Behind Cary High School’s ‘throwback’ high school football resurgence

One word best sums up Cary High posting its first winning football season since 2011: Throwback.

The Imps’ senior core, led by quarterback Nick Grena, is an old-school group that stuck together through tough times dating back to youth football. Their bond through high school isn’t always the case in this modern-day transfer era.

Grena and senior mainstays such as lineman Tyler Evans, tight end/linebacker Donald Haley Jr. and linebacker Ben Hines played on the same youth teams and grew familiar with their future teammates playing against them.

Mix in younger talent that includes Nick’s brother, sophomore wide receiver Erich Grena, and the Imps have turned around a 1-9 record a year ago to 7-1 overall and 2-1 in Triangle Six 6A/7A Conference play.

“We’ve got a lot of guys working together and believing in each other,” said Cary coach Coleman Tyrance. “Nick has been a great leader in the offseason and during the season.”

The Imps’ unbeaten run came to an end with a sobering 42-0 loss last week to Middle Creek. Adding to the night’s frustration was a touchdown called back for a penalty, a dropped pass in the end zone and other scoreless red zone opportunities.

But even as rain sprinkled on Monday’s practice, Nick and Erich said the team’s spirits aren’t dampened.

The Imps play for a share of the conference title in this week’s regular-season finale, a home game moved up a day to 7 p.m. Thursday against Cardinal Gibbons (8-1, 3-0 Tri Six). Both Middle Creek (7-2, 2-1 Tri Six) and the Imps trail the Crusaders, ranked No. 7 in the state 7A poll, by one game.

Next, Gibbons and Cary await the 7A playoffs, while Middle Creek advances in the 6A division. The N.C. High School Athletic Association brackets are released on Sunday.

Coach Tyrance and his ‘game suit’

Another Cary 2025 anachronism in this “throwback” year was Tyrance granted a fifth season despite a four-year mark of 7-33. The administrative support principal Nolan Bryant provided is scarce at any sports level.

‘’My principal always has been supportive,’’ Tyrance said. ‘’He sets aside time for us to meet. He wants to make sure we have everything we need to move this thing forward.’’

And there’s also an aesthetic “throwback” at work featuring a 1960s Vince Lombardi sidelines look. Tyrance has coached this season wearing a coat and tie. Forget the modern-day Bill Belichick-inspired hoodie.

Although turnaround factors such as building roster depth were products of design, the Lombardi look was a spur-of-the-moment challenge. The players issued it when Tyrance showed up at the 2025 opener’s pregame meal wearing a sport coat instead of the usual coaching attire.

“The players started saying I had to wear a suit during the next game if we won,” Tyrance said.

‘The Imps beat Apex 25-10, winning their first opener since 2019 while also matching their 2024 victory total. Tyrance dismissed the “suit talk” as team banter. He didn’t give it another thought until the following Monday’s practice.

“The players were saying, ‘Wear your suit, coach!’” he said.

At first, he pleaded he never agreed to such a deal. But the players persisted.

“The second game I wore a sport coat and jeans,” Tyrance said. “The third game I wore a full suit. But after that — because I sweat so much during games — I told them I was only going to wear a coat and tie at home games.”

The winning ways continued, home and away, until Cary was 7-0 for the first time since 2004.

Grena family runs strong

Nick Grena said his senior class remained optimistic throughout high school due to their freshmen year leading the JV team to a 9-1 record.

‘‘I think that gave us a lot of hope,” Nick said. “We’re a big family. We had a bunch of guys who were all good friends. Nobody had hatred. Our practices were competitive and that’s why we were so good. We have a bond. We can talk to each other comfortably and critique each other.”

The 6-foot, 180-pounder leads the Imps with 117.3 yards rushing per game, carrying 156 times for 938 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s completed 47 of 104 passes for 709 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions.

This year’s switch to a run-pass option offense is a flip-flop from a year ago when Grena passed more than he ran. The coaches, recognizing Grena’s running ability and an offensive line that was smaller yet more athletic, utilized skills to build around zone blocking.

“Nick is really good at pulling the ball and running with it,” Tyrance said. “He likes to run over people — most quarterbacks his size, that’s not their style — but he’s also shifty.”

Nick has hit enough big passes to match last year’s nine touchdown tosses in 10 games with nine through eight contests. Senior Elias Corn leads the team in catches (17) and yards (260) to average 15.3 yards a reception with three touchdowns. Erich Grena adds 10 receptions for 174 yards (17.4) to lead in touchdown receptions with four.

Erich said when he was a freshman in 2024 watching the varsity go 1-9, he still looked forward to joining his brother on the 2025 varsity. This season marks the first time they’ve been teammates, although they spent a lifetime in the front yard tossing balls — and Frisbees — around.

“He’s definitely demanding to play with,” Erich said. “There’s time he’ll be nice and times he can be a jerk. But I would say it’s better than not playing with your brother.”

From the ground up

The siblings explained a foundation built into the team’s turnaround was the trust Tyrance earned coaching youth football. Tyrance, a Cardinal Gibbons alumnus who played college ball at Western Carolina, was a high school assistant at Gibbons and other schools in the area before added coaching Pop Warner teams. The suggestion was from his wife, Bianca Tyrance, the Cary Pop Warner Football commissioner from 2016 to 2024.

“We’ve known ‘T’ since Pop Warner,’’ Nick said. ‘We know the coaches work hard. They spend a lot of time — more than we know, I think.”

Added Erich, “He has a great relationship with everybody on the team. It doesn’t matter if you’re a player who makes plays or not.’’

Another element to the renewed winning mindset was aided by a talk from 2006 Cary alumnus Josh Adams, who went on to a college career at Wake Forest, rushing for 2,212 yards. Adams played for the 2004 Imps who started 7-0 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs before finishing with a 10-3 record.

“Josh talked to us about what it used to be like at Cary,” Erich said. “He talked about how hard they competed.”

However, there is one enduring Cary aesthetic hovering above the campus and Cooper Field — the town’s landmark water tower on Maynard Avenue. The only change is repainting the upcoming graduation class atop the tower’s bubble.

Imagine the excitement among Cary Imp ghosts perched atop tower looking down upon games.