Grizzlies taste defeat for the first time this season

The Grace Grizzlies have been riding high this season rattling off five dominant wins in their first five games.  In fact the Grizzlies have not even been challenged much this season with their closest game coming in week two when they jumped out to a twenty-two to zero lead at halftime over Raft River.  In that game the Trojans actually outplayed the Grizzlies in the second half but Grace was able to hold on for a two score victory.  The majority of the Grizzly’s opponents this season don’t have winning records with Grace being the overwhelming favorite in each of those match ups.  That all changed Friday night when the Grizzlies took on Oregon powerhouse Adrian.  The Adrian Antelopes last loss came in the Oregon state championship game back on November tenth of 2023.  One of those wins during that stretch was against Grace last season when the two teams met in a neutral sight game where Adrian came out on top winning by twenty eight points.  In last year’s loss the Grizzlies were really banged up and had to rely on several back up players.  This year the Grizzlies have been able to stay relatively healthy with several talented seniors on the roster.  Going into Friday night’s matchup in Oregon the Grizzlies had hoped that things would be different this year but that’s not how it went.

Right out of the gates Adrian controlled the game on both sides of the ball.  The Antelopes found the endzone three times in the opening quarter taking an early commanding lead.  Grace was able to get on the board themselves in the first quarter but trailed at the break 20-8.  The second quarter was nearly a carbon copy of the first with the Antelopes outscoring the Grizzlies three to one.  At the halftime break Grace now trailed 38-16.  In the second half the Grizzlies tried to make adjustments but struggled to move the ball on a good Adrian defense.  At the end of three the Grizzlies deficit grew to 46-16.  In the fourth quarter the Grizzlies would finally match Adrian in scoring but it was far too little too late and the Grizzlies suffered their first loss by the score of 54-24. 

The normally high powered Grizzly offense really struggled in this game.  Quarterback Gavin Draper was the leading rusher for Grace and was the only player to earn double digit rushing yards.  Draper was responsible for all three scores for the Grizzlies by running in one and throwing two touchdown passes.  Those passes went to Kade Kimball and Parker Yost.  Draper also threw two interceptions.  Bryant Moss, Cooper Andresen, Chase Smith and Parker Yost led the way defensively for the Grizzlies each earning ten tackles.

After a pair of long road trips the Grizzlies will be happy to return to their home field this week but their opponent will present another tough challenge.  The Grizzlies face another out of state powerhouse this time against Rich County Utah.  This will be another challenging game and the Grizzlies will need to play clean to come away with the victory.