GRANTS - NM The Pirates earned their second “W” of the season after defeating high scoring Dexter on the road this past weekend.
“The defense rose to the challenge,” said GHS head football coach Steve Brown.
“They (Dexter) started the year by scoring 50+ points in each of their games this year—we put a lot of pressure on our defense for this game and they certainly stepped up.”
Brown admitted the offense took a bit to get going, “They opened up in the 2nd quarter where we put up 30 points, from touchdowns from Cardenio Chavez, Isaiah Aldaz, Julian Fernandez and Isaiah Ortega,” said Brown.
“At halftime Brown we talked about not having a repeat of the Miyamura game where we came out flat,” said Brown.
“We were able to avoid that—by trading possessions until they were able to punch one (touchdown) in the third.”
Fernandez and Ortega were able to answer for the Pirates with a second touchdown a piece in the second half.
Concluding the second half Brown said, “We gave up 2 legit TD’s and one more when the game was already decided.”
Brown is looking to improve on that as well as composure when facing adversity, “Sometimes our guys let their passion show a bit too much and cause us to go backwards with pointless undisciplined penalties.”
Senior quarterback Tristin Fernandez had a spectacular night as he went 8 for 15 with 243 passing yards and 5 touchdown passes.
On a defensive highlight Cardenio Chavez, DJ Chaves and Cody Melonas had an interception each in that game.
Next up is a home game for the Pirate—Espanola Valley under a new coaching staff will come to the Port of the Pirates this Friday with also a 2-1 record.
“Looking ahead to Espanola is exciting for us because it starts our district season for us—our guys are looking for some get back after falling to them last year,” said Brown.
The Pirates lost a close game to Espanola Valley 14-7 last year.
“We know we can play with them but they no longer run the Wing T and now run a true spread–air raid offense,” said Brown. “We are also asking our offensive and defensive lines to show their teeth this weekend and be dominant up front.”
Brown was not shy to name who he is expecting to have a big game, Gary Chavez, Chris Archuleta, Emilio Soberanez, Jaxson Wengert, Lebi Smith, and Dominic Riley on offense and Archuleta, Chavez as well as Dominic Otero and Antonio DeVargas on defense.
Brown also acknowledged that the line coach, Ben Willcox, has been “fine tuning” their techniques and physicality.
In a final note, Brown said fans should come early and hear “the cannons going off.”
Game time is 7:00pm at the Port of the Pirates