Red, white, and blue were the colors of the night. The memory of what happened on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, were not forgotten at Jacob Rankin Stadium as patriotic balloons, inspirational signs, and 19 recognized home town heroes set the tone for the football game that was under way.
Granite Hills honors the town heroes.
Photo by Marissa Martinez
The Granite Hills varsity football team hosted their first home again against the Corcoran Panthers – redemption was a hopeful thought from the get go, however the Grizzlies fell short in the end, 30-0.
“We just couldn’t get the offense going,” Granite Hill’s assistant coach Gabe Rodriguez said. “But, I’m proud of the ways many boys plays tonight. Tony Trjillo, Brandon Avalos, Tyler Jones, Joel Jacuinde and Blas Roman really stepped up their game.”
The first quarter proved to be exactly what the Grizzlies needed. The Grizzlies defense proved to hold strong as Panthers running back Pete Armbruster and quarterback Austin Fugate fought to gain yards early in the game.
The Grizzlies attempted to get their offense going as they went three-and-out on the opening series. From there the ball was punted into the back/shoulder of Panther Ronnie Ramirez and a Grizzly managed to dive and recover the ball.
Granite Hills, lead by QB Blas Roman.
Photo by Marissa Martinez
Continuing in the middle of the quarter Roman managed to move the ball around and get the Grizzlies within 15 yards of the goal line, but that’s when the Cinderella dream ended for Granite.
“At first I though we had this game,” Granite’s Trujillo said. “I knew that our line just had to keep their block and keep the ball moving tonight.”
Despite all the Grizzlies effort they weren’t able to get the ball moving and their offense going.
However, the Grizzlies still managed to make the Panthers offense tense up. The Grizzlies forced an interception and three punts.
The first half reminded scoreless, however the second half was dominated by the Panthers. In the seventh minute Panther quarterback Fugate made a complete pass to Devonte Johnson for a touchdown, which set up the opportunity for a two-point conversion.
The Panthers then lead 8-0.
Both teams battled back and forth in defense in beginning of the third quarter, but it was the Panthers that managed to pull ahead. Panther junior Ryan Luna had his shinning moment when he was able to intercept the ball and set up Corcoran for another touchdown opportunity.
Later on Abel Garcia helped give the Panthers the touchdown they needed. Abel ran in six-yards for a touchdown, making the score 14-0.
From there frustration seemed to come into play for the Grizzlies.
Coach David Coldiron.
Photo by Marissa Martinez
With two minutes left in the third quarter Corcoran forced another interception that was picked up by Panther Andre Ramirez.
With 20 seconds left Fugate managed to weasel his way around the Grizzly defense for a 42-yard touchdown. Another two-point conversion was made, making the score 22-0.
On a punt return Fugate really proved to be the all-star of his team – he ran the ball in all the way for touchdown. The Panthers lead 28-0, but another two-point conversion was made, making the score 30-0.
“We just need to go out and work harder,” Granite’s Jones said. “We just had too many little mistakes tonight. We need to work on our offense and tackling.”
However despite the score, the Grizzlies improved from last week’s loss of 56-0 against the Handford West High School Huskies.
“We sure did get better from last week’s game and that’s what counts,” Rodriguez said. “I think we got a little tired in the end of today’s games, but it happens. These boys are still learning out here, many of them are just sophomores.”
