Former King’s Fork High School football star Davon Grayson has brought a clean bill of health, confidence and a strong team focus into his junior season with the East Carolina University Pirates.

The 6-foot-2-inch outside receiver had three catches for 31 yards in ECU’s season-opening 28-20 home victory against Towson University on Sept. 5.

The University of Florida and its fans had no interest in the Pirates getting comfortable during their visit on Sept. 12, but Grayson helped his team make itself at home early on by hauling in a 31-yard touchdown reception.

“It felt good,” he said of finding the end zone for the first time this season. “It gave my team a spark, and we threw the first jab that game, so it felt good to go out there and show everyone that we can play.”

The Gators rallied to take a 10-7 lead, but then East Carolina went up 14-10. Florida ultimately held off the Pirates, dealing them a 31-24 loss.

Grayson finished the game with four catches for 56 yards.

“I think I performed OK, but I don’t think I did enough for our team to come out on top, so I’ve still got a lot of things to improve on, and I’m going to continue to build upon the success that I’ve had,” he said.

And Grayson is defining his success in increasingly unselfish terms.

“This year, I kind of have it set in my head that I’m not going to come up with any statistical goals,” he said. “My goal is to go out there every week and do my job very well, compete and do what we’ve got to do to come out on top.”

His sophomore season did not turn out the way that he had hoped, either in terms of personal stats or the team’s win-loss record, but he has a reason to be grateful for that year.

“I feel as though it helped me mature on the field and off the field,” he said. “I’ve been through all the highs and the lows that I think I could experience, so I think it just helped me become the player that I’m becoming.”

His knee, injured during his freshman season, was healed up by his sophomore campaign, but he said his confidence in it had not returned at that point.

“Now I think I’ve got everything back, and I’m back to being the player that everybody expects,” he said.

And he noted that as a junior, he is expected to step up and be a leader.

East Carolina offensive coordinator Dave Nichol expressed confidence in Grayson.

“His attitude and work ethic has never wavered since the moment he got on campus,” Nichol said. “Davon is a guy we are certainly counting on, especially with the positive energy he lifts his teammates with on a daily basis.”

ECU (1-1) visits Annapolis, Md. on Saturday to face the Navy Midshipmen at 3:30 p.m.