M.L. King outs Miller Grove

The M.L. King Lions now sport a 1-1 record after knocking off the Miller Grove Wolverines 28-21 in a non-regional DeKalb high school football matchup on Aug. 28 at Buck Godfrey Stadium.

The Lions were led by running back Ja’myis Chapple, who completed a hat trick with three touchdowns in the game.

After two consecutive four-and-outs for both teams to begin the game, the Lions struck first with quarterback Brandon Davis connecting with Aaron Graham on a shallow cross that went for an 82-yard touchdown. Japeth Wilson kicked a successful extra point to make it 7-0.

Miller Grove responded on the next possession with an eight-play scoring drive. A 30-yard run by Jarius Goldwire set up Wolverines’ quarterback Willie Jones Jr. to find Roderick Perrymond Jr. on a slant for a 20-yard touchdown to bring the score to 7-6.

Not long after, the Wolverines took the lead with the help of their special teams, after defensive lineman Milton Smithblocked, recovered, and scrambled for a six-yard touchdown. Jones Jr. upped it to 14-7 after scrambling for a successful two-point conversion.

Miller Grove’s defense got involved with a strip and fumble recovery on the Lions’ next drive, with the Lions threatening to tie the game. Three plays later, the Wolverines offense gave it back with a Jones Jr. interception to Johntae Garner.

The Lions almost scored a five-yard touchdown run by Davis, but a holding penalty knocked off the score and eventually caused M.L. King to turn the ball over on downs.

With less than two minutes to play in the half, the Lions defense sacked Jones Jr. in his own endzone for a safety to make the score 14-9. Moments later on the punt, Chapple got his first touchdown on the night with 60-yard return touchdown to give the lead back to M.L. King before heading into halftime with a 15-14 score.

The Lions kept their momentum going out of halftime with Chapple getting his second score of the game after picking off Jones Jr. and taking it 49 yards to the house to increase the score to 21-14.

M.L. King made the score 27-14 after Perrymond Jr. fumbled the ball on the kickoff return, which was recovered by the Lions at the Wolverines’ 16-yard line. Two plays later, Davis found Chapple on screen pass for a 15-yard touchdown. Wilson gave the Lions their final points of the game with an extra point to make it 28-14.

With less than five minutes to play in the game, the Wolverines made the score 27-21 after Jones Jr. connected with Perrymond Jr. on a screen pass and took 86 yards for a touchdown. John Djumpli made it 28-21 with an extra point.

The Lions continued to run the ball to force Miller Grove to use the last of its timeouts, and a final first-down run by Davis let the Lions seal the game with a victory formation.l