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Senior Dominic Martinez, 83, with a spectacular catch this past Saturday as the GHS Pirates hosted the Kirtland Central Broncos. The Pirates defeated the Broncos 50-0. Franklin Romero. - CC
GRANTS, N.M. - The 3-1 Kirtland Central Broncos stampeded into the Port of the Pirates this past Saturday with the expectation of giving the Grants High School Pirates a run for their boodle.
However, the Pirates’ defense and offense were like twin swords, slashing that KC stampede to a dead stop. In fact, one could say the Broncos never got their game going as the Pirates won with a commanding 50-0 score.
“The team played very well and had a great game,” said Grants High School head football coach, Rio Thompson.
After a nearly successful drive to the Pirate 7-yard line the Broncos were denied a score and the Broncos never got any closer to scoring the rest of the day.
The Pirate offense struck quickly in the first quarter with senior running back Terrell Hocker sprinting 45 yards for his first of his four TD’s in the game. Senior kicker Michael Trujillo made it 7-0 after kicking the pigskin through the uprights. Trujillo was 4-5 for the night in extra-point kicks.
After a successful drive including a dead-on 17-yard pass from junior quarterback Brandon Furbee to Dominic Martinez, Hocker once again found paydirt with 9:51 on the clock for his second TD of the night — 14-0 after the extra point.
With 5:54 on the display, Furbee had a 22-yard pass in the end zone for Trujillo, his first of the season, and that put the Pirates up 21-0.
The Pirate defense had an interception that led to a 30-yard Furbee to Tyler Everhart pass to put the Pirates ahead 27-0, extra-point missed.
Quarterback Furbee hit Martinez with a short 14-yard pass and made the score 34-0, with 0:00 on the clock at the end of the half. That put the Pirates firmly at the helm of the game.
The third quarter was more from Hockey. As the clock struck 11:33, number 1, ran 80 yards for a TD and the extra point made it 41-0, Pirates. A fumble recovery by the Pirates at 8:51 led to a Hocker TD after he ran 36 yards; the score was then 48-0.
Stymied by setbacks, a KC bad hike caused a 2-point safety for the Pirates to close out the game with 4:45 on the clock. It was all over, 50-0, and the Pirates advanced to 3-0.
“We feel as though we made a statement defeating the #5 ranked team in the state, by such a large point margin,” said Thompson after the game.
The Pirates were awarded another game this upcoming Friday. However, the New Mexico Activities Association did not select the Pirates to play in the championship game this short season. Instead the Lovington Wildcats and the Bloomfield Bobcats will play in the Championship game on Saturday.
The Pirates will host a traditional rival as they play the Bernalillo Spartans (3-0) at 7 p.m. and a limited number of tickets will be available to the public.