Cody Dalton
Sports Writer
Wise – The J.J. Kelly Indians celebrated homecoming in style, as they started off strong and finished strong against Grundy, winning 44-6 at Carroll Dale Stadium.
The Indians (4-1, 1-1) were led on both sides of the ball by Devan Sproles. The 6’0” junior had 11 carries for 159 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Sproles also had two interceptions on defense.
“Devan is a good football player,” said Kelly coach B.I. Salyers. “He only goes though when the offensive line does. Defensively, Devan knows his way around the football.”
“They had a good running back with Sproles,” said Grundy coach Greg Rowe. “They also had a very good quarterback. We played as hard as we could. We just didn’t have the speed to compete.”
Kelly would score three times in the first quarter. Quarterback Matt Dotson connected on a 13-pass to Blake Shouse to give J.J. Kelly the opening score of the contest. Sproles and fellow running back Chris Strouth scoring on runs of 58 yards and 1 yard.
Sproles would reach the end zone again early in the second on a 32-yard run. The final score of the second was a huge run of 71 yards by Jeremy Gilliam.
Defensively, the Indians held Grundy (2-2, 0-0) to 26 yards rushing in the first half and forced two Golden Wave turnovers. The Indians would take the lead into halftime, 36-0.
Determined to change the game’s outcome, Grundy came out in the second half with a new energy. The Golden Wave opened up the second half with a 50-yard run by senior running back Josh McCowan.
Unfortunately for the Golden Wave, their drive stalled and Kelly recovered a fumble at their own 1.
The two teams battled back in forth and exchanged possession several times in the final stanza. Kelly would score with 4:22 remaining in the game on a Jordan Bates 4-yard run.
Grundy got on the board with only 10 seconds remaining, as quarterback Josh Kelly connected with wide receiver Cody Justus for a 3-yard touchdown pass. Justus lead the Golden Wave with 6 receptions, 41 yards, and a touchdown.
Despite the tough loss, coach Rowe believes that his teams “no give up” attitude says a lot about his team.
“Our kids will play as hard as they can,” Rowe said. “We aren’t happy with the score, but we are pleased with our kids play here tonight.”
Despite winning against the Golden Wave, coach Salyers saw a new and better Grundy team out there on the field.
“We first saw them scrimmage this season and they have improved tremendously since then,” Salyers said. “Our kids just did a good job playing against them tonight.”
Coach Rowe believes that a lack of experience and playing a veteran team may have hurt Grundy.
“Our team is young and we just got out moved,” Rowe said. “We were outsized compared to them. We played a much better team. This was a learning experience and it is going to take time for our team to get better.”
Regardless of the success the Indians have had thus far, coach Salyers has seen progress from his team every week this season
“Every game is a test to get better,” Salyers said. “Each game, we are improving and getting better every week. We played 48 minutes of hard football tonight.”
Grundy will return home next week for their homecoming game against Marion, while the Indians will be on the road against Rye Cove.
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