The Rams scored early and often on their way to a 41–13 Homecoming victory over Greater Catholic League Coed rival Fenwick on Friday at the Matandy SportsPlex.
The first half told the story. By halftime, the Rams had piled up a 41–0 lead despite running just 13 offensive plays.
“We told the kids we wanted to get off to a fast start — that was the big message," Badin coach Nick Yordy said. “I think they were trying to eat the clock up a little bit in that first quarter, so you start thinking possessions — you’ve got to score when you get the ball. And we just went bam, bam, bam. Our kids were really locked in and focused tonight. You could tell the difference.”
Badin running back Lem Grayson led the charge, continuing what has become a senior season to remember. He rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns on just six carries Friday night. He laughed afterward when reminded about being tracked down on a breakaway run.
“Man, that don’t count,” Grayson grinned. ”I don’t know what you’re talking about. There was a safety, and I was trying to juke him — thought I had everybody beat. I tried to set him up, but it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen.”
Still, the numbers spoke for themselves — minimal carries with maximum impact. And Yordy said Grayson has been carving out a place in program history.
Grayson recently became Badin’s all-time leading scorer.
“Lem’s really working his way up in the record books,” Yordy said. “We’ve had some really good backs here, but now he’s kind of made his mark his senior year. He’s right there with some of the best. I’m happy for him. He’s a pretty humble back too, so it’s great to see.”
For Grayson, the win was about more than just racking up yardage.
“I just wanted to come out there and win,” Grayson said. “Playing a good rival team — there’s a lot of smack talk between both of us — and that just makes the game more fun and more intense. So we came out ready to ball. Last year we were the underdogs, and I feel like this year we’ve got a point to prove. This year, when we’re done, I want to look back and say, we left nothing out there. No doubt in any game. That’s the goal — to leave no doubt every single week.”
Fenwick focused on moving the ball methodically, controlling time of possession and hoping to shorten the game, but each time Badin got the ball, the Rams erased any momentum.
“Football’s a game of big plays,” Falcons coach Fred Cranford said. “At halftime they’d touched the ball 10 times, and you can’t win games giving up that many big plays. Other than watching it unfold, I’ve never really seen or been a part of something quite like that.
“We tried to methodically move the ball. We thought we did — our OC was able to mix it up — we were able to work the clock. But it didn’t matter when they were getting one or two touches and going 60, 80 yards.”
Cranford admitted that youth and inexperience up front has made things difficult this fall, but he stressed that those realities shouldn’t be a part of the gameplan any more.
“It’s a tough game to manage when you’ve got three or four offensive linemen who are sophomores — guys who maybe should be playing tomorrow — but they’re playing varsity,” Cranford said. “Still, we have to keep getting better. We’re not young anymore. These kids have had plenty of Friday night experience, so that’s not an excuse now. We’ve got to grow up.”
Even in defeat, Cranford said he was proud of his team’s fight, noting that Fenwick managed to score twice in the second half and kept swinging despite the deficit.
“I told the guys that you’ve got two choices. You can get out of bed tomorrow with your chin on your chest, pouting and feeling sorry for yourself — or you can go down swinging," Cranford said. “That’s the Fenwick mentality. We’re never bigger than anybody, but we’ve always prided ourselves on ripping our chest open, bleeding red and gold, and coming at people. That’s all I can ask.”
The rivalry angle wasn’t lost on either sideline. While Badin celebrated another emphatic win, Cranford wanted his underclassmen to remember the sting of the loss.
“This is a big rival for us,” Cranford said. “I’m not sure our kids always see it that way, but I wanted to leave them with a very sour taste in their mouth tonight. For our underclassmen, I want you to understand and accept this as a rivalry, because they sure do. That’s why they level up and play hard.”
Badin, meanwhile, now enters a stretch of games where it will be favored heavily, including a road contest at Carroll next week, before finishing the season with two home matchups against Alter and McNicholas.
Yordy said the key will be keeping his players disciplined.
“It’s a little hard — a little difficult at times — because they’re kids,” Yordy said. “But it gives us a great opportunity to focus on ourselves. That’s what we’ve been hard on them about — focus on us, not on who we’re playing.
“Every week we go to practice and work on our execution — time management, two-minute drills, things like that. It keeps the kids locked in. And we’ve got a really good group of seniors who do an outstanding job leading.”
Yordy added that his defense, considered a preseason question mark, has turned into one of the Rams’ strengths.
“That was a spot we were concerned about coming into the year,” Yordy said. “But they’ve done a great job — credit to our coaches across the board — offense, special teams, defense. Everybody’s done an outstanding job. The defense has really overachieved, if you want to call it that. They’ve shown they can go out there and play. We may not be the biggest, but we’re going to play hard — and that’s what Badin football is all about.”
For Fenwick, the loss stung, but the Falcons still have playoff hopes if they can regroup at Chaminade Julienne and then at home against McNicholas and Carroll.
“We’ve got to finish the last three and make the playoffs,” Cranford said. “Every Friday night is a Super Bowl for us if we want to keep playing. You’re not going to win them all — sure, you’d like to — but you have to learn from nights like this. Ten years ago we were the ones on top. These kids weren’t part of that yet. Not yet. That’s what I told them — not yet. And that’s encouraging to me.”
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