NEWNAN — Jaquez Parks threw a touchdown and ran for another Friday night as No. 6 state-ranked Griffin easily disposed of the Northgate Vikings 35-6 at Henry Seldon Field. Along the way, sophomore Malik Miller added his fourth and fifth touchdown runs of the season as Northgate (0-2) remained winless and Griffin (2-0) remained undefeated heading into its big showdown next week at home against Jonesboro.

Griffin and Jonesboro met in the opening round of the Class AAAA state playoffs last season. The Bears rallied late, scoring twice in the final 2:21 on touchdown passes from Parks to Devontae Freeman, to knock off the Cardinals 47-43.

Parks was at it again in Friday at Northgate, passing for a season-high 240 yards on 15-of-25 passing in a game which pitted two teams many thought would meet for the Region 3-AAAA championship last season. They never did. Nonetheless, Griffin dominated throughout against the defending Region 3-AAAA champs, scoring the game’s first three touchdown to carry a 22-0 lead into the half.

The Bears junior quarterback looked masterful on his team’s third possession of the game as he fired passes of 7 yards to Freeman, 16 yards to Keyston Fuller and 14 yards again to Freeman to set up a 12-yard scoring strike to junior Trey Willis with 1:57 left to play in the first quarter.

Griffin took a 15-0 lead when Miller ended a four-play, 54-yard drive with a 43-yard touchdown run with 10:03 left to play in the second quarter. Miller, who ended the night with a team-high 50 yards on six carries, leading the team in rushing for the second week in a row, also added a two-point conversion run.

Two drives later the Bears went up 22-0 when Parks ran one in from five yards out on 3rd-and-goal. The run capped a five-play, 55-yard drive which took off when Parks hit sophomore Quay Mangham — the game’s leading receiver with four receptions for 134 yards — on a 45-yard pass to bring the ball down to the Vikings’ 8-yard line.

Northgate posted its only points of the game on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Josh Harrison to T.J. Womack on fourth-and-7 on their second drive of the second half. The drive capped a nine-play, 50-yard drive which ended with 2:21 left to play in the third. Griffin stuffed the Vikings on the two-point conversion run and then struck back 12 seconds later on a 2-yard touchdown run by Miller.

The scoring run capped a two-play, 79-yard drive which started when Parks found Mangham on a 77-yard post pattern over the top to bring the ball to the Northgate 2.

Griffin then put the final nail in the coffin when Anforne’ Stroud, who completed 5-of-5 passes for 80 yards, tossing a 52-yard scoring strike to Montico Dodson with 4:17 left to play.

GRIFFIN HIGH

Preseason

Date |Opponent |Time

8/17 |@ Newnan |L 21-14

Regular Season

Date |Opponent |Time

8/31 |@ Dutchtown |W 42-16

9/7 |@ Northgate |W 35-6

9/14 |Jonesboro* |7:30

9/21 |@ Woodland |7:30

9/28 |Stockbridge |7:30

10/5 |@ Riverdale* |7:30

10/12 |OPEN

10/19 |North Clayton* |7:30

10/26 |@ Upson-Lee* |7:30

11/2 |@ Spalding* |7:30

11/9 |Region Playoff

* — Region 4-AAAA, Div. B