Carrollton 42 LaGrange 6

The Grangers battled hard the first half, holding Carrollton to 14 points.  But the offense could not get on track and the Trojans came away with a 42-6 victory Friday night.

LaGrange punted all four possessions in the first half. Carrollton scored on a 56 yard drive with a Will Garrett quarterback sneak and a 51 yard drive when Garrett ran it in from 12 yards out. But in between, Emmanuel Swanson picked off Garrett's pass and LaGrange caused a fumble making the Trojans turn the ball over on downs.  The Grangers showed a fire in their bellies at intermission.

The Trojans worked to extinguish it as they scored on their next two possessions and forced LaGrange to punt on theirs.  A 70 yard drive capped by an eight yard TD run by Garrett and a 60 yard drive, set up by a 48 yard run by Dante Wigley and finished with a six yard scoring run by Malik Sheppard extended the Trojan lead to 28-0.  Daz Dunlap caused a Carrollton fumble and Kimani Barnes recovered, but LaGrange could not get points.  The Trojans did get points on an 85 yard drive finished by a 32 yard touchdown pass from Garrett to Jarrell Rowe. 35-0.  A mishandled pitch gave The ball back to Carrollton, but Tristian Dozier returned the favor, intercepting a Garrett pass. LaGrange again was forced to punt and the Trojans ended their scoring with a 56 yard Will Hesterlee run.  42-0.  LaGrange finally got on the board when Wynton Heard threw a 14 yard pass to Tay Rivers, who caught it in the end zone.   42-6 would be the final.

LaGrange finished the season 3-7, their third losing season in four years.  They also miss the playoffs for the first time since 1999.  Head Coach Donnie Branch announced he is stepping down as head coach .  I truly hope he is kept on as defensive coordinator.  He still has a lot of knowledge of the game and quality years of coaching ahead of him.  Whatever happens, I wish him well.