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Pirates come up short in defense battle with Spartans
Pirates indicate a fumble recovery this past Friday at the Port of the Pirates as they hosted rival Bernalillo. The GHS Pirates battled back and forth with the Spartans for four quarters and when the dust settled, they came up one point short, 7-6. The Pirates ended their season 3-1. "This may be the most difficult season any team in the state has gone through, and the fact that these student-athletes never quit and fought the entire year brings joy to the staff's hearts," said GHS head coach Rio Thompson of the game and the short season due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Franklin Romero. - CC
GRANTS, N.M. - Even with three goal line stops the Pirates dropped a razor thin game at the Port of the Pirates to their rival. The Bernalillo Spartans bested the Pirates, 7-6.
“The game was well played on both sides by two very good teams,” said GHS head football coach Rio Thompson.
The game began well for the Pirates as a Bryan Hernandez interception with just over four minutes to go in the first half led to a touchdown off the legs of fellow senior Terrell Hocker who sprinted 80 yards to make the score 6-0. The extra point attempt by senior Michael Trujillo was no good, Pirates led 6-0.
In a tight even match up the Pirates and Spartans sea sawed the rest of the 1st half and it wasn’t until the second half the Spartans saw some light off a pick from GHS quarterback Brandon Furbee which was run to the 1-yard line by the Spartans. The Pirate defense walled up and forced a fumble recovered by GHS Senior Josh Carlson at their own 2-yard line however the drive did not produce any points. The score remained 6-0 at the half.
The third quarter was crucial for Bernalillo as they recovered a fumble and on the subsequent drive were able to make a 25-yard pass for a touchdown for a and the following extra point was good for a 7- 6 lead that they would keep for the rest of the night.
The Pirates had a scoring opportunity as they recovered a Bernalillo fumble at the 1-yard line with nine minutes remaining in the third quarter. The following drive did not produce any paydirt for the Pirates.
The fourth quarter was laden with penalties on both sides as the clock ticked away. Bernalillo slid in control of the rest of the game after an interception with 3 minutes left on the clock in the fourth quarter. Successful clock management clinched the razor thin win for Bernalillo who ended their season 4-0 as the Pirates dropped to 3-1 at the end of their season.
“We knew that Bernalillo was a tough opponent, and we were evenly matched,” said Thompson.
Terrell Hocker, a senior, who was the only scorer for the Pirates in the game, said, “This last game was a pretty tough one to digest. It was our last game as a senior and we also lost by one so it was a very emotional game.”
The Pirates fielded 12 seniors who played their final game as a Pi rate. Senior Bryan Hernandez summed up the game for the seniors, “It was awesome to have one more game with the same people I grew up with playing football. --a memory for a lifetime.”