Bowdon wins second straight Georgia Class A D-2 State Championship

Red Devils open with a nine-minute-plus scoring drive and the close out the final 7:23 on offense

Author:
Colin Hubbard
Publish date:
Dec 11, 2023 10:57 PM EST

ATLANTA, GA – Leading by one point with just over seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Bowdon found itself with an opportunity to finish the game how it started against Manchester in the Class A Division 2 State Championship.

After eating more than nine minutes of clock on their first drive of the night and scoring a touchdown, the Red Devils ate the final 7:23 of the fourth quarter to secure a 28-27 victory over the Blue Devils behind a monster game on the ground.

Bowdon quarterback Kyler McGrinn (2) runs for some of his 185-yards rushing as he helped the Red Devils edge Manchester in a battle for the Georgia Class 1A-Division 2 state championship.
Photo by Cecil Copeland

Senior quarterback Klyler McGrinn rushed for 185 yards and three touchdowns and passed for another in what was Bowdon’s second straight state championship victory.

The Red Devils opened up the season with back-to-back losses, including a 21-20 Week 1 loss to the Blue Devils, before going on to win 13 straight to close out the season with a win inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

“After an 0-2 start, I’m just extremely proud that our kids trusted our coaching staff and trusted the process of what it takes to be great,” Bowdon head coach Rich Fendley said. “It’s not something you win on Dec. 11. It started back in January and this is the end result of all of the hard work put in.

The Red Devils ran the ball, and then ran the ball some more, on their opening drive of the game.

Starting from their own 27-yard line, the Red Devils ran the ball 18 straight times and chewed more than nine minutes off of the clock before McGrinn pounded his way into the end zone from one yard out.

The key play of the drive was a seven-yard run on fourth-and-four by McGrinn to get the Red Devils into the red zone.

By the time the Manchester offense finally touched the field, it found itself trailing 7-0 with 2:53 remaining in the first quarter, and things did not get off to a great start.

On just their second play from scrimmage, a pitch to running back Ken’derius Hines was fumbled and recovered by Bowdon linebacker Cooper Daniel deep inside Manchester territory.

With a chance to jump out to a quick two-score lead, the Red Devils did just that after breaking their streak of 18 consecutive runs with a 22-yard pass that was caught for a touchdown by wide receiver Kaiden Prothro on the first play from scrimmage.

In the blink of an eye, Manchester found itself trailing 14-0 with 1:48 remaining in the first quarter, and as a team built on running the football with the Wing-T, it wasn’t an ideal situation to be in.

But after getting into Bowdon territory following a horsecollar penalty, the Blue Devils flipped the script with a pass of their own and it worked to perfection.

Standing on the Bowdon 28, Manchester quarterback Daryus Bryant tossed deep to Jayden Terry for a touchdown in what was just his fourth reception of the season, and the score cut Bowdon’s lead in half, 14-7 early in the second quarter.

With some newfound momentum, Terry wasted little time in making his impact felt again for the Blue Devils when he intercepted McGrinn on Bowdown’s ensuing possession.

The sophomore returned the interception 35 yards down to the Bowdon 26, and then five consecutive runs capped off by a Qua Cooper 9-yard scamper knotted the game up at 14-14 with 6:59 remaining in the second quarter.

With all of the momentum in favor of the Blue Devils, they weren’t finished scoring in the second quarter.

After forcing a quick punt by the Red Devils and starting their next drive with great field position at midfield, Bryant looked to throw again, and he found his favorite target in Terry again for a 55-yard score.

After trailing 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, the Blue Devils responded with 21 unanswered points to take a 21-14 lead with 4:14 remaining before halftime.

A disastrous second quarter for the Red Devils had a silver lining over the final four minutes, however.

Looking to knot the game up at 21-21 before halftime, McGrinn did his part for the Red Devils, first with a 47-yard run that got them down to the Manchester five-yard line. McGrinn then called his number again and scored to get the game tied back up.

The Blue Devils had a prime opportunity to regain the lead in the closing seconds of the half and cap off a 28-point second quarter after getting as far as the Bowdon 7-yard line.

But an intentional grounding penalty pushed the Blue Devils back and sent the game into the half with the game deadlocked at 21.

The Blue Devils opened up the second half on offense and were quickly forced to punt for the first time in the game.

Starting at their own 25 following Manchester’s punt, the Red Devls got back to doing what they do best: run the football.

They opened up the drive with seven consecutive runs to get into Manchester territory and then turned to the air to convert a huge fourth-and-10 that was caught by sophomore Berkley Perkins.

Set up with a first-and-goal from the seven, McGrinn rumbled his way into the end zone two plays later to give the Red Devils its first lead of the game since midway through the second quarter, 28-21.

Bowdown maintained its 7-point lead for a while until the Manchester offense mounted its first good drive of the second half early in the fourth quarter.

With a heavy dose of running plays, the Blue Devils converted a big fourth-and-1 inside Bowdon territory and that later set up a 4-yard touchdown from Darius Favors with just over seven minutes remaining in the game.

Needing an extra point to tie, the Blue Devils knotted the game up momentarily before it was wiped off the board thanks to a chop block penalty. That pushed Blue Devils kicker Jack Underwood out of his range, and forced a fake field goal attempt that was no good.

That costly mistake by the Blue Devils kept the Red Devils out in front by the slimmest of margins, 28-27 with 7:23 remaining.

With the Red Devils' offense back in possession of the football, the Blue Devils found themselves with a prime opportunity to get the ball back after forcing a long third-and-14 attempt with just over five minutes remaining.

But they were unable to get off of the field after McGrinn dropped back to pass before using his legs to convert the first down with a gain of 15.

That proved to be Manchester’s last chance to get the football back.

From there, the Red Devils offense picked up steam and marched down to the Blue Devils’ 1-yard line before taking two knees to secure the win.

BOWDON 28, MANCHESTER 27

Bowdon: 14 7 7 0 – 28

Manchester 0 21 0 6 – 27

FIRST QUARTER

Bowdon: Kyler McGrinn 1 run (kick), 2:53

Bowdon: Kaiden Prothro 22 pass from McGrinn (kick), 1:48

SECOND QUARTER

Manchester: Jayden Terry 28 pass from Daryus Bryant (kick), 10:27

Manchester: Qua Cooper 9 run (kick), 6:59