Mallard Creek falls to Georgia power Grayson High School at home

Mallard Creek literally had a “game of two halves” Friday night in the host Mavericks’ nonconference matchup against Georgia state power Grayson High.

The Rams dominated the first two quarters in building a three-touchdown lead, but Mallard Creek recovered somewhat over the final two quarters in a 28-14 loss.

Travis Burgess threw for two first-quarter touchdowns and Elijah Miller added a pair of second-quarter touchdowns that allowed Grayson (3-1) to build a 28-7 halftime lead.

However, the Mavericks (1-1) kept the Rams’ offense in check in the second half, and finally added a second score midway through the fourth quarter to keep the game respectable.

“[Our coaches] did a good job of making some adjustments,” fifth-year Mallard Creek head coach Kennedy Tinsley said. “With the lead that they had, they were trying to kill the clock … but the guys really rallied.

“We just talked about playing hard no matter what, and at least sending a statement. We always want to leave that message, and in that they did a good job.”

Burgess threw for 178 yards in the first half, with first-quarter TD passes of 28 yards to Aiden Taylor and 22 yards to Anthony Davis. The Rams then tacked on second-quarter touchdown runs of 3 and 1 yards by Miller for a three-score lead.

But things changed dramatically for Grayson’s offense in the second half — Mallard Creek’s defense held the Rams to 34 total yards and one first down over the third and fourth quarters. Compare that to the first quarter — 11 first downs and 218 yards.

“We just got super sloppy, man” in the second half, Grayson head coach Santavious Bryant said. “We didn’t play our style of ball in the second half. We’re going to get back to work on it next week and get that fixed.

“We’ve had some inconsistency at times. … That’s why we come out here to North Carolina to be able to play a big-time game like this, to be able to get practice in doing these things.”

Mallard Creek’s offense did show some flashes — Evan Rambert had a 25-yard touchdown pass to Khalil Price in the first quarter, and Christian Dixon tacked on a 20-yard TD run in the fourth.

But Tinsley said that the Mavericks still have some work to do before beginning conference play in two weeks.

“Ultimately, the reason we schedule these games is to give them a chance to play a game on a national level,” he said. “We want them to compete against the best players as well.

“I thought our guys did a really good job, really proud of them for their fight … but as far as the football game, we missed on four or five plays that really made a difference. You can’t do that against really good teams.”

Mallard Creek has a week off before opening Queen City 3A-4A conference play at West Charlotte on Sept. 20.

Scoring summary

Grayson HS (Loganville, Ga.) 28, Mallard Creek 14

Grayson 14 14 0 0 – 28

Mallard Creek 7 0 0 7 – 14

First Quarter

G — Aiden Taylor 28 pass from Travis Burgess (Brison Jones kick), 11:02.

G — Anthony Davis 22 pass from Burgess (Jones kick), 4:18.

MC — Khalil Price 25 pass from Evan Rambert (Chase Speilman kick), 1:10.

Second Quarter

G — Elijah Miller 5 run (Vincent Warren kick), 7:44.

G — Miller 1 run (Warren kick), 4:16.

Fourth Quarter

MC — Christian Dixon 20 run (Speilman kick), 7:44.