Centennial Claims Victory Over Pope

By Mike Blum

In its fourth, fifth and sixth seasons of playing football, Centennial went 27-7 including an undefeated regular season in 2002 (year five).

But after a 4-6 record in 2004, the head coach who started the football program, Mike Cloy, was forced out and the result was one winning season (6-4 in 2007) in the next 10 years under three different coaches.

After the 2014 season, when the Knights went 5-5 in the regular season for the fourth time since 2009, another coaching change was made, with Grayson assistant Lenny Gregory moving from Gwinnett County to take the Centennial head coaching job.

The Knights went 5-5 in Gregory’s first season but have made great strides in his second season. The team wrapped up an 8-2 regular season Friday night (Oct. 28) with a 51-21 romp at home over region rival Pope, which clinched at least a tie for first in 7-AAAAAA.

Barring a huge upset, Centennial will tie Johns Creek for first in the region, with the Gladiators getting the No. 1 seed in the state playoffs thanks to a 24-21 win over the Knights in the regular season. Centennial will still have a home game in the playoffs for the first time since 2002, and will host the No. 3 team from Region 5-AAAAAA on Nov. 11. The Knights have featured a high scoring offense, coming into the regular season finale averaging 43 points a game. Pope was 2-6, yielding 43 points a game in the team’s six losses, and the expected high-scoring contest played out as anticipated.

Most of the scoring was done by the Knights, who notched touchdowns on their first six possessions and seven of their first eight. All seven required six plays or fewer to cover 37, 71, 80, 80, 33, 61 and 82 yards. Centennial scored early in the third period to take a 51-14 lead and removed its starters at the end of the quarter, with the final period played with a running clock.

Through three quarters, the Knights’ stats were impressive. They gained 366 yards rushing on 33 attempts, an average of 11 yards per carry. Centennial had 306 yards rushing at the half, adding just 66 on seven carries in the third period, with the Knights running a total of just eight plays in the quarter.

Tyreke Smith and Cal Dickie, part of a talented group of short, quick running backs for the Knights, led the way, combining for 197 yards on 16 carries. Smith rushed for 117 yards, including runs of 39 and 41 yards, and Dickie added 80 yards, including a 43-yard burst to set up the second Centennial touchdown in the opening period.

Malcolm Gallagher and Drew Sherman carried twice each in the opening half, scoring touchdowns on three of their four attempts. Gallagher scored on a 23-yard run to make it 14-0 and picked up 38 yards on his other first half carry.

Sherman broke loose for 30 yards and a score to make it 29-7 early in the second quarter, and made it 44-7 midway through the period on a 19-yard run.

Senior quarterback Casen Conway ably directed the sideline-to- sideline running game for the Knights and had a productive night throwing the football, completing 6 of 12 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns.

Dickie was on the receiving end of Conway’s first two TD tosses, catching an 8-yarder on third-and-goal to put the Knight s ahead 7-0 less than 2 ½ minutes into the game, and making a 21-yard reception on fourth-and- 12 to increase the lead to 37-7.

Conway also went deep for two big plays, the first a 61-yarder to standout two-way player Blaine Mason for 61 yards to set up Conway’s 4-yard keeper late in the first period for a 21-7 lead. The two hooked up again for a 76-yard touchdown to make it 51-14 midway through the third quarter.

The Knights gained 545 yards on 45 plays through three quarters, also getting a strong performance from linemen Brian Dejarnette, Mason Mitchell, Mason Daugherty, Mike O’Driscoll and sophomore William Edwards. He and O’Driscoll, a junior, are the lone non-seniors of the group. In recent seasons, the Knights have frequently sported high-scoring offenses, but have yielded as many or more points than they scored.

This season’s defense has done a better job of keeping opposing offenses out of the end zone after some early struggles, with senior linebacker Jacob Gregory, the coach’s son, leading the way. Gregory also contributed to the Knights’ points total against the Greyhounds, twice passing for 2-point conversions out of a divided formation they line up in for extra points. One went to Mason and the other to Fredy Rivera, the team’s kicker.

Freshman linebacker Max Able leads the team in tackles just ahead of Gregory, with most of the team’s offensive skill players also among the top defenders. Gallagher, Smith, Mason, Sherman and fullback Morris Stanley play extensively on both sides of the ball, and all rank among the leading tacklers.

The Knights’ bend-but- don’t break style of defense worked against a Pope offense that scored 42 points the previous week, allowing just two scores through three quarters.

Centennial’s kickoff team also recovered two of the team’s pooch kickoffs, converting the first into a touchdown in the second quarter, but the Knights allowed Pope to recover an onsides kick to start the second half. The defense held, with lineman Mark Mason III contributing a third down sack.

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