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They say revenge is a dish best served cold and on a chilly night in Tyrone, that dish was cold as ice as LaGrange High avenged its 27-7 loss to Sandy Creek earlier in the regular season by beating the Patriots 38-22 in the second round of the state playoffs. 

“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. “This was a huge step in that right direction. We’re excited for these players right now.”

The Grangers are back. For the first time since 2008, the LaGrange football team is making a trip to the state quarterfinals.

“First time since 2008 and our guys are not done yet,” an ecstatic Napier said. 

LaGrange put a marker of intent down early, taking the opening possession right down the field and taking a 7-0 lead on a third down pass from Dylan Barber to Malachi Fannin-Render from six yards out.

This was just the start of a big night for Fannin-Render, who had well over 100 yards and four touchdowns on the night. 

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

The Grangers would absolutely stun the Patriots in the first quarter with 17 points and by the time the run was over with LaGrange had scored 24 unanswered points to start the game.

Cooper Metcalf made it 10-0 on a 43-yard field goal and then delivered a beautiful kickoff that bounced at the 3-yard line and stopped as a hustling LaGrange special teams jumped on the ball. One play later LaGrange had a 17-0 lead on a touchdown run from Fannin-Render.

“Cooper is a special player for us and those were a couple of big time plays from him,” Napier said of his freshman kicker. “The best part is we get three more years of him.”

The Granger offense would continue to feast in the second quarter. LaGrange made it 24-0 when Barber threw an absolute strike to Julian Jones for a 20-yard touchdown on third down with 6:17 left to go in the first half.

Sandy Creek finally got on the board with a 26-yard touchdown after penetrating the LaGrange side of the field for the first time on the drive.

It would not matter as on the ensuing drive Fannin-Render went 60 yards to the house to put LaGrange out in front 31-7 which is where the score would remain heading into halftime.

Sandy Creek would take the opening possession of the second half right down the field for a touchdown to cut the Granger lead to 31-14. That would be as good as it would get for the home team. 

LaGrange would deliver the dagger with 8:23 left to go in the game as Fannin-Render scores his fourth touchdown of the game. 

“I’m just sad that it’s taken until this year for everybody to see how talented he is,” Napier said of his running back, who spent the first two seasons of his varsity career battling injuries. “

The defense was dominant all night and nobody was more important to their effort than senior defensive lineman Spencer Stroud. He made a living in the Sandy Creek backfield and produced back-to-back sacks, including a forced fumble and a fumble recovery late in the fourth to ice the game. 

“My teammates set me up for those,” Stroud said, flashing a huge grin. “I saw the quarterback still holding the ball and came down with a chip and knocked it out.”

The Patriots would score a consolation touchdown with under four minutes to play, but it did little other than make the final score more respectable for the home crowd. 

“We made big plays on offense and special teams, it wasn’t just the defense,” Stroud said. 

LaGrange is on fire, having won nine of its last 10 games with all of those wins coming by double figures. The Grangers will travel to North Hall in the state quarterfinals.