By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

COLLEGE PARK - So far, so good for a rebuilt LaGrange High defense.

Nearly every starter from last year’s dominant defense was lost, creating plenty of openings on this year’s squad.

And at least through one preseason scrimmage, the new-look defense appears as though it’ll be up to the challenge.

In the first half when the starters were on the field, the Grangers surged to a 12-0 lead with a pair of touchdowns.

Westlake scored three touchdowns in the third quarter, mainly because it left most of its starters in the game while LaGrange’s reserves were on the field.

As for the defense,”once we kind of got going a little bit, I thought we played pretty good,” LaGrange head coach Steve Pardue said.

On offense, quarterback Jamius Gunsby threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Josh Manning, and Gunsby also had a 9-yard scoring run.

The touchdown pass came on Gunsby’s second play of the game.

Junior Braxton Smith started, and Gunsby came into the game for the first time with the Grangers on their own 28-yard line.

After a 5-yard run by Xavier Heard, Gunsby rolled to his right, and he lofted the ball downfield to Manning, who raced under the ball and went the distance for the score.

“That was a big play by Josh,” Pardue said. “I thought Jamius had overthrown him, but Josh went and got it.”

Manning, a senior, is arguably the fastest player on the team, and the Grangers will use that.

“We’ll try to use him to be a play-maker,” Pardue said.

In the second quarter, Gunsby capped a short scoring drive with a 9-yard touchdown run.

Pardue said he thought Gunsby and Smith “both played well,” and he felt the best thing about Thursday’s scrimmage is it will give the coaches some film to watch in preparation for Thursday’s season opener against Newnan.

“We’ll look at this film and watch it, and then we’ll get started on Sunday,” Pardue said.