Grizzlies come close but fall by two to Big Piney

Oh, so close. The Rocky Mountain Grizzlies came within a whisker of defeating Big Piney for homecoming Friday afternoon, trading blows with the Punchers before falling in the conference game, 30-28.

As with most close games, a handful of key plays made the difference in the contest, head coach Jessee Wilson said.

“I thought for about 85% of the game we played a really good football game, and then for the other 15% we lacked a little bit of discipline,” Wilson said. “It’s frustrating to lose a game in that way. It’s been part of our goal since week one, to continue to build that discipline and that  mental fortitude to be able to accomplish your job in high pressure moments. That’s what really good teams do. They can execute in all scenarios.”

Wilson said the game can be looked at from both a positive and negative perspective – positive because of how well the team played overall but negative due to some key mistakes in critical moments.

“I was really happy with how we executed most of the time, but we can’t be the team that beats ourselves every Friday,” he said. “I’m not going to pretend like I didn’t make mistakes, either. There were a couple of situations that I could have handled a little bit better right before the end of the (first) half, and then even when we got the ball back at the end of the game, I think I made some mistakes on a couple of the plays that I called. I certainly own up to that, but it’s a collective effort from coaches to the very last guy on the end of the bench.”

First half

Big Piney fumbled on the first series of the game, with senior Triffen Jolley pouncing on the loose pigskin. The Grizz then drove 60 yards to score. Jolley ran hard on the drive, and quarterback Mason Moss also hit senior receiver Colten Bitton on a 24-yard pass play on fourth and five to the Big Piney 19. The Grizz worked the ball close, and Moss scored on a two-yard quarterback sneak, then kicked the PAT to put Rocky up 7-0 with 2:21 left in the first quarter.

The ensuing kickoff carried out of bounds, giving Big Piney excellent field position at the Puncher 43. The Punchers keep the ball on the ground for the most part, and after six runs and one pass completion, Big Piney speedster Zavier Clifford broke free for a 33-yard touchdown run. A fumbled snap led to a botched PAT, but Big Piney was back in the game trailing 7-6 early in the second quarter. 

Not to be outdone, the Grizz responded with a 72-yard drive of their own. Moss got the Grizz going with a pretty fake and go for a 32-yard pickup, and the offense took the ball inside the Puncher 10. A holding penalty and running play loss set the Grizz back, but Moss found Coby Wachob over the middle for a 21-yard scoring play. With the PAT, Rocky led 14-6 with 5:30 left in the half.

Then it was big Piney’s turn as the Punchers drove 75 yards to tie the score. A fourth-down encroachment penalty kept the drive alive for Big Piney, and quarterback Finley Strong hit Gerardo Galvan for a 37-yard gain. On the next play Puncher running back Cale Dauwen went right up the middle for a 12-yard touchdown run, and after a two-point conversion by Strong, the Punchers and Grizzlies were tied 14-14 with 2:25 left.

The Grizz went three and out, and Moss picked off a halfback pass by Dauwen as both teams stepped up their defense in the final minutes of the quarter.

At halftime, Wilson stressed efficiency and drive completion, noting that the Grizz might have only three or more possessions due to the nature of the play calling by both teams, with each having long, sustained drives.

Second half

The Grizz apparently listened to their coach, because Rocky drove 41 yards to score on the first series of the second half. Sophomore scatback Cooper Ward got the Grizz rolling with a 54-yard kickoff return, and the Grizzlies drove to the Puncher 12, where Moss found a diving Wachob for a touchdown pass. Rocky took a 21-14 lead.

Big Piney responded with an 80-yard drive aided by a pass interference penalty and a missed assignment on a reverse, Wilson noted, that set up a four-yard touchdown run by Dauwen. Strong hit Jacob Brown for a two-point conversion, and the visitors from Sublette County led 22-21 late in the third quarter.

Rocky drove into Big Piney territory on the ensuing series, but following a completion from Moss to Bitton for a nice gain, the ball came loose late in the play and Big Piney recovered. Seizing the momentum, the Punchers drove 65 yards to score, mixing running plays with a short passing game. Clifford capped the drive with a counter from 18 yards out, and Clifford’s two-point conversion left the Punchers up 30-21 with 7:29 left.

Still having plenty of fight, the Grizzlies drove 68 yards to score. Moss got the drive started by finding Bitton slicing over the middle for a 17-yard gain, and after an offsides penalty, Moss hit Bitton again for 12. Jolley ran for 17, then broke through tackles to score on a 17-yard run. The PAT was good, and Rocky trailed 30-28 with 4:38 left.

The kickoff bounced off a Big Piney blocker, and Masen Twomey recovered for the Grizz, who were in business at the Puncher 47. Jolley gained seven yards on first down, but then the drive stalled, and a fourth-and-four pass to Wachob was punched out at the last second. The Rocky defense rose up to force Big Piney three and out, but the Puncher punt left the Grizz at their own 18 with just 1:29 left on the clock.

A loss of six, an incompletion and a delay-of-game penalty left the Grizz facing third and 21, and on a pass play designed to clear a defender out of a reception area, the Puncher cornerback reacted perfectly, recovered and intercepted a Moss pass with an athletic play. Two kneel-downs later, and Big Piney had escaped with a two-point win.

Final statistics were pretty even. Rocky rushed for 186 yards and passed for 124, while Big Piney rushed for 159 yards and passed for 115. Jolley carried the ball 25 times for 129 yards, Moss 12 times for 59. Moss completed 13 of 21 passes for 124 yards, and Wachob caught seven passes for 52 yards, Bitton five for 69 and Landon Pruett one for three.

Twomey led the team with 24 defensive points, and Moss had 20 points, Jolley 16.

One area the Grizz need to clean up is penalties, Wilson said, as the team was whistled for nine penalties on the afternoon.

“We can be a really, really good team if we can just fix some of these things up here,” Wilson said, pointing to his head. “I think we have the athletes to make a really serious run. It’s whether or not we can get it figured out between the ears. This week we’re going to really focus on correcting those errors.”

Thursday road trip

The Grizzlies will travel to Ethete today (Thursday) to meet the winless Wyoming Indian Chiefs for a 5 p.m. kickoff. The Chiefs have fallen to Saratoga 52-0, Wright 72-8, Southeast 48-8 and Wind River 54-0. Wilson said it will be important for the Grizz to play hard to clean up aspects of their play and avoid injuries, despite Wyoming Indian’s lopsided losses so far.

The Grizz will travel to Greybull October 10 for a key conference game.