Lowndes fires Grage after one season, 5-6 finish

Lowndes fired football coach Zach Grage on Tuesday after a 5-6 finish, the Vikings’ first losing season since 1994.

“This was an extremely hard decision and not one entered into lightly or without a lot of thought,” superintendent Shawn Haralson said in a statement from Lowndes County Schools. “When I accepted this job, I promised the community all my decisions would be made on what is best for the boys and girls of this school system. This is a decision that had to be made in the best interest of our school, team and students.”

Lowndes has won 224 games this century, the most in the highest classification of any program. Lowndes’ streak of six 10-win seasons ended this year.

Lowndes had one encouraging victory this season, beating then-No. 2 Grayson 24-14 in September, but went 2-4 down the stretch. All six Lowndes losses were against teams that have been ranked or remain in the playoffs. Lowndes’ season ended with a 38-14 loss to fourth-ranked Carrollton on Saturday.

Grage was hired to succeed Jamey DuBose, whose two-season record was 20-5 before taking a job in his native Alabama. Lowndes’ previous coach was Randy McPherson, who won three state titles and compiled a 181-46 record.

Grage had coached Thomasville the previous six seasons and led the Bulldogs last season to their first state finals appearance since 1993.