The Gray Station Hounds hit on a couple of more big plays than Clifton Ridge last Wednesday to win the annual showdown between the county’s middle schools 32-24 at Greyhound Field.

“It was a typical middle school shootout between us,” Gray Station coach Travis Lawson said. “We run the regular wing-T offense when we can, but we have those trick plays ready if we need them, and we were able to execute a few.

“The boys played hard, I thought. We made some mistakes, and I was a little worried early. It got pretty interesting there near the end of the first half. But we were able to get into more of a ball-control game the second half and keep them backed up with bad field position.”

The Cougars drove 62 yards in five plays to open the game, scoring on an 8-yard run by Nick Singleton, who also had a 29-yard run earlier in the drive. Bradley Hunnicutt hit Singleton with a pass for the two-point conversion to put Clifton Ridge ahead 8-0.

Gray Station answered with a seven-play, 67-yard drive featuring a 37-yard pass from Brooks Veal to Branan Youngblood before Jonathan Brookins finished it with a 6-yard touchdown run. Veal’s two-point pass to Drake Bolus was incomplete, leaving Clifton Ridge ahead 8-6.

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