Tyrus Graverson's growth has the Bremen football junior as one of the top wide receivers in the state

BREMEN — Not even playing with one eye can slow down Tyrus Graverson.

The Bremen junior took a shot to his right eye during gym class last Friday, hours before the Lions took on Prairie Heights. The injury was bad enough that Graverson had to wear a wrap around the wound.

“We did try to cover just the eyebrow, but the covering eventually went over my eye,” Graverson said. “Some of the routes I was running, I couldn’t see the ball. There was a hitch (route) I dropped. That was kind of bad.”

Even with impaired vision, Graverson finished with five catches for 107 yards and a touchdown in a 34-0 shutout of the Panthers.

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The junior is having a the monster season. His 869 receiving yards through seven games is second in the state, 6 yards behind Maconaquah junior Fuddy Kile’s 875. They’re the only two players in Indiana with more than 800 yards receiving, per the website MaxPreps.

“I do follow that sometimes, but I try not to think about it too much,” said Graverson of where he stacks up amongst the leading receivers in the state. “I just try to play the best that I can every week and not focus on that as much as possible.”

Developing into a good wide receiver

Graverson started playing receiver his freshman year. He was more of a running back in his elementary and junior high playing days, with the full-time switch to wideout happening once he enrolled at Bremen High.

“(The coaches) saw that I had decent hands and that spot needed to be filled more,” Graverson recalled. “That’s when I started becoming a wide receiver and started working to be better at that position.”

Graverson played on the varsity team as a freshman, finishing with 20 catches, 275 yards and four touchdowns. Those numbers improved last year, to 29 receptions for 539 yards and five touchdowns.

Junior year has been the breakout one for Graverson, as he has 44 catches and eight touchdowns to go along with his high yardage total.

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“Yards after catch,” said Graverson on what he worked on the most in the offseason. “I feel like I’ve always been able to catch the ball decently, and so to be able to help out the team the most I can, being able to run after I get the ball is important. If we need to score, I feel like it’s pretty much mandatory to do that well.”

Lions head coach Jordan Leeper credited Graverson’s commitment to the weight room as a key to his development.

“His freshman year, he spent a lot of time catching a deep pass here and there and wasn’t as strong as he was,” Leeper said. “When he was catching the ball, he’d be knocked down easier. And as he’s grown into this year, he’s a lot stronger.

“He’s our strongest kid in the weight room I believe. He squats over 500 pounds and bench presses 280. He’s a strong kid, and I think that has shown with his ability to catch the football and really get the yards after catch we want to see out of him.”

Another thing benefiting Graverson is his connection with junior quarterback Silas Laidig. Although the two went to different schools growing up, they were friends from going to the same church together. When they began at Bremen together as freshmen, the bond grew even stronger.

Laidig has started 12 varsity games in his career so far. In the five starts he had in 2022 before a season-ending injury, Graverson had his two-best receiving games of the year. Laidig has played all seven games this year so far, forming one of the best quarterback-wide receiver duos in the state.

“There might be people that can guard him while running, but as soon as the ball is up in the air, I don’t know if there’s many guys that can come down with it against him,” said Laidig of Graverson. “I feel like he goes up and grabs just about every ball.”

For the season, Laidig has 1,485 passing yards, which ranks 21st in the state. He has 14 touchdown passes and only five interceptions.

The history Tyrus Graverson is chasing

If Graverson ends up finishing as the state’s top receiver, he’d be the first player from the greater South Bend area to do so since Gehrig Dieter’s historic 2011 season at South Bend Washington, which saw the future Super Bowl champion total a single-season IHSAA record 2,181 receiving yards and 24 touchdowns.

While it would take a special run from Bremen for Graverson to come close to those numbers, he’s on the verge of breaking some single-season program records. Ryan Topper had 1,115 receiving yards in 2015 across 13 games. He also set the single-season receptions record (55) and receiving touchdowns (15) marks as a junior in 2014.

Graverson could pass the receptions and receiving yards by the end of the regular season potentially, while the touchdowns might require a deep postseason run for Bremen – something that’s on the forefront of Graverson’s mind.

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“It’d mean a lot, but it means more how far we go in the postseason,” said Graverson of the records. “It wouldn’t mean as much if we lose in the first or second round of sectionals.”

His coach echoed the same sentiments.

“It’s really about the day-to-day, and we all understand that everybody has a role to play in that,” Leeper said. “If (Graverson leads the state in receiving), great. We know he’s having a fantastic year, but our focus is that our guys are good teammates and prepared for what’s coming down the pipeline. If we get too far down that rabbit hole, the team suffers. Tyrus and Silas are both fully aware of that mentality. It’s about the team and winning.”

This week's High school football schedule

INDIANA

Friday, Oct. 6

Elkhart at Mishawaka Marian, 7 p.m. (NIC)

Bremen at South Bend Riley, 7 p.m. (NIC) (Jackson Field)

South Bend Adams at Jimtown, 7 p.m. (NIC)

Concord at Mishawaka, 7 p.m. (NLC)

NorthWood at Wawasee, 7 p.m. (NLC)

Plymouth at Northridge, 7 p.m. (NLC)

Warsaw at Goshen, 7 p.m. (NLC)

John Glenn at South Bend Clay, 7 p.m.

Fairfield at Lakeland, 7 p.m. (NECC)

Penn at New Prairie, 7:30 p.m. (NIC)

Culver Academy at South Bend Saint Joseph, 7:30 p.m.

South Bend Washington at Hamilton Heights, 7:30 p.m.

LaVille at North Judson, 7:30 p.m. (HN)

Triton at Knox, 7:30 p.m. (HN)

Michigan City at LaPorte, 8 p.m. (DC)

River Forest at South Central, 8 p.m. (GSSC)

Saturday, Oct. 7

Illinois Crusaders at Osceola Grace, 2 p.m.

Tippecanoe Valley at John Glenn, 7 p.m.

NIC: Northern Indiana Conference; NLC: Northern Lakes Conference; GSSC: Greater South Short Conference; NECC: Northeast Corner Conference; DC: Duneland Conference; HN: Hoosier North Conference.

MICHIGAN

Friday, Oct. 6

Edwardsburg at Niles, 7 p.m. (WC)

Buchanan at Bronson, 7 p.m.

Brandywine at Benton Harbor, 7 p.m. (LAC)

Berrien Springs at Dowagiac, 7 p.m. (LAC)

Cassopolis at White Pigeon, 7 p.m. (SW10)

WC: Wolverine Conference; SW10: Southwest 10 Conference; LAC: Lakeland Athletic Conference

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Graverson grows into one of top wide receivers in state for Bremen football