CACHE — It was a friendly wave — a gesture as inviting as the Bulldogs’ positive peer pressure last offseason when upperclassmen coaxed Zavon Griffin into joining the Cache football team.
On the second play from scrimmage at Newcastle last month, Griffin had just leapt out of nowhere to pick off a deep halfback pass.
The first person Griffin remembers seeing is Hayden Nunley waving him to come over.
“After that, it was just a wall of blockers so I basically walked into the end zone,” Griffin said.
Nunley and Grant Goodman sprang him with superb blocks in the final 15 yards and Griffin waltzed into Newcastle’s checkerboard end zone untouched for a 43-yard pick-6 — the first touchdown of his football career.
Griffin now has five interceptions and several pass breakups on the season while proving to be one of the top cornerbacks not only in District 4A-1 but all of Class 4A.
And it just so happens that the senior is putting up his no fly zone in his first year ever playing football.
“A lot of friends were telling me I should play so I came out here wanting to play with them,” Griffin said. “A lot of teammates weren’t expecting this, though. I wasn’t even expecting this myself.”
Now Griffin — one of the Bulldogs’ top defensive players — has No. 8 Cache (8-1, 6-0 4A-1) on the verge of its first district title since 1983 when the Bulldogs welcome No. 5 Clinton (8-1, 6-0 4A-1) to Ulrich Stadium tonight for a winner-take-all district title.
It’s all thanks to accountability and a little positive peer pressure.
Lighting a spark
Like any leader, Faron Griffin doesn’t like pressuring kids, but he saw tremendous potential in Zavon Griffin in a weight class last year when he asked some of his soon-to-be senior leaders if they could approach the 5-7, 150-pound cornerback, adding he would be a great asset to the Bulldogs.
“I saw some ability and a spark in him that I wanted out on the field,” coach Griffin said.
One of Zavon’s closest friends, senior safety Brandon Pauley invited Griffin to stay the night and hang out one weekend when he arrived his sophomore year from Fayetteville, Ark.
When they awoke in the morning, Pauley remembers it being freezing cold, but he made Griffin get up early and throw the football around the field with him.
The spark was lit.
“Right then and there I knew he could end up being a huge asset for our team,” Pauley said.
When junior year came around, Griffin and Pauley made a deal that if Zavon played football his senior year, Brandon would play basketball.
It was far from peer pressure. It was accountability.
So when Faron Griffin spotted Zavon in the weight room — always working hard and never complaining — the Cache coach knew he needed the younger Griffin on the gridiron.
“I knew he would be an asset to us and getting him out here obviously has proven that,” chuckled coach Griffin. “In 26 years of doing this, it’s not very often you see a kid in his first year making this big of an impact.
“Zavon is just a great athlete, a great character and a great kid who’s fun to be around. And all that makes all the difference.”
Muenster outbreak
Zavon Griffin first exploded onto the scene south of the Red River back in August.
Taking on Texas powerhouse Muenster — a defending state champion boasting the dynamic QB-WR duo of Parker McGrew and Danny Luttmer — on the road was a brutal assignment for Zavon Griffin and the Cache defense.
Griffin isn’t one to back down from a challenge, though. In just his second football game ever, Griffin snagged two interceptions.
Griffin’s first came on a jump ball in the end zone that he hauled in at the 1-yard line.
“As I was dropping back, I just read the quarterback’s eyes,” Griffin said. “Then I realized my man was running a post route so I just came underneath.”
It was one of two Cache defensive takeaways in the red zone during a scoreless first quarter and it kept the Bulldogs — who led 15-14 in the fourth quarter — in the low-scoring game.
Muenster wound up prevailing, 20-15, to hand Cache its only loss of the season to date, but Griffin’s confidence was soaring as his no fly zone was expanding.
“After we played Muenster," Pauley said. "I knew he was gonna be big this year."
A week earlier against Sulphur — a 2017 Class 3A semifinalist — Pauley was anxious for his friend’s football debut.
“When Zavon first started football, he lacked football knowledge, but that was it. He had good speed, good hands and wasn’t scared of anyone,” Pauley said. “I was nervous for him against Sulphur, but he went out there and gave his all.”
Griffin’s intangibles and football IQ soared in the offseason with the work he put in.
“He came out every day during summer workouts and outworked a lot of people,” Pauley said. “By the time game one came around, Zavon was one of the smartest guys on the team. He’s been huge for us because he’s lockdown and goes 100 percent every play.”
Lockdown has been the definition of Griffin, who plans on studying either electrical engineering or sports medicine in college.
In Cache’s thrilling 42-35 overtime victory over Weatherford last month, Griffin came out of nowhere with Flash-like closing speed to intercept a deep downfield pass — one of two straight second half takeaways with the Bulldogs trailing 28-21.
“I looked back at it and I was kinda flying,” Zavon Griffin said with a smile.
“I don’t know what it was against Weatherford when he stole the ball, but he covered about 30 yards in no time and broke on the ball to make a great play,” coach Griffin echoed. “Zavon has great closing speed and he’s a great athlete. I saw it on the basketball court last year when they ran a full court press.”
Griffin’s favorite memory of the season to date wasn’t one of his lockdown plays. It was the final play against Weatherford when Goodman recovered a fumble to secure the overtime win.
“I was in man coverage guarding my guy and couldn’t see what was going on but the receiver told me, ‘Man, you guys got the ball.’ I turn around and see Grant has the ball in his hands,” Griffin said. “I just start running as the whole team is gathered around and the sideline is rushing in. It was just a great feeling because it was a team win.”
While most teenagers crave offensive glory, Griffin relishes defense.
“Defense is the best part of our team and is what gets us and the fans going,” Griffin said. “In the secondary, we study opponents’ routes on film, make sure we communicate on who’s got inside and outside and just trust each other.”
Griffin had a sixth interception in the bag last week against Elgin until Owls’ wide receiver JJ Johnson became the defender and laid a punishing hit to jar the ball loose.
It’s not like Zavon was handed a starting cornerback job. He had to work for it and beat out several other defenders.
“We have a lot of depth so there’s a lot of competition out there and competition makes you better,” coach Griffin said. “Those guys are fighting for starting jobs every week. That’s one of the things that has made our secondary great.”
Coach Griffin’s mind floats back to Zavon’s pick-6 against Newcastle and identifies it as a play which characterizes the Bulldogs’ entire season.
“It was exciting. It was special how we had a whole wall of kids blocking for Zavon,” coach Griffin said. “It was just really neat because that showed what kind of kids we have. They are all selfless and making plays for others. I think that’s why we’re in the position we are in.”