The Grangers were struggling to get anything going when Dazmon Dunlap sacked Shaw quarterback Chandler Whittlesey in the end zone for a safety late in the first half.
Off of the free kick, the Grangers marched 55 yards for a touchdown to seize a 10-7 lead the half, and they scored 21 unanswered points in the second half to put it away.
“We had some adversity early and got behind and made a big play on defense, and the offense picked us up and took the lead, and we never looked back,” LaGrange head coach Donnie Branch said. “I was real pleased with the effort.”
Needing a spark, the Grangers got it with the safety which cut Shaw’s lead to 7-2 with 1:26 left in the half.
LaGrange’s offense needed just five plays to put the ball in the end zone.
Zach Giddens threw a 28-yard pass to Dee Smith to put the ball deep in Shaw territory, and Demoton Boyd capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
Giddens then completed a two-point conversion pass to Benny Gray, and LaGrange was up 10-7.
The Grangers kept it going on their first possession of the third quarter when they marched 59 yards in eight plays to pad their lead.
Giddens completed a 20-yard pass to Corey Perkins to get the ball to the 21-yard line, and two plays later, Giddens and Perkins hooked up again, this time for a 17-yard touchdown.
Taylor Stanford’s extra point put LaGrange up 17-7 with 8:48 left in the quarter.
After Shaw went three-and-out, the Grangers showed off their explosiveness on offense.
On the first play following a Shaw punt, Gray took a handoff from Giddens and raced 47 yards for a touchdown, and Stanford’s extra point pushed the lead to 24-7 with 6:56 showing on the clock.
After another Shaw punt, LaGrange went back to work and drove 77 yards for another touchdown, with Giddens tossing a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tavone Rivers.
Michael Ward converted the extra point, and LaGrange was ahead 31-7 with 2:45 remaining in the quarter.
After giving up 31 consecutive points, Shaw scored a touchdown with 5:55 left, but it was too little too late.
It was a nice way for LaGrange to kick off its region schedule.
“This was a huge game,” Branch said. “I was hating to put too much emphasis on it because it’s just one region game, but I think there are five teams that are leading candidates for four (playoff) spots, and (Shaw) is one of them, so we needed this one. This puts us in pretty good shape for these next three or four games.”
LaGrange will look to move to 2-0 in region play when it visits Columbus on Thursday.
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