LaGrange chases first region championship win since 2006

Welcome back to this week's High Five Sports Game of the Week. We'll take us to Troup County. It is a showdown between the Griffin Bears and the LaGrange Grangers. Let's get out to Fox 5 Sports' Lexi Bowden with a look at the big matchup. Lexi? Yeah, an amazing night for football down here in LaGrange as they host the Griffin Bears. And this is really a de facto region championship game because if LaGrange wins tonight, they will clinch their first region title since 2006. Seventh-year head coach Matt Napier with me right now. Matt, I mean, a lot of emotions coming into tonight. What would it mean to be able to clinch that title for the first time in 20 years? Well, there's a lot of rich tradition at LaGrange High School, and our program is – or our city takes a lot of pride in our football program. And it would mean a lot, mean a lot to the old-timers that have been around here. They know the Griffin-LaGrange rivalry, and it's a big game anyway. But you throw in what's at stake, it makes it an even bigger game. So it will be great for our program, another step in the right direction. We've had a lot of success, but we haven't quite won that region championship yet. So we know we've got a great opponent in Griffin, tough opponent. We've got to come out and execute. And if we do, then there will be a lot of happy Granger fans. Oh, for sure. And I see the students packing the stands already. But your first year was in 2020. You guys have been in the playoffs every single year that you've been at the helm. What can you say is different about this team this year? Well, a lot of experience gained through the years because we graduated two teams that were in back-to-back semifinals and 29 seniors last year. So we've got a lot of new starters this year. So we had some early bumps in the season that we had to get over, but we knew we had a talented football team, and we just had to start kind of building that chemistry. And then once we got through some things that we went through early in the season, it gave us the opportunity to really – Really become a tighter team so we're able to win some of these tight games against some great opponents. Awesome. Well, thanks so much, Coach Napier. Wishing you guys the best of luck. We'll have much more highlights coming up later. It's our high five game of the week. But for now, Lexi Bowden for Fox 5 News. Looks like a great night out there for some high school football. Looks great. Lexi, thanks.