Clinton Gatewood knew this was coming. It was almost like 2013 all over again — except in different colors.
As soon as his former quarterback Kwadra Griggs passed on a last-second offer from Kentucky and signed with Southern Mississippi, the Greenwood High School head coach knew Griggs and his former GHS teammate, Korey Robertson, would do big things for the Golden Eagles.
After redshirting last season for academic reasons, Griggs made his Golden Eagle debut last Saturday by coming off the bench and nearly rallying USM past Kentucky. And in the process was reunited with his old friend and teammate Robertson, a redshirt junior wide receiver.
Griggs’ performance last week — 222 yards on 15-of-26 passing with two touchdowns, no interceptions and a fumble in one half of football — came as no surprise to Robertson, who had seven catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns in Southern Miss’ 24-17 loss to Kentucky and was named the team’s offensive player of the game.
“We’ve been together since we were like 7 or 8 (years old),” Robertson told the Hattiesburg American. “We played peewee ball together, middle school and high school ball together. He’s always the quarterback and I’ve always been his receiver.”
Gatewood said that’s just the beginning for his two former players.
“They will do amazing things together at Southern Miss the next two years,” Gatewood said. “They will set records down there.
“Those two have great chemistry together. They know each other real well. They know each others strengths and what the other is thinking.”
Robertson had 147 career receptions at Greenwood for 2,340 yards and 26 touchdowns. Griggs was on the other end of most all of that.
“From peewee ball to middle school to high school, he didn’t have another quarterback unless he played in the all-star game,” Griggs told the Hattiesburg newspaper. “Other than that, I’ve always been his quarterback. That’s my guy. He’s a playmaker. I’ve never seen one person tackle Korey one-on-one. Never.”
Griggs started four years at quarterback for Greenwood, finishing with is thought to be a school-record 8,165 yards and 72 touchdowns. He was the Commonwealth Player of the Year in 2013 as a senior.
Gatewood said he knew Griggs would be a varsity starter in the ninth grade after watching him play baseball as an eighth-grader.
“The kid was such a great athlete and had such a strong arm. Of course, there were a lot of people who thought I was crazy to start a freshman at quarterback,” he said.
It was a bold move that obviously paid off for both sides.
Griggs and Robertson went their separate ways out of GHS in 2014. Robertson inked with USM and redshirted his first season, while Griggs went to Itawamba Community College.
In two years in Fulton, Griggs threw for 3,200 yards and 27 touchdowns while completing 57 percent of his passes.
Robertson said Griggs is even better than he was when he was setting passing records at GHS.
“It’s been since high school since we played together, so he’s different now,” Robertson said. “He reads things better. He’s more vocal. He’s just much smarter than when he was in high school. When you’re in high school, you’re just good. In college, you’ve got a lot to learn, and I think he’s done that and gotten way better.”
Gatewood will be in Hattiesburg Saturday to watch his former stars play against Southern University (6 p.m., STADIUM TV).
“It’s going to be fun. I got down there in the spring and saw them hook up a few times,” Gatewood said. “This is a fun time of year for me on Saturdays. I went to Starkville last weekend to see (Mississippi State outside linebacker) Marquiss Spencer.”
nContact Bill Burrus at 581-7237 or bburrus@gwcommonwealth.com.
