Gwinnett Daily Post

LILBURN - For the Grayson Rams, an 8-0 start was just 48 minutes away as it visited the Berkmar Patriots on Friday night in Lilburn.

With a stifling defense and some big plays on offense and special teams, Grayson (8-0) looked good in soundly defeating Berkmar 28-7 on Friday night.

"I am real proud of the way our team played," Grayson head coach Mickey Conn said. "Our defense had a really strong effort tonight... and we got to play a lot of people."

Grayson struck first when Tucker Kreis got behind the Berkmar (3-4) defense to catch a bomb from Tyler Horne as the two connected on a 47-yard play to give Grayson a 7-0 lead.

Later in the quarter, Grayson scored again after a turnover as Ean Pemberton, who gained 61 yards on 14 carries, found the end zone from two yards out to give the Rams a 14-0 lead.

However, Berkmar's Xavier Briggs threw a strike to Duchein Williams who ran down the sideline for a 46-yard score that pulled the Patriots to within seven at 14-7.

Grayson dominated the remainder of the quarter as it ran a methodical 10-play, 76-yard drive that ended when James Earl Jones ran it in from one yard out to give Grayson a 21-7 lead heading into the half.

Neither team mustered an offensive touchdown in the second half, but Grayson's Ches Whitesides provided the only score of the half when he broke through and blocked a Berkmar punt. Whitesides also caught the punt in one smooth motion, returning it 25 yards for a touchdown.

"We had the block on and he came off the edge free and just took it right off his foot and kept going... I don't know if I've ever seen anyone take it off their foot and run with it like that," Conn said.

Berkmar posed no threat for the remainder of the game as it gained only 15 yards of total offense, giving the Patriots little hope to muster any kind of comeback and pushing Grayson to an impressive 8-0 start.