GRANTS, N.M. - The Pirates lost to district rival the Bernalillo Spartans on the road last week by a score of 38-6, a loss that leaves the Pirates needing to win their next game against Del Norte on October 29 to earn a playoff spot.
The Bernalillo game of 2026 will go down as one memorable game, however, not so much as for the game itself but the weather. The rain caused havoc in the county and also caused a two hour delay, throwing off the timing of both teams as players had to stay in uniform in their respective locker rooms and wait it out.
“We showed up strong, however, we were out without 5 starters and we also lost 3 to injuries during the game–the two hour delay made it hard to stay focused,” said GHS head football coach Gene Riedinger of the wet and soggy game last week.
The Pirates did manage to score off a pass from freshman quarterback Atanacio Gallegos to senior Ryan Rael for six points. However, 2 point conversion did not work out leaving the touchdown as the only score for the Pirates.
“That was a great pass from Atanacio to Ryan—that was a great surprise," said Riedinger as noted this was Ryan’s first year ever playing varsity football.
For their part the Spartans were able to score two touchdowns in the first quarter and a field goal in the second quarter for a 17 to 6 point lead at the half.
They went on to score 21 points in the second half to seal their win and advance to 5-4, 43 while the Pirates dropped to 3-6, 2-5 as they square off with Del Norte who are 1-8, 1-6 and are coming off a 15-12 win over Rio Grande.
Key players that were injured and did not play were sophomore running back Julian “JuJu” Fernandez,running back Colin Lundstrom and running back Ray Chavira. Also, punter Ernesto Martinez was out of the game.
The Pirates will take on the Del Norte Knights this Thursday, October 29 at 7:00pm in a must win game.
“We need to win to make the playoffs and if we win we also set a school record of 4 straight playoff appearances,” said Riedinger of that game.
Coach Riedinger will not know which players are healthy to play until gameday on Thursday.
The Laguna-Acoma football team is currently 2-7,1-2 after a 78-26 loss to Zuni on October 23. Next up will be a game with Hozho Academy on October 30 at home in their final game of the regular season.
CIBOLA COUNTY SPORTS ROUND-UP
The GHS volleyball team is currently 6-14, 0-5 after a 3-9 loss to Hope Christian last week. Next up for the Pirates is Belen at home on October 27 followed by Valencia at home on October 29. The Laguna-Acoma girls volleyball team is 8-8, 4-2 and will play Newcomb on October 28 on the road.
The Grants Pirates Plunder cross country meet was cancelled last week due to rain and this Friday, October 30 will be the 4-A district 6 track meet.
The GHS soccer teams wrapped up their regular season last week. The boys GHS soccer team ended up with a 2-14--4, 1-6-1record and the GHS girls soccer team wrapped up their regular season with a 3-16, 1-7 record.