Jamious Griffin injured

ATLANTA — Even though his time playing in the game was cut short, Rome’s Jamious Griffin never cut short his time with his teammates.

The powerful running back who has been a staple of the Wolves’ offense suffered an injury to his left knee on a play in the second quarter of Friday’s 16-7 Rome win over Buford in the Class 5A state championship game in Atlanta.

“I was just trying to get that first down for the team,” said Griffin, who finished with seven carries for 25 yards. “I got it, but I got hit in the back of the leg and it got weak.”

Head coach John Reid said he could tell Griffin’s three brothers — who are stars in their own right on the Rome squad — were upset.

“I said, ‘Listen. What do you think he wants us to do? He wants us to win this football game,” Reid said. “So we went out there and played hard.”

When he came back out of the locker room to start the second half, Griffin was on crutches and had removed his pads, but his thoughts were still on his teammates as he kept off the bench and continued to go out to huddle with his teammates during timeouts.

“I’m still a part of the game. I couldn’t let them see me down,” Griffin said. “So I had to hype them up and motivate them to keep going.”

His teammates, meanwhile, let Griffin know he was still an important part of the team.

“We went over to him and said, ‘This is for you, we are going to win,’” Rome quarterback Knox Kadum said. “We told him we were going to keep going, and we’re going to bring it home for you.”

Rome was down 7-3 at halftime, but with a reinvigorated defense and Kadum taking control of his opportunities, the Wolves rallied back and finished the season with a 12-game winning streak. Griffin’s smile never disappeared.

“It was just excitement,” the sophomore said. “They were coming up and telling me, ‘I’m doing this for you, Jamious. I’m doing this for you.’ And they would go out there and execute plays. It felt good.”

But the Rome Wolves aren’t ready to rest on their laurels just yet, and Griffin was one of the first after the game to talk about the future following the program’s first-ever state championship.

“It’s the start,” Griffin said. “It was a tough season. We had a streak going coming in here and it’s going to keep going. There’s more to come.”

Jeremy Stewart / Rome News-Tribune Rome’s Jamious Griffin makes his way to a huddle with the rest of the offense during a timeout in the second half at the Georgia Dome. Griffin was injured in the second quarter of the game.