First-year Gans Grizzlies football coach Gary Hixon knew his team would be in for a challenge when they entertained the Wilson (Henryetta) Tigers last Friday night at Grizzly Field in a District BII-4 contest.

The Tigers left town with a 48-0 win in a contest called at halftime due to the 45-point mercy rule.

The Tigers (6-1 overall, 3-0 in district play) scored 32 points in the first quarter, mostly due to Gans miscues.

“We gave them a short field a few times (due to turnovers),” Hixon said.

However, the Grizzlies (1-7, 0-3) put up a fight in the second period, only allowing 16 points. In fact, the last Wilson TD came with just about two minutes left in the first half that put the game into mercy- rule status.

“We gave them a fight in the second half,” Hixon said.

Hixon also said he believed the secondperiod performance by the Grizzlies is something the team can build on for next Friday night’s Senior Night district game against Wesleyan Christian School (1-7, 1-2), which beat Arkoma 38-8 last Friday night, when the two teams meet at 7 p.m. at Grizzly Field.

“I don’t believe in moral victories, but I think (the secondhalf performance) gave us confidence,” Hixon said. “We just made too many mistakes (against Wilson) that we couldn’t overcome.”