A one-handed running back and a stingy D carried East Central football to victory
The East Central football team picked up where it left off in 2017 with another outstanding performance Friday night.
It just dominated the competition in a different way.
The Hornets used a stellar defensive performance in their season opener to pick up a 6-0 win over a Biloxi team that rolled to a 42-7 victory over St. Stanislaus a week ago.
One game into the 2018 campaign, the East Central defense is already halfway to its total of two shutouts from a year ago when it won the Class 4A South State title. What made Friday’s performance all the more impressive was that East Central did it against quality Class 6A competition.
“I knew were going to be real good,” East Central senior linebacker Avery White said of his defense. “Our D-line is blowing people up. We just go full speed like we always have. Don’t change anything.”
East Central dominated time of possession and limited the Biloxi offense to 103 yards on 27 plays from scrimmage and five three-and-outs.
“You ain’t got to win 50-5. You can win 6-0. A win is a win,” East Central coach Seth Smith said. “(Biloxi is) a 6A playoff team. There’s no question in my mind. Defensively, they’re phenomenal.
“Every year is a new challenge. We may not get to score 50 points a game. If you can win 6-0, we’re tickled. It makes you 1-0. I couldn’t be prouder of Coach (David) Hudson, Coach Kevin Fant, Coach (Stephen) Garrard. Every week, those three guys do an unbelievable job on that side of the ball. All the credit goes to those three guys and that defense.”
Senior cornerback Trenton Baldock and junior defensive back Hunter Pettigrew both came up with key interceptions for East Central (1-0).
East Central left plenty points on the field thanks to numerous penalties, but there were also positives on offense.
Junior running back Dylan Grinsteinner ran 16 times for 127 yards and a touchdown to lead the way on the ground for the Hornets.
Senior running back Cameron Gray had the second most yardage for the Hornets, carrying 20 times for 98 yards.
Grinsteinner had his best game as a Hornet despite playin with a large cast on his left hand.
“God gave me two hands. I might as well use one,” the junior said. “I’ll have to wear it four more weeks and then when I go back they’re going to have to make a special brace and cast me again just so I can play.”
Grinsteinner provided the lone points of the night when he punched it the end zone from 2 yards out with 1:15 remaining in the first half to cap a 14-play, 94-yard drive.
“I told him, ‘Son, you’re our Shaquem Griffin,’” Smith said. “It’s unbelievable to play like that with basically one arm. It’s unbelievable. I guess you could say he kind of represents who we are. You ain’t got to be the biggest. You ain’t got to be the fastest. You’ve just got to be the toughest and give the best effort. No. 9 is representative of what our program is about.”
Shaquem Griffin is a rookie linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks who is missing his left hand due to an amputation.
While Biloxi struggled to move the ball on offense, the Indians’ defense gave the team every chance to attempt a rally.
“Defensively, our guys played as tough as I’ve seen them play,” Biloxi coach Katlan French. “We couldn’t ever establish a rhythm on offense. The defense went back out there and stayed on the field a long time.”
This story was originally published August 24, 2018 at 11:18 PM.