Khalan Griffin’s Big Day Leads Brook Hill to 50-14 Rout of Albany

BULLARD – Khalan Griffin was surrounded by defenders, in danger of being sacked.

Most quarterbacks would have thrown the ball away, but not Griffin. He spun away from the defenders, desperately sprinting to find an opening. Finally, it appeared as he dodged a couple more defenders on his way to a touchdown run, his first of Saturday afternoon.

That scene would repeat itself many more times, as Griffin shined in leading Brook Hill to a 50-14 victory against Albany at Herrington Stadium.

He finished with 322 total yards – 183 passing and 139 rushing – as well as five touchdowns in the victory.

"He's a phenomenal athlete," coach Scott Ryle said. "He always makes people miss. Some of the stuff, we'd like to see him stay in the pocket a little longer and get the ball downfield, but he's kind of one of those players that you hate to hold back because he's so dynamic. He turns average plays into big plays."

Griffin consistently made big plays. When Brook Hill (4-1) found itself facing fourth-and-4 to begin the second quarter, he evaded the pass rush to scramble for an 18-yard gain. Less than two minutes later, he ran in for a 10-yard touchdown.

On the Guard’s next drive, Griffin took another broken play for a 44-yard touchdown run. He ran into a wall of defenders but somehow escaped without being tackled with no one else in front of him

"At that point, it's about how bad you want it," Griffin said. "I thought I was going to go down, but I told myself, 'No.'"

Later, he tossed a 47-yard pass to Carson Richards, that eventually set up another one-yard score. Although it seemed obvious Brook Hill’s offense revolved around Griffin, Albany had no answer.

It wasn’t all Griffin, however. The Guard defense was stifling, holding Albany (0-5) to only 38 yards and forcing two interceptions and five sacks in the first half. Lane Barter made perhaps the biggest play, catching a one-handed interception on fourth down at the 1-yard line. That stopped what had the makings of a scoring drive for the Lions.

"Lane is a baller," Griffin said. "He does that kind of stuff in practice. It was kind of shocking because he also has a broken finger. So it was pretty nice."

Brook Hill also recorded another interception in the second half, to force a total of three turnovers.

The Guard scored two more touchdowns in the second half, including a 47-yard run from Kirk Jean-Baptiste, before Albany scored its first of the game. Jean-Baptiste finished as Brook Hill's second leading rusher behind Griffin with 104 yards on 14 carries.

Brook Hill has a bye next week before beginning District 2 Division II play. The Guard will face Dallas Christian at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12 in Mesquite.

Bullard Brook Hill 50, Albany 14

At Herrington Stadium, Bullard

Albany        0    0    6    8    --    14
Brook Hill       8      21   14   7        –    50

First Quarter
BH – Khalan Griffin 14 run (Fisher Bass two-pt), 8:02.
Second Quarter
BH – Griffin 10 run (Jake Shaffer kick), 10:14.
BH – Griffin 44 run (Shaffer kick), 7:20.
BH – Griffin 1 run (Shaffer kick), 0:47.
Third Quarter
BH – Kirk Jean-Baptiste 47 run (Shaffer kick), 11:02.
BH --  Griffin 57 run (Shaffer kick), 6:24.
ALB -- Ryan Hill 2 run (kick blocked), 4:13.
Fourth Quarter
BH -- Jaeger Gowin 4 run (Shaffer kick), 9:26.
ALB -- Hill 23 pass from Ben West (West to BJ Morris 2-pt), 0:20.

                                           ALB                   BH
First Downs                          7                     18
Total Yards                           194                   534
Rushes-Yards                  27-40               43-382
Passing Yards                       154                  152
Comp.-Att.-Int.                 8-21-3              9-14-1
Punts-Avg.                       4-27.0              1-23.0
Fumbles-Lost                         1-0                  2-1
Penalties-Yards                     5-45              8-80

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Albany, Jaheim Newton 13-44, Cameron Dacus 4-29, BJ Morris 2-2, Ryan Hill 1-2, Ben West 7-(-37). Brook Hill, Khalan Griffin 13-183, Kirk Jean-Baptiste 14-104, Nick LaRocca 3-40, Jaeger Gowin 7-36, Caleb Gaskin 4-8, Valdemar Henriksen 1-6, Colton Long 1-5.
PASSING—Albany, West 8-21-3--154. Brook Hill, Griffin 8-13-1--139, Casper Engqvist 1-1-0--13.
RECEIVING—Albany, Hill 2-54, Dacus 1-40, Blaine Kayga 2-36, Morris 3-24. Brook Hill, Carson Richards 3-67, Nico Flores 2-41, Seth Moss 1-19, Chandler Fletcher 1-13, Garrett Davis 1-12, Fisher Bass 1-0.