Slips help Grimsley rally past Weddington in Greensboro, eliminating reigning NCHSAA champs
Two slips may have cost Weddington a shot at a perfect season and back-to-back state championships.
Before Greensboro Grimsley put up a massive second half rally to beat the Warriors 35-23 Friday at home, Weddington (13-1) had a real shot to put the game away.
Instead, Grimsley (15-0) will play Rolesville in next Friday’s state final in Raleigh. Weddington will be left to wonder about the slips.
Leading 17-7, Weddington’s Aiden Harris — a top 10 finalist for the N.C. Mr. Football Award — sacked Grimsley QB Faizon Brandon, another finalist for the state’s biggest award. Harris stripped Brandon from behind and Weddington recovered at the Grimsley 17.
That’s when the slips began and helped end Weddington’s 19-game win streak.
Weddington tried a reverse on first down, and a Warriors player started coming back to the left with a lot of field in front of him. He might have scored. Instead, he slipped in the middle of a chewed up grass field and lost nine yards.
On third down, QB Gregory Fee had a long time to find a receiver, and found none before a third Mr. Football finalist, Grimsley’s Bryce Davis, began to approach. Fee tried to plant to slip past Davis, and buy more time. But he, too, slipped.
That pushed Weddington back near the Grimsley 40 and out of field goal range.
On fourth down, Fee punted into the end zone.
And after that, Brandon got hot, tossing two more touchdowns to Catoe. Tailback Mitchell Summers — who busted up Hough last week for 302 yards rushing — got a 46-yard score down the left sideline.
Down 10-0 at halftime and 17-7 in the third, Grimsley led 28-17.
Weddington did respond, with a long Fee touchdown pass to John Manley with 5:59 to play. After a two-point conversion failed, Grimsley led 28-23.
When Grimsley got the ball back, the Whirlies stayed hot offensively, pushing down the field before Summers broke for 26 yards up the middle for the putaway score with 1:56 to play.
▪ Grimsley beat Cardinal Gibbons for the N.C. 4A state title, 28-8, in May of 2021 after the NCHSAA postponed the fall sports season due the COVID pandemic.
▪ Friday’s state final will be a rematch of Grimsley’s 35-20 win at Rolesville in the second week of the season.
PHOTOS: Weddington at Grimsley
This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 10:00 PM.
