Transfer of power

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Oct. 25, 2001 | 11 a.m.

When Patrick Gray transferred from two-time defending state champion Cimarron-Memorial to two-year-old Centennial High School in 2000, most of his former teammates called him crazy.

When his new Bulldogs team finished the ensuing season 2-7 overall, Gray must have wondered if they were right.

"I was getting a hard time from the players over there after I left," Gray remembers. "I came from a program where I went 23-0 (on the freshman, J.V. and varsity squads), where I hadn't lost the whole time in high school, so last season was kind of frustrating."

One year later, however, the senior running back has put that frustration far behind him. His Centennial squad is 5-3 overall, 3-0 in the Northwest Division and in position to claim a division title with a win over visiting Palo Verde tonight at 7.

"From the beginning of the year, that's what our seniors wanted -- to win this year and put a banner on the wall before we left," Gray said. "We had more kids in the weight room, we took the games week by week, we practiced hard and we've had fun."

The 5-11, 205-pound Gray has been a major factor in the Bulldogs' sudden surge in 2001. After eclipsing the 1,200-yard mark as the team's primary ball carrier a year ago, he is on target for another 1,000-yard season, with 871 yards and seven touchdowns on 154 carries thus far.

Junior Devin Patterson has also contributed to Centennial's ground attack, taking some of the load off Gray and chipping in 543 yards and five scores on just 64 carries.

But as much as the continued development of its top running backs, the Bulldogs' success this season can be traced to the quarterback position, where Gray's younger brother, junior Cory, has added another dimension to the squad's offense.

"He gives us something extra," said coach Greg Murphy, who came to the school after coaching Valley to two Sunrise Division titles in the 1990s. "We can do some things this year that we didn't do last year. We've got a whole smorgasbord that we can use."

Capable of running the option or directing a drop-back attack, the 6-3, 210-pound Cory Gray has completed 40-of-67 passes for 614 yards and nine touchdowns. He also ranks third on his squad with 286 rushing yards and leads the Bulldogs with eight rushing touchdowns.

"My goal was to start at quarterback, and I practiced so much this summer with Coach Murphy," said Cory Gray, a starting linebacker on last year's squad. "I haven't played quarterback since my freshman year, but I'm comfortable with it now."

To win the division, the Gray brothers and their teammates will have to defeat (or lose by fewer than three points to) a Panthers squad that has lost just one game this year, and that by just one point to Cheyenne.

"They're a physical, smart, well-coached team with good athletes," Patrick Gray said. "We have to bring our 'A' game."

Palo Verde features a stable of capable runners, most notably fullback Ryan Worthen (296 yards, 12 touchdowns) and tailbacks Gerrard Lawson (661 yards, seven touchdowns) and Jordan Wilmore (222 yards, three touchdowns), along with experienced quarterback Dayton Ponder, who has thrown for 756 yards and six TDs and run for 155 yards and two more scores.

A loss would drop the Panthers to a No. 3 seed in the upcoming Sunset Region Tournament, and a first-round battle with 7-1 Durango -- a matchup that looked like a potential regional final just two weeks ago, when both clubs were unbeaten.

"No one's happy to lose, but since the loss to Cheyenne we've practiced harder, worked out harder, watched film more closely," Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost said.

"And now that we don't have that undefeated season hanging over our heads, hopefully we can play well this week."