Gryphnation, it’s time to build some hype around this football season.

Last Thursday night, the varsity football team hit the road and headed east to Collinwood, Tenn., for their season opener. Highlighted by three rushing touchdowns by senior Darrick Franklin II and a pair of rushing touchdowns from sophomore James Moore, the Gryphons won 41-8 against the Trojans and sit 1-0 ahead of this week’s home opener.

Since January, the St. George’s community has known that there were big changes coming to the football program. The first domino to fall was the hiring of a new head coach for the team, Coach Tyler Rice. A coach with a well established background at both the high school and collegiate levels, Rice came in and started to lay the foundation for “The Brand” of St. George’s football. Soon followed the introduction of Coach Shane O’Brien as offensive coordinator for the varsity team; O’Brien also currently serves as head coach for the middle school football team. So far, these changes have created positive results for the Gryphons.

This season, the St. George’s offense is led by senior quarterback Darrick Franklin II. Similar to Coach Rice, this is Franklin’s first year at St. George’s, but his impact has already been seen in game one. Franklin rushed for 176 yards, including three rushing touchdowns, a performance that landed him in the Commercial Appeal’s Memphis area boys high school athlete of the week poll.

To Franklin, this season is about the team working together to prove people wrong. Coincidentally, the Commercial Appeal is a part of that group.

“Commercial Appeal released a preseason rankings, and they had us last – I feel like that was the motivation for [Thursday’s] game [and] that’s going to be the motivation for every game,” Franklin said.

In an article published on Aug. 7, St. George’s was predicted to rank last in the Division II-AA region ahead of this season. Franklin wants to change that storyline as the season progresses.

Franklin isn’t the only one who thinks that this opening night win will open the eyes of the community about what St. George’s has the potential to accomplish this season. Senior wide receiver and cornerback Dev Dalsania thinks that the opening game sent a message.

“This first game personally, I think is a statement game, just to prove to the school that we’re not the same team as we were last year,” Dalsania said.

In the first varsity game of the season, the Gryphons proved that there has been significant growth. With the opening two touchdowns by sophomore running back James Moore, St. George’s ran away with the lead, en route to the team’s first season-opening win since the fall of 2020. Additionally, with the game taking place at Collinwood, St. George’s picked up their first away win since the fall of 2021, a game that saw St. George’s take down St. Benedict at Auburndale with a score of 27-16.

It’s no secret that St. George’s has had some tough seasons in recent years on the football field, but with the team reenergized and motivated, this could be the winningest season since Covid.

Moore, who was named the 2025-26 recipient of the Wes Smith Leadership Award on Aug. 7, mentioned that he felt a culture shift with the team being built up together beginning with spring and summer practices.

When asked about how Coach Rice has helped his personal development ahead of this season, Moore talked about how approachable he is.

“He’s just an easy person to talk to for me and he’ll never put you down,” Moore said.

With all of the positivity and a seemingly revitalized group of players and coaches, the product is a Gryphon football team that has shifted its identity.

Dalsania also alluded to a shift in energy since work began for this season. He feels that the team is buying into what Coach Rice is bringing to develop the team, and believes that for the team to be at its best this season, both sides will have to buy in.

“It’s not a one-way street, it goes both ways, so [it’s about] buying into what he’s telling you and really taking that seriously with a purpose,” Dalsania said.

The consistent guidance and encouragement from Coach Rice, along with his strategies to develop players, have been felt tremendously throughout the team.

“He’s constantly helping us and just trying to make each individual player the best they can be,” Dalsania added.

Coach Rice knows that despite starting off strong, there is more work to do in these next few months.

“It’s all about continuing to build this thing and growing each week,” Rice said about his outlook on the rest of the season.

Although Rice is quick to focus forward and get his team on track to take on their next opponent, he is proud of the progress and growth he has seen since beginning spring practices. The physicality in the Gryphon football team is an area of growth Rice is most proud of.

“We were the more physical football team in both games and that’s what I’m most proud of and that’s what we got to continue to be each week,” Rice said about the team in both the season opener at Collinwood and the team’s preseason scrimmage against Fayette Ware.

Physicality has been at the top of Rice’s priority list when it comes to developing his players, and with how the first two tests have gone this season, he is excited to continue seeing his team grow.

In stark contrast to last year’s season-opening loss against Fairley, the Gryphons put together a tough and strong performance, placing St. George’s into the win column early in the season. The win was a moment that brought together the team in celebration, something that meant a lot for Coach Rice.

When asked about his favorite part of the win against Collinwood, Coach Rice explained how important and meaningful it was to see his players celebrate winning with each other.

“After the game, [all of] the smiles and the joy on a lot of the seniors’ faces. That’ll always be with me,” Rice said about the post-game celebration.

Rice acknowledged how, despite being new to St. George’s, he understands what it means for this team to win, especially with how the most recent years have been.

Following the conclusion of the game, the players, cheerleaders, and even parents joined to celebrate the win with a less grandiose, yet just as meaningful, post-game Wagon Wheel together. As Dalsania saw it, it was a moment of uniting the St. George’s community, despite not being at Ferguson Field.

“It’s just one step and we have to keep on stacking the wins,” Dalsania said.

With a more favorable schedule than in previous years, this fall looks bright for the St George’s football team. One of the biggest nights in this fall sports season is next on deck, the home opener for the St. George’s football team on Friday night against Harding.