Germantown Mavericks pick up 38-14 win over Grenada Chargers in key Region 2 matchup

MADISON — Germantown is a team playing with a lot of momentum, and the Mavericks kept it rolling Friday night.

The Mavs got three second-half turnovers and rode the legs of tailback Nsaiah Bass to get past Grenada 38-14 at Maverick Stadium in a key Region 2-6A matchup.

With the win, Germantown (5-3, 3-1 Region 2-6A) finds itself in a good position to make the playoffs, but must win two of their final three games to secure a spot. The Mavericks travel to Madison Central next week. Grenada (5-3, 1-3) must win their final three games to make the playoffs.

“We told the guys at halftime if Grenada didn’t score in the second half, we’d win, so that’s what happened," Germantown coach Russell Mitchell said. "I didn’t know it was that easy to fire a team up. I'm proud of how we played in all three phases and how we prepared all week.”

Germantown struck first, has D.J. Gainwell scored on a 4-yard run with 6:44 left in the first quarter.

Grenada responded to tie the game at 7-7 on a two-yard touchdown run by MaCaleb Taylor with 57 seconds left in the first quarter.

The Mavericks regained the lead at 14-7 on a Bass six-yard, end-around touchdown run with 7:57 left in the second quarter.

The Chargers tied the game once again at 14-14 as Jaylan Skinner hit Amari Conley on a 25-yard touchdown pass with 1:01 left until half.

After Germantown’s Johnathan Pettus returned an onside kick attempt down to the Grenada 10-yard line, Hayden Heupt connected on a 26-yard field goal with five seconds left in the half to give Germantown a 17-14 lead.

“It was big play. The kid made a heads-up play and took it,” Mitchell said. “We got some momentum right now and we got a mature, disciplined team. Next week’s game is a big one, so it won’t take much to motivate the guys.”

In the second half, the Germantown defense came up with three interceptions and the Mavs outscored Grenada 21-0 to seal the game.

Bass had a 58-yard touchdown catch from Jackson Hood on the Mavericks' first play of the third quarter to extend the lead to 24-14.

He added an 18-yard touchdown grab with 9:14 left in the fourth quarter to give Germantown a 31-14 lead.

“Nsaiah is really fast, and I haven’t done a good enough job of getting the ball to him in space,” Mitchell said. “We've got some tough kids that have a lot of character.”

Gainwell added another 4-yard touchdown run to give the Mavericks the 38-14 lead with 2:10 remaining.

Bass finished with 122 total yards with three touchdowns to lead Germantown.

“I feel like we prepared really well all week in practice and that’s what got it done tonight,” Bass said. “We playing really well and practice has been the key with a lot of chemistry and we’re playing really well.”

Taylor had 124 yards rushing with a touchdown to lead Grenada.

“We got physically outplayed tonight,” said Grenada coach Ashley Kuhn. “Special teams breakdown right before the half was my fault. They outplayed us, and now we're in must-win mode the rest of the way.”