Grizz clobber Wind River, host Upton Friday afternoon

The Rocky Mountain Grizzlies continue to power through their schedule. After a weekend off due to Shoshoni cancelling their season, the Grizz took to the road yet again – their third straight away contest since zero week – and clobbered the Wind River Cougars 49-6 in Pavillion Thursday evening.

Head coach Jessee Wilson said the Grizz used the week off to “work on ourselves” during practice rather than focusing on a particular opponent.

“We spent a lot of time hammering fundamentals in a lot of our base playbook, and I think it was helpful, for sure,” Wilson said. “There’s always the thought of, since you have a bye week, you get an extra week to prepare for another opponent. Sometimes I think people overthink that a little bit, and they just need to worry about themselves. So that’s the approach we took to the bye week.”

Wilson noted that star lineman Masen Twomey missed the Wind River game with a leg injury.

“We had one full-contact practice last week, and Twomey gets rolled up on two days before the game,” Wilson noted.  “I think he’s going to be all right. It seems like he’s progressing and coming back a little bit, so I think we should probably have him for this week.”

As usual, and like most coaches, Wilson said there are still plenty of things for the team to work on, even following a blowout win.

“I don’t think you can ever be too mad when you win, but I’m the worst person to ask how you feel about a game, because I’m never satisfied,” he said. “Our effort is always outstanding, and so I think we win games partly because of that. The kids are always playing as hard as they can, so I was really pleased with our effort.”

Seven different players scored touchdowns in the game.

“I’ve always said I want to have balance (on offense),” Wilson said. “That’s the definition of balance right there – seven different guys in the end zone. … So I was happy with how diverse we were able to be on offense. With our defense we were a little bit ‘bend but don’t break.’ There were some times when I would have liked to get off the field, and I think we gave up about 150 rushing yards, which was a little bit more than I cared to.

“That’s what they do (run the ball). They were trying to hold onto the ball and keep it away from us, because we’re pretty explosive. And we gave up a touchdown, the first touchdown our varsity defense has given up all year. So there are definitely some areas that we need to improve on both sides of the ball.”

Game action

The Grizz scored on the first series of the game as a 16-yard pass from Mason Moss to Jaxx May and runs by Sam Loyning set up an 18-yard touchdown run by Moss. Wilson said the scoring play was nearly a broken play. With the play designed to be a handoff to Loyning, the snap from center was high, so Moss had to run with the ball and dashed for the touchdown through defensive traffic.

“It helps when your quarterback is 6-6 and can jump,” Wilson said of the high snap. With Moss’ PAT, Rocky led 7-0. “He followed Sam to the end zone. If Sam had the ball, he would have scored, too, poor kid.”

Wind River gained some yardage on the first Cougar series, but a tackle for a loss by senior Paul Shetler helped thwart the drive, Wilson said, noting, “Paul had a monster game on the defensive line. He did a great job this week.”

Following a punt, Rocky Mountain drove 79 yards to score. Junior Cooper Ward got the Grizz rolling with two strong runs and a reception for seven. A holding penalty cancelled a 51-yard touchdown run by Moss, but the junior scrambled away from pressure and hit Ryan Grant for a 22-yard gain. After Loyning gained nine, Ward broke free for a 30-yard touchdown run, cutting back inside for the score. Rocky led 14-0.

“I always tell (players) not to cut back against the grain like that, to just use your speed and get what you can,” Wilson said. “And then those little stinkers do it anyway and do something like this and score a touchdown.”

Wind River gave the ball up on downs on the ensuing series, and the Grizz scored quickly. A 19-yard run by Loyning, a 17-yard pass to Grant and a 12-yard run by Moss set up a 13-yard touchdown pass to tight end Evin Clendenen – 21-0 Rocky.

The Cougars worked the ball down the field to score their only touchdown. A swinging gate play set up a one-yard run. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the score 21-6 late in the first half.

Benson Jolley recovered Wind River’s onside kick, and with about a minute or so left on the clock, Wilson wanted to work on a two-minute drill with an up-tempo offense. Unfortunately, he said with a smile, the Grizz scored in two plays – a 34-yard pass to May and a 16-yard jet sweep for a touchdown by May. Rocky led 28-6 at halftime.

Second half

The Grizzly defense stepped up in the second half. A fourth-down sack by Grant on Wind River’s first series of the half set up a scoring drive for the Grizzlies as Loyning scampered for 53 yards to pay dirt, May executing a key block along the sideline. The Grizz led 35-6.

A Grant tackle for a loss and a snap over the punter’s head – smothered by Cooper Winland – gave the Grizzlies a short field, and they scored on an eight-yard pass to Grant – 42-6.

Wind River gave the ball up on downs near midfield, and the Grizzlies tacked on one more touchdown with May operating under center. May hit Jaxson Sponsel to 10 and Jaxson Miller for 20. Jolley gained seven, then eight more for the touchdown. May kicked the extra point, and Rocky led 49-6, the final score.

“We did what we needed to do,” Wilson said. “It was good to see Alex Walker (offensive guard) and Ben (Benson) Jolley (middle linebacker) step in for Twomey. We had some growing pains in some of those areas, but that’s just learning. And that’s also how you develop kids. I was happy with that.”

Final stats

The Grizzlies rushed for 259 yards and five touchdowns and threw for 163 yards and two scores, Wilson said. Moss hit eight of 11 passes for 133 yards, May two of two for 30 yards. Grant caught three passes for 47 yards, May two for 50 yards, Ward two for 23, Miller one for 20, Clendenen one for 13 and Sponsel one for 10.

Loyning carried the ball six times for 94 yards, and Ward had five carries for 69 yards, Moss five for 37, May two for 25 and Jolley three for 23.

Jolley led the team with 26 defensive points on six unassisted tackles, two tackles for a loss and 12 assisted tackles. Shetler added 25 points on eight solo tackles, three assisted stops, two tackles for a loss and two sacks. Moss had 17 points, Grant 15.

Upton to town

The Grizzlies will play their first home game since the August 29 zero week game against Wright Friday when they host the Upton Bobcats at 2 p.m.

Upton is 3-1 at the midway point of the preps season. The Bobcats beat Wyoming Indian 33-0, topped Lingle-Ft. Laramie 20-6, fell to Lusk 23-20 and ripped Southeast 59-30.

“They’re kind of scrappy,” Wilson said. “They look like they’re a younger team, and they do a bunch of things on offense. They go all the way from a double wing to a two-by-two spread. It’s kind of interesting, lots to prepare for out of that.

“Defensively, they’ve jumped on the 2-4 defense bandwagon, and they’ve got some solid players, for sure.”

Wilson said it’s a bit off to play a non-conference opponent in week four.

“I wish we had played all of our non-conference games at the beginning of the year, but having this game in the middle of the year just gives us another opportunity to continue to work on some stuff before we get into the gauntlet of our conference schedule,” he said. “This is kind of a low stakes game in terms of playoff seeding, but it gives us another chance to get better.

“I think we’re getting closer. We’re kind of inching our way toward where we want to be by the end of the year, but we’re not quite there yet. … We want to peak at the end of the year. That’s what we’re shooting for.”