Multiple North Murray Stars earn all-region recognition including Seth Griffin being named 6-AAA Player of the Year.
North Murray Football, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports December 6, 2021
As the 6-AAA All-Region teams are released, North Murray has plenty to Celebrate. For the second time in three seasons, A Mountaineer has taken home the Regions Top Honor.
Seth Griffin has been named the Region 6-AAA Player of the Year. The Junior QB passed for over 2800 yards and accounted for 32 touchdowns on the season. Griffin helped lead the Mountaineers to their 6th straight playoff appearance.
During the season, Griffin threw for 7 touchdowns against Murray County. The 7 TD performance ties him at 3rd on the All-time Georgia High school record list with other notable stars Trevor Lawrence, Jake Fromm, Deshaun Watson, and Stetson Bennett.
Several Mountaineers were recognized on more than one team.
1ST Team Selections
Offense:
WR- Jadyn Rice
OL- Austin Johnson
ATH- Judson Petty
Defense:
DL- Devin Hunte
LB- Liam Rogers
P- Owen Hannah
2nd Team Selections
Offense:
RB- Ethan Dempsey
OL- Carson Manis
OL- Carson Gibson
K- Owen Hannah
Defense:
DL- Carson Gibson
LB- Ethan Dempsey
DB- Judson Petty
Honorable Mention
Offense:
WR- Michael McDade
OL- Ryan Maton
Defense:
DL- Carter Sanford
LB- Logan Gray
LB- Taylor Frazier
DB- Walker James
North Murray clinches playoff spot with road win at LaFayette
North Murray Football, North Murray High School, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports November 7, 2021
LAFAYETTE—On a cold night in laFayette, The North Murray Mountaineers wrapped up the regular season with a playoff spot clinching win. The 30-21 Mountaineer victory secured the fourth and final playoff spot for Region 6-AAA.
It was a slow start for both offenses. The teams would trade several punts throughout the first quarter as the defenses silenced the offensive stars for both teams.
The North Murray offense got on the board first. Late in the second quarter, Sr. RB Ethan Dempsey broke an 11-yard touchdown through the middle of the Rambler defense. The Mountaineers would go for two, but would fall short. The failed attempt left the score at 6-0 in favor of North Murray.
The Dempsey touchdown would be the only score of the first half between the two teams. The Mountaineers would take the 6-0 lead to the locker room at halftime.
The second half began with some excitement. Ethan Dempsey returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown, but it was called back for a block in the back penalty. The Mountaineers would start the drive at their own 23-yard line.
North Murray QB Seth Griffin connected on long passes to Skyler Williams and Jadyn Rice, leading the Mountaineers to the Rambler 21-yard line. A couple of plays later Griffin hit Dempsey on a 21-yard touchdown. An Owen Hannah extra point put the Mountaineers out front 13-0 with 9:34 left in the third quarter.
An unsuccessful onside kick from North Murray gave LaFayette the ball at midfield. The Rambler offense went to work on the short field opportunity. Several Ross Martin runs quickly led the Ramblers down to the Mountaineer 25-yard line. LaFayette QB Jaylon Ramsey put the Ramblers on the board the next play. Ramsey made his way down the sideline 25-yards for the touchdown,bringing the score to 13-7 in favor of the Mountaineers.
The ensuing North Murray drive stalled and they were forced to punt. Luckily for the Mountaineers, they had Owen Hannah. The Hannah punt hit a LaFayette player and was then recovered by the Mountaineers at the LaFayette 20-yard line. After a couple of penalties stalled that drive, Owen Hannah came in again and drilled a 32-yard field goal. The Hannah field goal extended the North Murray lead to 16-7 with just 3:31 remaining in the third quarter.
On the next LaFayette drive the Ramblers were led downfield once again by SR. RB Ross Martin. A steady dose of Martin runs brought the Ramblers deep into Mountaineer territory. Austin Tucker capped the LaFayette drive with a 10-yard rushing touchdown. The Tucker touchdown cut the North Murray lead to 16-14 with 10:29 left to play.
The Mountaineers wasted no time in answering the LaFayette touchdown. North Murray used a mix of Griffin passes and Dempsey runs to move down to the LaFayette 1-yard line in just a little over 4-minutes. Griffin stretched out for a touchdown from the one, and North Murray was up 23-14 with 6:01 to play.
A long kickoff return, aided by a facemask penalty on the Mountaineers gave LaFayette the ball at the North Murray 33-yard line. The Ramblers were backed up by a Carson Manis sack on Ramsey, forcing a 3rd and 34. Ramsey and Rambler receiver Sam Hall saved the drive by connecting on a 40 pass down the sideline for a first down. A few plays later, Ross Martin punched it in from 1-yard out. LaFayette drew to within two points at 23-21 with just 2:33 left to play.
The Mountaineers sealed the win on their next possession. Griffin hit Rice on a short pass and he forced his way down to the LaFayette 19-yard line. Ethan Dempsey would take it from there. Dempsey fought his way down to the LaFayette 7-yard line and then he took in on the next play. The Dempsey touchdown was his third of the game putting the Mountaineers up 30-21, and put the game out of reach for the Ramblers.
North Murray finishes the regular season 7-3 (5-3) and will play at Monroe Area next week in the first round of the GHSA playoffs. LaFayette finishes the season 4-6 (3-5) and 6th place in Region 6-AAA.
Notes: Jadyn Rice went over 1000-yards receiving on the season early in the game. Rice joins Landon Burrell (2019) and Connor Rice (2017) as the only 1000-yard receivers in school history. QB Seth Griffin entered Friday’s game with 2,419 passing yards and leading AAA for passing in the State. North Murray makes the playoffs for the 6th straight season. Ethan Dempsey ties a career high for touchdowns in a game with 3 (Southeast)
N 0-6-10-14–30
L 0-0-7-14–21
SCORING:
1st
No Score
2nd
N- Ethan Dempsey 11yd TD rush (2pt conv. Failed)
3rd
N- Ethan Dempsey 21yd Pass from Seth Griffin (Owen Hannah kick)
L- Jaylon Ramsey 25yd Rush TD (Jacob Brown kick)
N- Owen Hannah 32yd field goal.
4th
L-Austin Tucker 10yd rush TD (Brown kick)
N-Griffin 1yd rush TD (Hannah Kick)
L- Ross Martin 1yd Rush TD (Brown kick)
N-Ethan Dempsey 7yd rush TD (Hannah kick)
North Murray rides big second quarter to Region win over LFO.
North Murray Football, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports October 17, 2021
FORT OGLETHORPE-The North Murray Mountaineers returned to region play Friday night as they traveled to take on the Warriors from Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe. The Mountaineer defense recovered 5 LFO fumbles keeping the offense in great field position throughout the first half. The North Murray offense had no problem converting turnovers into points as they cruised to a 56-17 victory over host LFO.
The North Murray opening drive ended in a fumble giving the Warriors the ball at the Mountaineers 26-yard line. The turnover led to LFO QB Alex Slatton connecting with receiver Keenan Walker in the corner of the end zone for the first score of the night.
The Mountaineers only needed a little over three minutes to answer. A long North Murray drive culminated in a Jadyn Rice 10-yard rushing touchdown.
With the score knotted at 7-7 midway through the first quarter, LFO would begin a scoring drive of their own. After a couple of Will Carroll runs, the Warriors found themselves deep in Mountaineer territory. The LFO drive stalled at the Mountaineer 21-yard line, and the Warriors settled for a 38-yard Alex Hastick field goal. The Field goal put LFO up 10-7 to close out the first quarter.
The LFO lead would be short-lived. Just three minutes later, North Murray QB Seth Griffin connected with Rice on a 42-yard touchdown pass. The Rice touchdown gave the Mountaineers a 14-10 lead.
The Mountaineers extended their lead a few plays later. LFO began their next drive backed up deep in their own territory. A big hit by Carson Gibson jarred the ball loose from Slatton and the ball rolled into the end zone into the hands of Judson Petty. The Petty touchdown put North Murray out front 21-10.
The next three possessions for LFO resulted in a punt and two fumbles. The next three possessions for North Murray all found the end zone.
Over a four-minute stretch in the middle of the second quarter, Griffin completed Touchdown passes to Ethan Dempsey, Jadyn Rice, and Judson Petty. The scoring frenzy put North Murray up 42-10 with 1:30 remaining in the half.
The next play would give the LFO fans reason to cheer. LFO wide receiver Trevon Gott returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. The Gott touchdown brought the score to 42-17 with just over a minute left in the half.
The North Murray offense would not waste the final minute. Aided by two defensive pass interference penalties, The Mountaineers offense quickly moved to within striking distance. Griffin hit Rice for a 33-yard touchdown with just 30 seconds remaining in the half. North Murray headed to the locker room with a commanding 49-17 halftime lead.
The first half fireworks gave way to the second half run game. The Mountaineers owned the only score for the final two quarters. Judson Petty scored on a 1-yard touchdown run after a long time-consuming drive early in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers handed the game over to the reserves for the remainder of the final two quarters.
North Murray moves to 5-2 (3-2) and will travel to Murray County next Friday. LFO falls to 0-7 (0-6) on the season, and will host Heritage (non-Region) next Friday.
NOTES: Seth Griffin finished with 5 first half TD passes. Jadyn Rice had 3 receiving TD’s, and 1 rushing TD. Senior RB Ethan Dempsey had his second straight game with a receiving TD. Judson Petty recorded a receiving TD, a Rushing TD, and a fumble recovery for a TD. Junior Kicker Jafet Cuenca recorded his first points of the season going 6/6 on extra points. Carson Gibson forced 2 fumbles, recovering one while the other was recovered by Petty for a touchdown.
NM 7-42-7-0–56
LFO 10-7-0-0–17
1st
LFO: Keenan Walker 26 yd pass from Alex Slatton (Alex Hastick Kick)
NM: Jadyn Rice 10 yd rush (Owen Hannah kick)
LFO: Alex Hastick 38 yd field goal.
2nd
NM: Rice 42 yd pass from Seth Griffin (Hannah kick)
NM: Judson Petty fumble recovery TD (Jafet Cuenca kick)
NM: Ethan Dempsey 21 yd pass from Griffin (Cuenca kick)
NM: Rice 15 yd pass from Griffin (Cuenca kick)
NM: Petty 20 yd pass from Griffin (Cuenca Kick)
LFO: Trevon Gott 95 yd kickoff return TD (Hastick)
NM: Rice 33 yd pass from Griffin (Cuenca kick)
3rd
NM: Petty 1 yd rush (Cuenca kick)
4th
No Scoring
North Murray Celebrates Homecoming, Blasts Southeast Whitfield 49-14.
North Murray Football, North Murray High School, Sports, Team FYN Sports, TeamFYNSports October 10, 2021
CHATSWORTH- It was an action-packed Homecoming for the North Murray Mountaineers on Friday. The large North Murray crowd enjoyed huge offensive performances put on by Seth Griffin, Jadyn Rice, and Ethan Dempsey. The trio of North Murray stars led the way in a blowout win over the visiting Raiders from Southeast Whitfield.
It only took the Mountaineers 95 seconds into the game to get on the board when running back Ethan Dempsey broke free for his first of three touchdowns on the night. After a Southeast punt, North Murray would strike again as North Murray Quarterback Seth Griffin hit Jadyn Rice for a 60-yard touchdown strike. The Griffin to Rice touchdown put the Mountaineers out front 14-0 late in the first quarter.
Southeast controlled the ball the rest of the first, and into the second quarter. The Raiders put together a long scoring drive that relied heavily on RB Jordan Trevino. The Southeast drive culminated in 4-yard Trevino rushing touchdown with 8:35 remaining in the half. The Trevino touchdown brought the score to 14-7 in favor of the Mountaineers.
The Mountaineers responded later in the second when Jadyn Rice showed off his juggling skills while hauling in a 75-yard touchdown pass from Griffin. The score widened the lead for North Murray which now stood at 21-7.
With just 3:08 left in the half, Southeast put together a drive filled with Trevino runs that led them into Mountaineer territory. The drive was aided by a costly pass interference penalty on North Murray, which help bring the Raiders down to the Mountaineer 3-yard line. Brady Ensley carried it across the goal line from 3-yards out for the Raiders with only 15 seconds remaining in the half.
The teams would head to the locker room with North Murray out front 21-14.
The Halftime festivities would include Abby Young and John Davis crowned as Homecoming King and Queen for North Murray.
Halftime belonged to the King and Queen. The second half of football would belong to the Mountaineers.
Southeast began the half with the ball, but was forced into the first of four straight possessions that resulted in a punt. North Murray was more than happy to capitalize on the Southeast offensive struggles. The first Mountaineer drive of the half would end with a Seth Griffin 27-yard rushing Touchdown. The Griffin touchdown scamper put the Mountaineers up 28-14 with 8:39 remaining in the third quarter.
The next Southeast possession, the Raiders faced a third and nine in their own territory. North Murray’s Austin Johnson came up with a QB sack that resulted in a loss of 8-yards. The Johnson sack forced the second punt of the half for Southeast. The Mountaineers wasted no time finding the endzone again on the ensuing possession. Griffin hit Dempsey on a short pass and He weaved his way through the Raiders defense for his second touchdown of the game.
Ethan Dempsey would continue to be a workhorse in the fourth quarter for the Mountaineer offense. Early in the fourth, Dempsey broke free for a long run and was brought down at the Southeast 1-yard line. Dempsey dove across for his third touchdown of the night on the next play. The Dempsey touchdown would extend the North Murray lead to 42-14. Jadyn Rice added a rushing touchdown later on to close out the scoring at 49-14 in favor of the Mountaineers.
North Murray moves to 4-2 (2-2) and will get back to region play next Friday when they visit LFO. Southeast falls to 1-7 on the season and will be off next Friday.