Grizzlies shock undefeated Greybull with dramatic win

A Hollywood screenwriter couldn’t have constructed a better script for the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies than their dramatic 35-34 win over the Greybull Buffalos in the Class 1A 9-man semifinals in Greybull.

The second-ranked Buffs were undefeated at 9-0, had crushed Lusk 57-14 in the first round of the playoffs, had defeated Rocky 22-14 on October 10 and were playing at home. But all of that didn’t factor in the heart of the Grizzlies, who took charge early, fell behind in the second half, then drove the field for the game-winning field goal.

The Grizzlies were no slouches themselves, coming into the game 6-3 and riding a three-game winning streak, including a 27-7 romp over Saratoga in the playoff quarterfinals. But to beat rival Greybull in dramatic fashion on the road to punch their ticket to State was special for head coach Jessee Wilson and his team.

“I would say this is probably this team’s signature win, just a roller coaster of emotions and just so much fun — now that it’s over,” Wilson said with a smile. “We knew it was going be a super emotional game going into it. Think about the number of times we played Greybull. There’s no secrets between our two teams, and our games are always just knockdown, drag-out fights. And so, yeah, it does make it a pretty special win, because they’re a good team, a really good team. And Coach Pouska has done a tremendous job with that program, turning it around in a few years.

“It’s just such a battle every time. It’s never going to be easy against those guys. And our kids know each other, too. They’re talking all week, and as much as I try to get them to not (do that), you know that they’ve got something going on back behind the scenes.”

Wilson said there was something deep inside his players that drove them to win the game, beyond the Xs and Os.

“I would say without any hesitation that these guys love each other. They play for each other, and they have a never-say-die kind of attitude,” he said. “We won one game last year, and pretty much every game we lost was a one-score game. And the 2½ games that we lost this year (two quarters played against Pine Bluffs) were very close games. And so they’ve been through the adversity before.

“I think one of the great things about sports is it teaches kids how to deal with that (adversity). And so for me it was a really emotional moment, just seeing our kids respond to that type of adversity and coming out on the positive side of that. I mean, it’s just guts, right? It’s guts and a never-say-die attitude.”

Strong start

The Grizzlies took the opening kickoff and showed they were ready for the big game, driving 61 yards to score as senior running back Triffen Jolley carried the load, rushing for 48 yards on five carries, including a 20-yard burst up the middle for a touchdown. The PAT failed due to a bad snap with a wet ball, and Rocky led 6-0.

“We had a pretty good understanding of how their defense was going to play our offense from a couple of weeks ago when we played them, and so we made some minor adjustments up front,” Wilson said. “They’re pretty aggressive on defense, so we tried to utilize that against them with some different counters and stuff. Going into it we knew that they were really going to hone in on Triffin and Mason (Moss), so that allowed some other guys to get involved and make some really huge plays for us, like Cooper Ward. He had a tremendous game running the ball and catching the ball. Landon Pruett same thing.”

Greybull had to punt on their first series, in part because a snap from center sailed over the quarterback’s head for a 17-yard loss. On the first play of the new Rocky possession, however, a slippery football never got to quarterback Moss from center, and Greybull recovered the loose ball. Wilson noted that Greybull received some rain before the game.

The Buffs got their patented running game going and drove to the Rocky Mountain 20, but a key stop by Jolley on fourth down forced Greybull to turn the ball over on downs.

Rocky punted on the next series, and Greybull drove 77 yards to score as fullback Caiden Sorenson ran hard and quarterback Caden Hunt executed the wishbone offense to perfection, leading to a Hunt touchdown from six yards out. The two-point conversion was good, and Greybull led 8-6 midway through the second quarter.

Remarkably, Rocky Mountain scored three more times in the first half. Two plays after the Greybull touchdown, Jolley broke free for a 68-yard run to the 1-yard-line, which set up a one-yard quarterback keeper by Moss for the score. The PAT put Rocky up 13-8.

An “accidental” onside kick recovered by Ward led to a relatively short field for the Grizz. Moss was then rushed hard on second and 11 from the Greybull 46, but as he recoiled to avoid the Greybull pass rush, he lofted a perfect pass – what one observer called a Patrick Mahomes pass – to Ward, who dashed to the Greybull 1. Jolley took it in from there, and Rocky led 19-8 (two-point run failed).

“That was an incredible throw. I watched that one about 20 times (on film),” Wilson said.

Greybull countered with a 63-yard drive to cut the Rocky lead to five points, 19-14, with 1:24 left in the half, but on the ensuing series, Ward took a counter 59 yards to the Greybull 8, and Moss capped the drive with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Ward crossing over the middle with five seconds left on the clock. The PAT kick bonked off the upright, but Rocky led 25-14 at halftime.

Second half contrast

The second half was marked by a contrast in styles from the opposing offenses as Greybull sustained long, clock-eating drives and Rocky struck quickly. The Buffs took the kickoff and drove 80 yards over nearly seven minutes, finally scoring on a three-yard run by Bennett Sanford. The try for two failed, but Greybull had cut the Grizzly lead to 25-20.

Wilson gave credit to Greybull for sticking with their offensive game plan, being patient and “staying with what they do best.”

The Grizz responded quickly, going 75 yards in two plays as Ward gashed the Greybull defense for a 73-yard touchdown run. Rocky led 32-20.

Back came Greybull, driving 52 yards to score on a one-yard sneak by Hunt. The two-point conversion cut the deficit to four points, 32-28, late in the third quarter.

Rocky went three and out, and Greybull took the lead, driving 77 yards and taking nine minutes off the clock. A four-yard pitch play to Jesse Brown left Greybull up 34-32 after Moss batted away the two-point conversion pass. There was 2:41 left on the game clock, plenty of time for the explosive Grizzlies.

“We practice that exact same situation every week, two-minute (drill) and kick a field goal to win the game,” Wilson noted. “And that’s just what I told them. I was, like, ‘Guys, we do this. We practice this. We’ve practiced this situation probably 20 times. Let’s just go out – we have our tempo offense – and we’re going to win this game.

“And I think the biggest thing is that they were with me. I didn’t see any heads drooping. They were, like, ‘Yeah, let’s go. Let’s go win it.’ Other than the logistics of how we’re handling personnel and other stuff like that, that’s pretty much all I said, like, ‘Let’s just go win this thing. We’ve got two and a half minutes left. That’s plenty of time.’”

Sam Loyning started the game-winning drive with a nice kickoff return to the Grizzly 39, but three plays netted only one yard. On fourth and nine from the 40, Wilson called time out and set up a perfect play – a throw-back screen pass to Pruett. Moss lofted the ball deftly over onrushing Greybull defenders, and Pruett took it from there, dashing 25 yards to the Greybull 35. A Moss keeper right up the middle set up the Grizzlies at 12 with just under a minute to play.

“What doesn’t quite show up (in statistics) is Juan Rodriguez and Tayt Beall out there lead blocking for Landon after the catch,” Wilson said about the screen pass. “I’ve got to give Justin (Moss, assistant coach) a little bit of credit. He was the one that, earlier in that drive, was like, ‘Oh, don’t forget about the throwback. Don’t forget about the throwback.’ I learned that play from Richard Despain (former head coach).”

Three plays netted four yards as the Grizz worked the clock, and on fourth and six at the 8 with seven ticks left on the clock, Rocky called time out to set up a 25-yard field goal attempt. William Watts nailed it, and Rocky led 35-34 with four seconds left as pandemonium erupted on the Rocky sideline and in the stands. Greybull knelt on the kickoff to preserve time, and a final pass completion was quickly stopped, giving Rocky the dramatic one-point victory.

“That was a really awesome moment for William, to see him shine and put the team on his back,” Wilson said of the field goal. “He did a great job. We set it up right where he likes it, and I just told him, ‘You’re gonna make this, you’re gonna make this kick, and we’re gonna win.’ I got a little emotional about it, because it was just so cool to see him have that success, and just to see how excited he was. Man, that was really great, but really I was just proud of him for putting all the emotion aside, just going out there and kicking a field goal like he’s done a million times.”

Wilson noted the role of long snapper Evin Clendenen and holder Moss on the play.

The Grizzlies amassed 413 yards of total offense Friday, running for 315 yards and passing for 98. Jolley gained 138 yards on 18 carries, Ward 137 yards on just four carries. Moss added 42 yards on nine carries. Moss completed four of seven passes, two to Ward for 53 yards and two to Pruett for 45.

Jolley recorded 29 defensive points, Moss 26, Beall 22 and Masen Twomey 20.

Asked if the Grizz might suffer an emotional letdown after beating a local rival in dramatic fashion, Wilson said of the win, though a heartstopper, “We won that game on our way to our ultimate goal,” adding, “I don’t really have a lot of major concerns. We’re going to take care of that. We got a great group of leaders that are going to make sure that we stay on point this week.”

On to Laramie

Now 7-3, the Grizzlies will travel to the state championship game in Laramie Saturday for the first time since 2021 when the Grizz fell to Shoshoni 19-6 in the title game and are seeking their first state title since back-to-back crowns in 1997 and 1998.

The Grizz will face a formidable foe in the form of the top-ranked and undefeated Pine Bluffs Hornets, who crushed Shoshoni 76-24 in the first round of the playoffs and handled Lingle 65-15 in the semifinals to improve to 10-0 on the season.

Rocky faced off against Pine Bluffs on September 12 in Glenrock, and the Grizz were trailing 26-14 at halftime when a lightning storm delayed the game and eventually forced a halt. Rocky trailed 20-0 early in the game but scored two of the last three touchdowns and actually scored a third TD on a pass play that was called back on a penalty. A final pass almost resulted in a score, and though the Grizz trailed by 12 at halftime, they appeared to have momentum, only to see the game called later.

Wilson said the Hornets run an offense similar to Rocky’s and run a 2-4 on defense, “blitzing like crazy” with the four linebackers. Players to watch for include running back/defensive tackle Ty Scarborough (#22), middle linebacker Cameron Jessen (#54) and quarterback Carsten Freeburg (#5).

Kickoff at the University of Wyoming War Memorial Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.