Grizz only get a half of football, fall to top-ranked Pine Bluffs

If the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies had been able to play a whole game Friday afternoon in Glenrock, they might have been able to pull off an upset. But as it was, the neutral site game against the Pine Bluffs Hornets was called after the first half due to a strong thunderstorm that struck the area.

The Grizz played defending state champion and top-ranked Pine Bluffs at a “meet in the middle” site in Glenrock, and after a rough start the Grizzlies were putting it all together and playing good football when a lightning storm accompanied by heavy rain caused the game to be cancelled at halftime.

Pine Bluffs came away with a 26-14 win after taking an early 20-0 win.

“It was disappointing, for sure,” Rocky head coach Jessee Wilson said. “We kind of had a tough first quarter. I don’t know if it was bus legs or nerves or what it was. Pine Bluffs, they’re a machine. There’s a reason they’ve won so many titles in recent years. They’re number one now. They’re a good team.”

Wilson said the defensive game plan was to not give up big plays and make the Hornets drive the length of the field to score.

“We did that to some degree,” he said. “They started with an eight-play drive. We kept them somewhat underneath, and a couple of missed tackles really helped them out.”

Pine Bluffs scored on an eight-yard pass from Carsten Freeburg to Cade Fornstrom, and Pine Bluffs led 6-0 (PAT failed).

Senior running back Triffen Jolley ripped off an 18-yard run to start Rocky’s first possession, but then penalties reared their ugly head, Wilson said, and the Grizz had to punt.

Pine Bluffs then went on a nine-play, 64-yard drive, capped by a Freeburg three-yard run, to lead 12-0 (try for two failed).

Defenses led the way for three straight series between the two teams, resulting in punts, but Pine Bluffs finally got a chunk play, a 66-yard run by Freeburg, who then hit Colby Lerwick for two to put the Hornets up 20-0.

“That was frustrating,” Wilson said. “That (play) was something we had repped quite a bit, the quarterback keeper. But we dove inside and he ran right around us.”

Then it was Rocky’s turn for a big play. Cooper Ward helped the slumbering Grizzly offense get rolling, first returning the kickoff 27 yards. After a nice throw-and-catch from quarterback Mason Moss to Jolley, Ward tore loose for a 62-yard touchdown run. Rocky was back in the game, trailing 20-6 (PAT blocked).

“He showed some good burst, for sure,” Wilson said of Ward’s run.

Pine Bluffs responded with an eight-play drive capped by a 30-yard touchdown pass from Freeburg to Eli Currie. Pine Bluffs led 26-6 (two-point conversion failed).

“That one should have been intercepted,” Wilson said. “It floated up there.”

The Grizz responded with a touchdown drive of their own. Moss hit receiver Colten Bitton for 15 and Will Watts for five. After some runs by Jolley, Moss rolled out and hit Watts for a 29-yard gain to the Hornet four. Jolley powered in from there, and after an eight-yard two-point conversion by Jolley after a false-start penalty, Rocky trailed 26-14.

Moss ended the ensuing Pine Bluffs possession with an interception, and with time ticking away, the Grizzlies went into their two-minute offense. Jolley started with an 11-yard run, and Moss hit Coby Wachob for 30 yards to the Pine Bluffs 21.

Moss hit Landon Pruett for eight yards, then threw a touchdown pass to Ward, only to see the play called back on a holding penalty for an action completely away from the play, Wilson said. Moss dashed for nine, then threw a rollout pass to the end zone that was “a hair high” and glanced off both Pruett’s hands and Wachob’s hands. The pass fell incomplete as the half ended.

“That was a bummer,” Wilson said. “We had made a really nice run there, and that would have made it a one-score game.”

The half was over, and the Grizzlies were to receive the second-half kickoff. Unfortunately, the chance to complete the comeback never happened.

“We were starting to get our footing,” Wilson said. “We had good momentum, plus I had some new stuff to run in the second half.”

Just after they came out of the locker room to warm up for the second half, the Grizzlies were sent back inside with about two minutes to go until the kickoff, with officials saying there was lightning in the area. The skies then opened up, and it rained hard. The teams remained in their respective locker rooms for about an hour, Wilson said, when officials called the game.

Wilson said Glenrock had a home game later that day, and players were starting to arrive for the game. Plus, the officials had a game in Wheatland they had to get to by 5 p.m. Wilson spoke with Hornets coach Will Gray, who called the Wyoming High School Activities Association, to consider various possibilities for the second half including playing it later or even the next day. A new date would require another long bus ride for the two teams, and playing Saturday would require a scramble for motel rooms, not to mention the possible disruption of family plans. It was decided to leave the halftime score as the final score.

“I was disappointed for our guys,” Wilson said. “They were feeling good. They got rid of the slows we started with, and it had turned into a good game. But it was a confidence boost for our guys, playing with one of the best teams in the state. Our calling card seems to be seeing how big a hole we can dig and then claw out of it.

“It was good to see the guys compete and rally back. What I love about our team is our competitiveness and that they don’t quit on each other, but I’d love ‘em even more if we didn’t put ourselves in that spot to begin with.”

Wilson said there was a lot of value to playing even half the game.

“It was an opportunity to evaluate our guys and our team at a different level. There were some good teaching takes in there,” he said. “We didn’t turn the ball over, but now we have to work on (avoiding) penalties (eight for 61 yards).”

Moss completed eight of 12 passes for 94 yards, and Watts caught two passes for 33 yards, Jolley two for 1 yard, Wachob one for 35 yards, Bitton one for 15,Pruett one for eight and Ward one for two yards. Ward carried one time for 62 yards, Jolley 10 times for 41 yards and Watts once for six.

Moss finished with 14 defensive points, Jolley and Masen Twomey 13 each.

Home game

The Grizzlies will finally enjoy some home cooking when they host the Saratoga Panthers Friday for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The third-ranked Panthers made the semifinals last season, Wilson said, and are 2-0 this season with wins over Wyoming Indian and Wind River.

“They return a lot of good players from last year and have some really good athletes,” Wilson said. “Evaluating them is difficult since they’ve played Wind River (down this year) and Wyoming Indian.”

Wilson said the Panthers are led by running back Hazen Williams (No. 81) and quarterback Jace Westring (No. 5).

“They run a lot of solid T like Cokeville, with two tight ends and three running backs in line behind the quarterback,” he said. “They’ll also split it out a little bit, and they’ll run some unconventional motion.

“It’s fun to see how we compete against the best teams. That’s what I love about our non-conference schedule, a heavy dose of the two best teams from the east side of the state. Playing two of the best teams from the east before conference play will pay dividends down the road.”