Grizz clobber Wind River on Senior Night 46-8

The Rocky Mountain Grizzlies finished the regular season Friday by putting together one of their best overall efforts of the season and steamrolling the visiting Wind River Cougars 46-8.

The win clinched a playoff spot for the Grizz, who head into the postseason at 3-2 in the Northwest Conference and 5-3 overall. They are the third seed out of the west in the Class 1A, 9-man playoffs.

Coach Jessee Wilson said the Grizzly seniors, celebrating Senior Night, chose to wear their brown uniforms one last time, which led to a few number changes. A large crowd sent the seniors off, and the team played a strong game as the team jells ahead of the playoffs.

“We have talked about climbing the peak and getting over the last bump (before the playoffs), and for us that peak is mental errors,” Wilson said. “Over the last two games we’ve done a good job eliminating errors as far as turnovers go, and this week we limited penalties, too.

“I think we’re playing our best ball. We’re playing really well. We’re executing and becoming a little bit more multifaceted in how we can move the ball on the ground and through the air. Our passing game is starting to come along, and it’s paying dividends.”

The Grizz demonstrated their versatility early in the game. Wind River took the opening kickoff and drove to the Rocky 31 with the Cougars’ power running game. But a bad pitch – the first of four consecutive fumbles – was recovered by Masen Twomey. The Grizzlies had the ball but went three and out. Wind River drove to the Rocky 47 but fumbled again, with Twomey again falling on the loose ball.

This time the Grizz struck quickly. With Wind River overloading one side of the line to stop Rocky’s formidable running game, Wilson ran a counter with quarterback Mason Moss, who dashed around left end and sprinted 57 yards untouched to the end zone. A two-point run failed, but Rocky led 6-0. It was the first of seven consecutive scoring drives for the Grizz.

“Give Wind River credit. They tried to shut down our power run game, so they overloaded the strong side,” Wilson said. “It took us a second to figure that out. That (strategy) gave us a numbers advantage on the other side.

“Football is a game of give and take. Credit Wind River for having a plan.”

 Following Wind River’s third fumble on a Ryan Grant hit and a recovery by Landon Pruett, this time on their own side of the 50, Rocky scored again. Moss ran for 15 yards, and Triffen Jolley finished the drive with a 16-yard power run. A pass for two failed, and Rocky led 12-0 in the final seconds of the first quarter.

Wind River put together another strong series and powered to the Rocky 30, but the Cougars coughed up the football again, and Juan Rodriguez fell on the ball. The Grizz hit pay dirt again as Moss faked and weaved through traffic, then turned on the afterburners for a 72-yard touchdown run. This time the Grizz let Will Watts kick the PAT, and Rocky led 19-0.

“That’s the benefit of having a dual threat quarterback like Mason,” Wilson said of Moss’ long runs. “You can treat him like a running back, run him between the tackles. I don’t think I’ve seen him stopped by the first tackler this year. He put on a lot of muscle, and that’s added another dimension to our offense.”

The Grizzlies forced Wind River three on the next series but muffed the punt return, with the Cougars recovering the ball. The Cougars drove to the Rocky 31, but playing safety, Moss picked off quarterback Kolton Martinez at the 10 and returned the interception to the Wind River 48. Watts dashed to the 19 on a double reverse, and two plays later, Moss found Cooper Ward on a quick out, and the sophomore dashed to the end zone from 13 yards out with 20 seconds left in the first half. Rocky led 26-0 at halftime.

Of the five Wind River turnovers, some of the miscues were due to Cougars not hanging onto the ball, but Wilson said Grizzly coaches are also intentional about taking the ball away.

“We spend quite a bit of time every week on a turnover circuit, going through different stations to create turnovers,” he said, “but we also work on (our) ball security circuits. Winning the turnover battle in football, especially high school football, is such a huge indicator of success, and when you do that with the athletes we have, you have a great chance to win the game.”

Wilson said the Grizzlies this year have created 27 turnovers, including nine Moss interceptions, and lost eight, making them plus-19 in turnover margin.

Despite being shut out Wind River did rush for 165 yards in the first half, led by hard charging Jeffrey Rushing.

“They’re big and they’re physical,” Wilson said. “Our interior linemen faced a lot of double-teams and were getting driven off the ball to create a running lane. Rushing is a good back. He’s a load.

Second half

Rocky took the second-half kickoff and drove 59 yards to score. Jolley hurdled tacklers for a 21-yard run, Moss dashed for 11 and senior lineman Tayt Beall took a flea-flicker pitch from Coby Wachob for a 17-yard gain to the 2. Senior lineman Rodriguez took it in from there, and Rocky led 32-0 (PAT failed).

After forcing Wind River three and out, the Grizz scored in one play when Moss found senior Colten Bitton slicing across the idle for a 70-yard touchdown pass, boosting the Rocky lead to 39-0 midway through the third. Following a Wind River punt, the big play Grizzly offense struck again as Jolley gashed the Wind River defense for a 55-yard touchdown run. The Grizz led 46-0, starting the running clock with nearly four minutes left in the third.

As Wilson substituted junior varsity players into the game, Wind River drove 80 yards to score on a four-yard sneak by Martinez. Ben Snyder scored the two-point conversion, making the score 46-8 with 6:40 to play, and the Grizzly second-string offense successfully ran out the clock with freshman Jaxx May behind center.

Moss finished with a game high 156 yards rushing on just four carries, 39 yards per carry. Jolley added 105 yards on six carries. Moss completed six of eight passes for 86 yards, with Bitton catching two passes for 71 yards, Ward one for 13 yards, Jaxson Sponsel one for 9 and Pruett one for 3. May completed one pass for 9 yards.

Twomey finished with a remarkable 31 defensive points on two fumble recoveries, one forced fumble, six solo tackles, four assisted tackles and two tackles for a loss. Jolley added 20 defensive points, Moss 18 and Grant 18, Rodriguez 16, Beall 14 and Pruett 13.

Playoffs

The Grizzlies will hit the road Friday to face the second-seeded (East) Saratoga Panthers, who the Grizz crushed 42-8 at home on September 19. Saratoga is 6-2 on the season with wins over Wyoming Indian, Wind River, Wright, Southeast, Lusk and Lingle and losses to Rocky and Pine Bluffs (50-18).

“They’ve definitely gotten better,” Wilson said. “They made some personnel changes, moved some guys to different spots, which has helped them tremendously. They made adjustments and diversified on offense, too. They’re more balanced now.

The leading weapon for the Panthers is Hazen Williams (#81), and Burris Berger (82) is a top tight end. Quarterback Jace Westring will throw to wide receiver Griffen Bartlett.

Williams and Berger anchor Saratoga’s 4-2 defense at linebacker, and Wilson noted, “They play their backers tight to try to stuff plays at the line of scrimmage.”

At this point, the Grizzlies will be looking to win and advance.

“We’ve got to just worry about us and make sure we’re prepared,” he said. “Everything starts new in the playoffs, and a team’s prior record doesn’t matter. We need a good week of preparation and make sure our heads are on straight and are ready to play ball.”

Kickoff in Saratoga is set for 6 p.m. Friday.