Grundy Ends 23-Game Southwest District Losing Streak

BY LLOYD COMBS
Sports Correspondent

GRUNDY, Va. – The streak is over.

Grundy ended a 23-game Southwest District losing streak with a 21-16 win over Tazewell Friday night at Nelson Memorial Field. 

Cody Justus scored two touchdowns, Jon Kelly threw for one TD and ran for another, and both Grundy juniors had interceptions as the Golden Wave ended a four-game losing streak in 2009 and earned their first SWD win since 2004, the last time Grundy (5-4, 1-4) made the playoffs.

Friday’s victory kept Grundy’s 2009 playoff hopes alive. A defense that slowed down a strong Tazewell running game, after the Bulldogs put nine quick points on the board, and had to deal with two Grundy fumbles late in the game, made a key last-minute stand in the final seconds.

Tazewell drove to the Grundy 22-yard line on its final possession. Kelly intercepted a fourth-down pass at his own 15 with 23.5 seconds remaining.

“Back-to-back fumbles on a quarterback-center exchange, I didn’t know what was going on,” said Grundy coach Greg Rowe. “I was worried we might find a way to lose another tough one, but the kids hung in there.
“These kids deserve a break or two. Eric Hodge and Tyler Justus got good penetration on defense. We bent a little, but we didn’t let them in there at the end.”
Aaron McReynolds scored two touchdowns for Tazewell (5-5, 2-4). A 37-yard field goal by Luke Allison and an 8-yard TD run by McReynolds gave the Bulldogs a 9-7 lead late in the opening period.

Tazewell had good field position most of the first half, but could not add to its lead. Justus picked off a pass in Tazewell territory in the second period and returned it 62 yards for Grundy’s first touchdown.

“We had a couple more scoring opportunities in the first half, but we didn’t take advantage of them,” said Tazewell coach Bobby Wyatt. “But give Grundy credit for some of that, they’ve got a scrappy team. They’ve played tough all year. My hats off to them.”

Grundy drove 86 yards in nine plays for its first offensive touchdown. Kelly’s perfectly thrown pass over the middle to Justus for 48 yards set up Kelly’s own one-yard TD run midway through the second period.

A Tazewell fumble at its own 35 set up a third-quarter score for the Golden Wave. Five plays later Kelly again found Justus, who somehow escaped a Tazewell defender and hurdled into the end zone on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 8:06 left to play in the third period. Justus finished with 162 all-purpose yards.

“Our offense put a couple of good drives together,” Rowe said. “Cody Justus had a heck of a ballgame, all the way around.”

The second Grundy fumble and a 13-yard run by Mikal Moore set up McReynolds’ second TD run, a 9-yard carry that got the Bulldogs within 21-16 with 7:59 remaining. Three runners had 10 or more attempts for a balanced running attack for Tazewell. Moore (11 carries for 89 yards) led the way, along with Lathel Mountain (10-68) and McReynolds (10-58).

The Bulldogs concluded their regular season, but are still very much alive in the Region IV, Division 3 playoff chase.

“We’ll practice a few days and see what everyone else does next week,” Wyatt said. “I feel like we’ll make it.”

Grundy sacked Tazewell quarterback Tyler Crouse seven times, made 10 tackles for loss, overall, and often disrupted a Bullldog offense that ran 40 times in 52 plays.

“Our job was to get good penetration and hit the quarterback before he could do anything,” Grundy tackle Tanner Marshall said. “We were in a tough spot late in the game, but we just had to suck it up and keep after them.”
                   
Tazewell 9 0 0 7—16
Grundy 7 7 7 0—21
Scoring Summary
T-Allison 37 FG
T-McReynolds 8 run (kick failed)
G-C. Justus 62 Int. Ret. (Mutter kick)
G-Kelly 1 run (Mutter kick)
G-C. Justus 13 pass from Kelly (Mutter kick)
T-McReynolds 9 run (Allison kick)
Team Stats:
First Downs: T 14, G 11; Rushes-Yards: 45-207, G 30-76; Passing Yards: T 39, G 89; Comp-Att-Int: 5-12-3, G 7-19-0; Fumbles-Lost: T 4-1, G 4-2; Penalties-Yards: T 9-75, G 5-28; Punts-Average: T 3-32.3, G 3-21.3.