big with a sack for a 10-yard loss on first down and its first interception of the game on the next play, which was returned by Waters all the way to the 2-yard line.

Gallaher hit Asa Coplin with scoring pass on the first play from scrimmage to put Grafton back ahead, 14-7, and the Bearcats would never look back.

The Bearcats would end the next Colt drive with another interception.

Gallaher capped a 98-yard drive with a 41-yard touchdown run to put his team up 21-7 at the half.

“Cameron’s a player,” Yoho said. “They seemed to be keying on No. 4 (Waters) a lot, so that opened up things for No. 10 (Gallaher).”

The Bearcats killed the Colts’ first drive in the second half with an interception by Jonathan Lantz and turned it into six points when Gallaher hit Waters for a 25-yard TD pass and a 28-7 lead.

Grafton put the game away four plays later when Seth Blair intercepted a Short pass and returned it 34 yards for a score, putting Grafton up 35-7.

“(Blair) scoring is a tribute to the team defense we play,” Yoho said. “That pretty much sealed the game.”

In the fourth quarter, Philip Barbour added a late score on a 5-yard run by Jordan Simon, but Grafton quickly answered with a 14-yard touchdown run by Gallaher.

The Colts got a safety with 1:13 left in the game when backup quarterback Markus Griffin was pulled down in the end zone, making the score 41-16.

The game ended, appropriately enough, when Lantz intercepted Short and slid down after a 14-yard return.

Lantz had three interceptions in the game for Grafton.

“I was telling the guys, I’ve dreamed of coaching a playoff game here,” Yoho said. “Now we’ve got this under our belts and have to get back to work on Monday and get ready for next week.”

Grafton moves on to host No. 7 Ravenswood next week. Ravenswood defeated No. 10 Webster County, 46-22, to advance to the second round.

E-mail Mike Bowen at mbowen@timesw.com.

        

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