GRANTS, N.M. — On Friday, September 25 the Grants Pirates traveled toAlbuquerque to take on the Valley Vikings with a lot on the line.
Both teams were 2-2 going into this match up, with the Pirates coming off a tough, 14-0 loss to the Manzano Monarchs recently, while the Vikings were on a modest, two-game winning streak following losses in their first two contests.
In the end, the Vikings prevailed, but the Pirates (2-3, 1-2 District 6-4A) did see some bright spots.
The game started off a little rough for Grants, with Valley returning the opening kickoff all the way for a 60yard touchdown. After hitting the extra point, the score stood at 7-0 in favor of the Vikings.
The Pirates then had a few more rough drives, offensively, and late in the first quarter they bobbled a punt and left the defense in a tough spot defending the end zone on their own 18 yard line. The Pirate defense eventually gave up a rushing touchdown to senior Zachary Perez-Verdeja and Grants was down 14-0 late in the second.
Valley, with 9:46 left in the second quarter, was able to find the end zone again, on a 46yard bomb, from sophomore quarterback Jeremiah Garcia to senior Gabriel Gonzales, and things looked grim for Grants, which trailed 20-0 at that time.
“We were just thinking that we needed to lock in,” Grants senior lineman Matthew Coykendall said. “They punched us in the mouth pretty hard. But we started picking things up in the second half, and when we started scoring, I think it helped the defense a lot because it hyped us up as well.”
Right before half, the Pirates Offense woke up, marching 87 yards down the field to score a touchdown.
The Pirates started at their own 13, following a failed Valley touchdown attempt, as sophomore running back Julian Fernadez lost five yards to the Grants 8, but responded with a 20-yard run to the Grants 28 with 1:31 remaining. Then, Fernandez was able to get the Pirates all the way down to the Valley 39 on the next play, then Quarterback Atanacio Gallegos threw a nice pass to Ryan Rael in the left corner with :20 remaining for the Pirates’ first touchdown.After the two-point conversion from Fernandez, the score stood at 20-8 entering the break Coming out of half, Rey Chavira returned the kick to the Grants 41 yard line setting up the Pirates for a scoring opportunity. Gallegos passed to Daniel Garcia to the Valencia 29, but a Grants fumble stopped the team’s momentum.
The Grants defense came up big again in Valley’s second drive of the half. Valley drove all the way down to the Grants 32 and the Vikings were looking to score. Garcia tried passes to the end zone three times, but the Vikings came up empty, with Grants’Nathan Nieto batting away one pass.
Valley led 20-8 still, but Grants was about to make a move.
The Pirates started at their own 32 with 5:23 left in the third quarter, and Gallegos hit Fernandez for a 16-yard pass to the Grants 48-yard line. Gallegos followed with another pass to Fernandez to the Valencia 27, a 25 yard gain, after rolling left then passing right.
After a time out, Chavira ran for a 27-yard TD right with 4:18 remaining and the two point conversion failed for a 20-14 Valencia lead and the Pirates were in striking distance.
The two teams traded drives throughout the third and most of the fourth quarter and with 4:24 left in the game, Valley went on its game-winning drive.
With 1:34 left in the game Garcia found Gonzales in the end zone between two defenders for a 27-14 Valley lead. In its final drive, Grants began to march down the field with time running out.
Gallegos connected with Garcia on a long pass to the GHS 35, and after nearly being sacked, Valley was hit with a roughing-the-passer penalty, which put the ball at midfield. Gallegos found Fernandez at the Valencia 42, but time ran out on the Pirates’ comeback bid.
The Pirates have another big contest coming up, their annual Homecoming game, which will take place on Saturday, October 3 at 3 p.m. at the “Port of the Pirates.”