NORFOLK, Va. (WTKR) — When Kendall Jefferson became Granby's head coach last season, he saw opportunity where others didn't.
"We're showing everybody when you coach up a program, what it can be," Jefferson said. "These are the same players here. I love it."
That vision is being realized this year. After going 7-4 in 2023, the Comets are off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 2012. It's a far cry from the program that many of the players watched growing up.
"Before my freshman and sophomore year, when Granby was going 0-10," said quarterback J'Shaun Reddin. "I never thought this would be a school I'd be at."
"They'd talk about how like small, we're a smaller group," said defensive lineman Trievon Hooker. "They predicted us to have zero wins, last year they didn't predict us to go 7-3."
Perhaps no player epitomizes what those doubters saw than Reddin, who transferred to the school from Booker T. Washington.
"I've been hearing that my whole life," he said. "Too short, a little oversized, not mobile."
Once again, Jefferson focused on the strengths rather than the weaknesses.
"The knock on him was he couldn't get the job done," said the second year head coach. "I felt from what was shown, he's shown everyone he can get the job done. He's accepted the challenges."
That commitment to proving himself showed itself in a major way on Friday night against Lakeland. Reddin went a perfect 13-for-13 passing, throwing for 259 yards and accounting for six touchdowns in a 57-0 win.
"First drive, I kind of got a feeling of how it was going to be," he said. "I didn't realize it until after I got home. My dad told me I had a perfect game, I was like, 'That's crazy.'"
"He was locked in the whole game," Hooker remembered. "The only time I didn't see him locked in was when he was on the bus realizing what he just did."
While it's an eye-popping stat line to those outside the program, his teammates and coaches had already seen a glimpse of that kind of performance.
"He went 8-for-9 earlier this year, it should been 9-for-9 but it was a dropped pass," Jefferson said. "We joked with him that you'll probably never have a game like that again. And look what happened."
It's been that kind of year for Granby, which has yet to give up a single point through the first five games.
"Takes hard work, a lot of dedication and you have to have heart," Hooker said. "That's just the standard. We're trying to not let any team put up any points against us."
The Comets look to make it a 6-0 start when Lake Taylor pays a visit to Powhatan Field on Friday night. It's another chance for a program to show the turnaround is no fluke and another opportunity for a quarterback to silence his doubters.
"Being the underdog, but I like being the underdog," Reddin said. "Prove everybody wrong."
