LaGrange opened the entire high school football program in the state of Georgia on Wednesday, but the performance was not what the team had hoped for and the Grangers suffered a tough 18-3 loss to Douglass-Atlanta.

“I have to give them all the credit, they have an experienced group and they bring back a lot of players from a good team from last year,” said LaGrange coach Matt Napier. “They have a lot of highly talented guys and they played better than us tonight.”

“Our guys played their best tonight and I couldn’t ask for more,” Napier added. “They played their best the whole game.”

It was the Grangers who scored the first points of the 2024 Georgia high school football season when Mason Calhoun kicked a 43-yard field goal with 5:23 left in the first quarter, but that was all the Grangers could do.

After a strong performance in a 27-13 win over Harris County in a preseason game last week, LaGrange’s offense fell back down to earth on Wednesday. The Grangers held a 239-89 yard lead through three quarters and a 280-133 yard lead at the final whistle.

“They were able to win their one-on-ones up front,” Napier said. “I’ve got to do a better job of getting these guys in a position to play well.”

The Astros’ defense forced the Grangers to become a one-dimensional team. LaGrange ran the ball 31 times in the first three quarters and completed just seven passes. He was 42-12 in the fourth quarters.

The defense held strong early, forcing a punt on Douglass’ first drive of the game and then forcing a three-and-out on the Astros’ second drive thanks to a Noah Outland sack on third down. The ensuing punt gave the Grangers the ball in good field position, but quarterback Dylan Barber, making his first regular season start for the Grangers, threw an interception that the Astros recovered at their own 20-yard line.

It was a pivotal moment in the game when the Astros completed a 72-yard pass on the first play of the game that put them in a goal-to-go situation. Douglass turned the ball over and made the two-point conversion to take an 8-3 lead.

A couple of poor special teams plays in the second quarter resulted in the Astros having a short field both times, and they made the Grangers pay for it by scoring a field goal and a touchdown to take an 18-3 lead with 2:25 left in the half.

“When you play against good teams, the special teams have to play well, and tonight they really struggled,” Napier said.

The Grangers wasted every chance to reduce the deficit in the first half when another turnover with less than two minutes left in the first half ruined any chance of taking the lead.

Granger’s offense started the second half with the ball but couldn’t get anything done, ran backwards and was forced to punt.

LaGrange’s offense finally came to life on its second drive of the second half, reaching the red zone for the first time in the game, but was left scoreless when Caydin Thomas dropped the ball inside the 5-yard line and an Astros defender jumped on the ball for a touchback.

The second half was a battle of two elite defenses, with neither team giving an inch. The LaGrange defense kept the team in the game and forced the first turnover with 8:55 left when Drek Williams recovered a fumble and LaGrange gained possession at their own 36-yard line. It didn’t matter, though, as the LaGrange offense couldn’t find a way to attack the Douglass defense and didn’t score any points after the turnover.

“They have a lot of new playmakers on offense and our defense was able to hold them in check and didn’t give up a single point in the second half,” Napier said.

Malachi Fannin-Render led LaGrange’s offense, rushing for 55 yards on 19 carries. Barber struggled in his debut, throwing for just 41 yards on 11 attempts.

LaGrange falls to 0-1 to start the season. The Grangers will return to action on August 23 at home against Early County.