Heartbreaker! Grayson Loses Epic Semifinal Battle to Roswell, 30-26

It was a heartbreaker.

Roswell scored on a 35-yard “Hail Mary” pass with 10 seconds left in the game to defeat the Grayson Rams 30-26 in a back-and-forth Class AAAAAA state semifinal matchup at Grayson Stadium on Friday.

The Rams had themselves taken a last-minute lead in the battle for a trip to the Dome, when Will Van Pamelen kicked a 19-yard field goal with just 40 seconds left.

It was that kind of night, as No. 2-ranked Grayson and No. 3-ranked Roswell traded leads all night long in a contest that lived up to its billing as part of what some have called the best Final Four in state high school history.

Grayson finishes the season 13-1. Roswell will face the winner of Friday’s Colquitt County-Mill Creek semifinal next week in the Georgia Dome. Colquitt led that game 49-31 late in the fourth quarter.

Grayson got on the board first with a 37-yard field goal from Will Van Pamelen with 6:58 left to go in the first quarter.

But Roswell responded with an 80-yard drive highlighted by a 50-yard pass from quarterback Quintarius Neely, who then punched the ball in from one yard out to give the Hornets a 7-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter was a defensive contest until junior quarterback Chase Brice hit Evan Sturgill on a 29-yard scoring strike to put the Rams up 10-7 with 3:35 left in the first half.

The score was set up by a fumble recovery by Grayson linebacker Chris Martin.

With less than a minute left in the half, Roswell equalized with a field goal of its own. Brice quickly moved the Rams back down the field with a long pass, but Van Pamelen missed a 34-yard field goal attempt, sending Grayson and Roswell to halftime tied, 10-10.

Roswell threatened early in the third quarter, returning the second-half kickoff to the Grayson 15-yard line. But the Rams defense stuffed Roswell, then blocked a field goal attempt.

Later in the third, Grayson’s defense once again came up big with a fumble recovery on the Roswell 36-yard line by Owen Pappoe. But the Rams offense was unable to convert the turnover into points.

Roswell marched down the field on their next possession, scoring on a 14-yard touchdown run by Sheldon Evans. The extra-point attempt, however, was no good, putting Roswell up 16-10 with 2:48 left in the third.

But then, running back Cameryn Brent, who Roswell had done a decent job of bottling up, got loose on a big 59-yard run. The score, and subsequent extra point, put Grayson up 17-16, just 32 seconds on the game clock after Roswell scored.

After recovering Roswell’s fourth fumble of the night early in the fourth quarter, the Rams and Hornets traded punts. That’s when Brent took over. The running back, who topped 200 yards rushing for the second week in a row, peeled off a couple of big runs, giving Grayson a first down on Roswell’s 6-yard line.

He would punch it in from the 2-yard line to put Grayson up 23-16 with 6:33 left in the game.

Roswell answered quickly. Neely launched a 76-yard pass, putting the Hornets on the Rams’ 5-yard line, then George Arowoselu ran it in from the two. A successful conversion, and the game was tied 23-23 with 4:22 left in regulation.

The Hornets were unable to capitalize on an interception of Brice as the Rams defense held firm, forcing a three-and-out with 1:36 left on the clock.

A big pass play put the Rams in scoring territory and, with only 40 seconds left, Van Pamelen converted a field goal from 19 yards out for the 26-23 lead.

But Roswell needed just 18 seconds to move the ball to the Grayson 35-yard line. Then, the clincher came when Neely found A.J. Smith on a bomb to the end zone.