Apex wins SWAC opener, rolls by Athens Drive football
Apex quarterback Grayson Boyd threw for 250 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score as the Cougars won their first Southwest Wake Athletic Conference game of the season by beating Athens Drive 44-20 at Williams Stadium on Friday night.
Isaiah Totten ran for 89 yards and two more scores as Apex (2-2. 1-0) opened a 34-0 lead.
“We’re going to start a run,” Cougars coach Robert Graham said. “We’re going to try to win conference, and that was one of the first ones we were going to get. We’re trying to do something big this year and win the conference.”
The Jaguars (0-4, 0-1) were playing their first game since Chris Martin resigned as head coach. Jimmy Ray and Chris Martin (no relation to the former coach) served as interim co-coaches this week.
Turning point
The Cougars scored twice in the final 2:26 of the first half, a 1-yard Boyd sneak and a 30-yard pass from Boyd to Hart Simpson, to take a 27-0 halftime lead.
They said it
Athens had shirts made this week with: “Reset, Reload, Get It Done” printed on them.
“I recognize that, ‘Hey, it may not turn around overnight,’” Ray said. “It’s going to be a process. … They’ll grow from this situation. We’re resetting the season, we’re going to reload, and we’re going to work to get it done.”
Three who mattered
Boyd: The senior quarterback was smooth in the pocket, completing 12 of 21 passes.
Ethan Foote, Apex: Foote had a sack and a fumble recovery on defense and also set up a Cougar touchdown with a 50-yard reception in the third quarter.
Xzavier McNeil, Athens: The junior receiver had seven catches for 172 yards and a touchdown.
By the numbers
8: Athens’ rushing yards for the game.
Minus-43: Williams’ rushing yardage. He made two mistakes by trying to throw the ball away while being sacked, but each went backward for huge losses.
201: Williams’ passing yardage.
98: Receiving yards for Simpson, who caught four passes and was the featured receiver for Boyd after Ian Boyd went out with an apparent hernia.
4-3: Athens new defensive scheme, learned in three days of practice this week after the coaching transition.
This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 10:33 PM with the headline "Apex wins SWAC opener, rolls by Athens Drive football."