GRANTS, N.M. - The Grants High School Pirates defeated the visiting Silver Colts by 7 points last Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals in the Nusenda 4A state football tournament. “We knew coming in Silver plays a tough disciplined brand of football,” said Steve Brown GHS head football coach.
“Our plan was to control the line of scrimmage— stop the run and make them earn every yard.”
Indeed the Pirates battled hard in the first half not allowing the Colts to score. However, the Colts had a similar plan and held the Pirates scoreless as well through halftime.
“At halftime it wasn’t so much about changing the playbook as it was about attitude,” said Brown.
“We focused on staying patient offensively and trusting our defense.”
Brown also told his players to “keep believing” and “trust the preparation.”
The third quarter started like the first half and both teams struggled to get the “0” goose egg off the scoreboard.
Then an the unexpected happened. Early in third quarter action an unfortunate accident put Colts senior quarterback Josiah Madrid out of commission for the rest of the game.
Madrid suffered a serious fractured leg injury on a tackle and was transported off the field by EMT’s and he was unable to finish the game.
Junior back up quarterback Uriajah Arrey took over the helm for the Colts.
After Arrey took the helm the Pirates started to tip control of the tempo of the game to their favor.
In the middle of the third quarter with 7:40 on the clock, Pirates QB Chavez under pressure ran a quarter back kick out to the right and found senior receiver Isaiah Ortega with a 25 yard pass on the money which put the Pirates up 7 points after the extra point attempt.
The defense kept pressuring Arrey and the Colts, preventing them from scoring.
In the fourth quarter action with 5:40 left on the clock on a tough right to left angle pass Chavez struck Pirate gold for a second time as he found wide receiver Coudy Melonas for 30 yards for a Pirate touchdown. The extra point attempt was good and the Pirates took a commanding 14-0 lead.
Hold your popcorn! The Colts weren’t done. Adjusting to Arrey’s style of play the Colts marched downfield to the 1 yard line.
Arrey on a quarterback sneak from the 1 yard line ran in a touchdown and subsequent extra point made the score 14-7.
We have us a ball game!
The Pirates now behind the 8 ball, had to hold the Colts and the lead to secure this win.
The Colts to their credit, with the back up quarterback Arrey, mustered a good drive late in the 4th quarter. Just as the run seemed to end on a 4th down with 5 yards and inches left to go at the 38 yard line —Silver drew a 5 yard encroachment penalty on the Pirates.
Silver called their final time out.
The Colts now on the 33 yard line had inches to go for a first down. What do the Colts do? They went for a short pass—incomplete!
The Pirates took over on downs with just over 2 minutes left and focused on running the clock down.
Silver without timeouts left could only watch the clock expire.
Pirates win the first round of the Nusenda 4A state tournament to the joy of the hometown crowd and players.
The Pirates were not picture perfect in this game as they accumulated over 100 yards in unsportsmanlike conduct, encroachment, holding and offsides penalties. Yet they persevered.
“It was a hard-nosed, physical game and our team showed a lot of heart and composure,” said Brown. “The biggest takeaway is that when we play together–and every person does their job– we’re tough to beat.”
The Pirates will be tested as their next game is against the number 2 team in the state, St. Pius. St. Pius defeated the Pirates earlier this season 34-20.
“Heading into St. Pius we know it’s another strong opponent,” said Brown. “Our focus will be cleaning up mistakes, staying disciplined and carrying this momentum forward.”
The Pirates advance their record to 7-4 and St. Pius, on a bye, has a 8-1 record.
Game time is at 7:00pm at Nusenda community Stadium