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For the first time in 16 years the LaGrange football team will be playing in the state quarterfinals. The Grangers will travel to take on North Hall on Black Friday. 

“I’m excited to continue to coach them. You know, we didn’t come here to win in the second round. We came to win the game in December and it is one week at a time, one step at a time,” LaGrange coach Matt Napier said after the team’s second round win last Friday. “This was a huge step in that right direction. We’re excited for these players right now.”

This will be the first time LaGrange and North Hall have ever collided on the gridiron. 

Much like their counterparts from LaGrange, the Trojans have made a deep playoff run for the first time in quite some time. This is North Hall’s first quarterfinals appearance since 2012.

North Hall Sean Pender has completely turned the program around in his three seasons in charge. After going 3-7 in his first year, the Trojans went 7-4 in 2023 as they bowed out of the playoffs in the first round. This season, North Hall won a region title and currently sit at 10-2, having won the last 10 games in a row. 

Napier has also overseen a remarkable turnaround. After winning just six games in the four seasons combined before he took over, Napier has now led the Grangers to the playoffs in all five of his seasons as head coach. After a second round exit in the three of their first four playoff appearances under Napier, the Grangers have finally broken through to prove themselves among the elite teams in their classification. 

The Grangers and Trojans share two common opponents this season — Upson-Lee and Lumpkin County. The Trojans went 2-0 in those games, beating Lumpkin 21-16 in the regular season before vanquishing Upson-Lee 27-20 in the second round of the state playoffs. LaGrange lost to Upson-Lee in the regular season finale 18-15, but beat Lumpkin 48-6 in the opening round of the state playoffs.

The Trojans offense is about as balanced as they come. North Hall as a team has passed for 2,125 yards and ran for 2,116. Junior starting quarterback Sean Mcgarvey has been at the heart of the Trojan attack, throwing for 1,449 yards while adding 487 yards on the ground with 27 total touchdowns to just five interceptions.

Luke Jenkins and Parker Carlton provide a dynamic two-headed monster at running back with the former leading the team with 747 yards and the latter is second on the team with 682.

The Granger defense will also have to keep their eyes on breakout sophomore wide receiver Cole Cable, who leads the team with 54 receptions for 816 yards and 12 touchdowns. Junior Ty Kemp has also enjoyed an outstanding year, catching 63 passes for 705 yards and seven touchdowns. 

The Granger offense is built much more on the rushing attack with some shot plays sprinkled in. LaGrange has accumulated 3,436 yards on the ground so far this season versus just 1,103 yards through the air. In the Grangers upset of Sandy Creek in the second round the team passed for just 30 yards while racking up 294 rushing yards as the team rarely had to deviate from their game plan. 

The Granger offensive game plan almost always centers around running back Malachi Fannin-Render. The senior was named the GHSFD Player of the Week for his performance against Sandy Creek last week as he torched the Patriots with 240 yards from scrimmage and four total touchdowns. 

“It really all starts with our offensive line,” Fannin-Render said after the game against Sandy Creek. “They allow me and Dylan (Barber)  to find a groove and stay in it. We know that the offensive line is always going to have us situated.”

Fannin-Render is up to 2,024 yards from scrimmage with 30 total touchdowns. 

Junior quarterback Dylan Barber has been more than up to the task in his first season as the starter. Barber has thrown for 889 yards and ran for another 951 yards while contributing 23 touchdowns to just two interceptions. 

The LaGrange offense often gets the plaudits, but the defense has been equally as impressive if not more so. Spencer Stroud has developed into a dominant force on the defensive line. The senior had three sacks, a deflected pass, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery last week against the Patriots and is up to 13 sacks on the season.

It is far from a one man show on defense. Linebacker Harris Grace and Javier Easter were flying around against Sandy Creek with the former leading the team with eight tackles and the latter adding seven tackles and three tackles for a loss to his name. Defensive tackle Braylon Smith put together his best performance of the season, living in the Sandy Creek backfield, finishing with five tackles and two sacks. 

The Grangers have done this all without Noah Outland, a Division I prospect that has been out injured since week three, which is a massive credit to defensive coordinator Thomas Burton, who came over from Callaway when Napier,  Cavalier offensive coordinator, was hired at LaGrange.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Gainesville. It will be true football weather with the temperatures expected be be in the 30s during the game.