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900 W. Main St.,
PO Box 690 Grangeville, ID 83530
Phone: 208.983.1200 |
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| GHS powers over St. Maries 21-0 |
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| Football roundups |
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 | | Free Press/Matthew Neal | | Council defender clips Salmon River’s Ethan Couie in the back Friday during a passing play which drew a flag for pass interference. The Savages went on to beat the Lumberjacks 40-28 for the league opener in Riggins. |
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By Matthew Neal
Unlike last year's shaky start and subsequent first game loss, the Grangeville High School Bulldogs powered their way over the competition Friday night and completely shut down St. Maries 21-0.
"The offense executed well," Grangeville's head football coach Matt Elven said.
"They (the offense) took a 21-point lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the second quarter," he said.
After that, however, Grangeville's offense stalled and remained flat for the remainder of the game and it was then up to the defense to protect their lead.
"From that point on, the offense struggled to make blocking adjustments and function as a collective unit," Elven said.
"I think a large part of our problem in execution was the timing of our plays. In all honesty, our player rotation system needs quite a bit of work in light of the fact that the reality this year is that we are operating 14 guys," he said.
Bulldog Jason Lorentz had 11 carries for 67 yards followed by Kurt Aiken with eight carries for 50 yards. David Stewart pitched in four carries for 24 yards to give the Bulldogs a combined 27 rushes for 134 yards on the night.
Taylor Kunkel had three receptions for 88 yards followed by teammate Bryan Lauffenberg's two catches for 43 yards. The Bulldogs had seven total receptions for 155 yards from in air.
Bulldog quarterback Justin Polensky connected with Laufenberg on the corner of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter and added another touchdown to the scoreboard with a 1-yard run up the middle. In the second quarter, Polensky completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Lorentz for the Bulldog's final offensive.
"Polensky got off to a good start as a first-year quarterback despite the fact that he was harassed in the backfield on nearly every play," Elven said.
The Bulldog defense was in fine form, which was led by Greg Holcomb with 10 tackles and one interception on the night. Polensky, Kurt Aiken and Stewart also contributed eight tackles apiece while Logan Clark contributed an interception in the end zone that saved a score and led to a touchback.
"I was extremely pleased with our defensive play throughout the whole game and particularly with the improvements in the defensive front in terms of their ability to read and carry out their assignments," Elven said. "As a whole, I felt the entire defensive unit was leaps and bounds ahead of where they were last year at this time," he said. Grangeville (1-0) travels to Kellog Friday for more football action
GENESEE -- The Clearwater Valley Rams may have not have a full roster but what they do have is heart. Even though they lost 38-26 to Genesee Friday, they did manage to make some noise.
Ram Jesse Davis chalked up nearly 400 all-purpose yards, notably 149 yards rushing on 19 carries for one touchdown and an 80-yard kickoff return. Cody Charley had nine rushes for 119 yards and two touchdowns and teammate Jonathan Paul had nine completions for 129 yards.
"All of our players were impressive," Rams head football coach Kolby Krieger said.
"We suited up only nine men and they could have been pretty intimidated looking across the field at Genesee who suited up 25," he said.
Genesee's varsity squad scored all five of their touchdowns and then put in some junior varsity players.
"We moved the ball well against the varsity and even better against the JV," Krieger said.
Cody Charlie rattled off a 96-yard scamper in the fourth quarter and prompted the return of the starting defense on the Ram's next possession. Jake Walker also had a good night.
"Walker ran a beautiful route and pitched the ball back to Davis who had nothing but green field in front of him. Unfortunately he ran out of gas at the ten but out defense stepped up and did not allow them to score," Krieger said.
Krieger said each man on the roster did something for the team that impressed the coached tremendously.
"Our kid's heads were held high after the game," he said.
The Rams (0-1) will gear up for their first home stand Friday against Potlach.
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