It took a while for them to clear the field at Mill Creek on Friday. Seems like every student, parent and player wanted to soak in the school’s first win over reigning state champion Grayson as long as possible.
No. 2-ranked Mill Creek nearly wasted a three-touchdown lead, but hung on to beat No. 8 Grayson 28-14 in a match between the two Gwinnett County giants
“They’re the defending state champions and they’re extremely talented,” said Mill Creek coach Josh Lovelady. “In my mind, if you want to be where they’ve been, you’ve got to play great teams.”
It was the first time Mill Creek had beaten Grayson in four tries. Two of the three previous losses came in the playoff, including 2016 when the Hawks had put together an undefeated regular season.
“Last year they beat us in two overtimes and this year we came out with a vengeance,” said senior Zekai Wimby, who scored the game-clinching touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Mill Creek (5-0) was led by quarterback Hayden Clark, who completed 19 of 28 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns, but threw three interceptions. Donovan Journey carried 24 times for 75 yards and one touchdown and Makhail Wood caught four passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns.
Grayson (4-2) stayed alive thanks to its defense. Senior Bin-Wahad Mumu intercepted two passes and returned one for a touchdown, A.J. Lopez had an interception and Michael Daugherty recovered a fumbled punt. Mill Creek had not turned the ball over all season.
Mill Creek scored on its second possession, driving 46 yards, with Journey scoring from the 14 with 2:01 left in the quarter.
The Hawks made it 14-0 on a 14-yard pass from Clark to Wood. The duo scrambled in the final 37 seconds for a 25-yard touchdown, made possible when a Grayson defender gambled on an interception and came up empty to give Mill Creek a 21-0 lead at halftime.
“Finding the gaps on the defense was the key,” said Mill Creek junior quarterback Hayden Clark. “They run a good defense and they’re a really good team, so we had to find plays that we could hit.”
The momentum switched midway in the third quarter when Mumu Bin-Wahad picked off a pass and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown.
Bin-Wahad, a West Virginia commit, intercepted his second pass on Mill Creek’s next possession and the Rams were forced to punt, only to have the Hawks fumble the kick and and have it covered by Grayson’s Daugherty. This time the Rams scored on a 20-yard pass from Raine Fry to Mason Humphrey to cut the lead to 21-14.
Grayson had a chance to tie the score after the interception by Lopez early in the fourth quarter, but went three-and-out. Mill Creek then put the game away with a five-minute drive that was completed by Wimby’s 36-yard run.
Mill Creek’s Caleb Downs iced the game with a last-minute interception.
Grayson coach Adam Carter said, “We don’t really have moral victories at our place and I’m proud of the effort in the second half. We just didn’t make enough plays on third down, defensively. We let their quarterback get away from us a couple of times. They did fight and that’s a really good football team over there.”
About the Author
