COUNCIL HILL — The last time the Gans Grizzlies visited the Midway Chargers, they outlasted the host team 78-74 on Sept. 15, 2023.
When the same two teams met at the same venue last Friday night, there was no outlasting by the Grizzlies as they routed the Chargers 62-16 in a game called with 2:15 left in the third quarter due to the 45-point mercy rule.
The first quarter was tight as the Grizzlies (2-2) led 18-16 after the first 12 minutes.
Gans got a 34-yard touchdown run by Elijah Blackmon and a two-point conversion run by Jasper Green to put the Grizzlies ahead 8-0 with 10:34 left in the first quarter.
After the Chargers (0-3) tied the game at 8-all with 7:26 remaining in the period, Anthony Vasquez took it to the house from 16 yards out. Green’s two-point conversion pass to Austin Hines put the Grizzlies back ahead by eight points at 16-8 with 7:26 left in the period.
About a minute later, Hines pressured Midway’s quarterback in the end zone. The Chargers signal caller threw the ball away but was penalized for intentional grounding in the end zone to record a safety for Gans and an 18-8 lead.
The Chargers scored in the final minute of the opening quarter to cut their deficit to 18-16 after a period.
The Grizzlies put away the game with a four-TD second quarter as Preston Moore scored on a 7-yard touchdown run and returned a punt 37 yards for a second TD. Vasquez scored his second touchdown on a 5-yard run for the third score of the period, with Green taking it in from four yards out for the final tally. More and Vasquez each scored on two-point conversion runs to put Gans ahead 46-16 at halftime.
Using a running clock in the third quarter, Blackmon scored his second touchdown of the night on a 4-yard run with a two-point conversion run by Vasquez, Lincoln Harvell sacked the Midway quarterback in the end zone for a safety and Luca Flute scored on a 7-yard run to cap the night with 2:15 left in the third quarter as the 45-point mercy rule was enforced without a conversion attempt needed.
“I was really pleased,” second-year Gans coach Gary Hixon said. “They did an awesome job. Like I said last week, the offense needed to take it to a different level. I told the kids we were going to take that first possession on offense and go score, and that’s what we did. The offensive line played very well, considering what they had done so before. Offensively, I was very well pleased of how we came out.”
After a bye week this week, the Grizzlies will return to action when they entertain the Cave Springs Hornets, coached by former Vian softball and basketball coach John Mays, at 7 p.m. Oct. 3 at Grizzly Field in the final non-District BII-4 game of the season.
