Grizzlies show promise in 4-team scrimmage
They might be small in numbers but the way Granite Hills High School’s football team played in Friday’s fourteam scrimmage was a positive indication of what the Grizzlies could do this season.
The Grizzlies hosted fellow CIF Central Section Division VI teams Foothill, Kern Valley and Bishop Union, and against all three teams Granite showed promise.
Defensively Granite forced two fumbles against Bishop Union then nearly intercepted Kern Valley’s quarterback. The team had some struggles, giving up touchdowns to both Union and Foothill.
“I liked the fact that we competed, we didn’t give up,” GHHS head coach Dan Williams said. “We showed a little tenacity with the short crew we have. We have a lot of room for improvement. We have some issues up front that we’ve got to fix.”
On offense the Grizzlies were able to move the ball on the ground but it took a couple of tries before they could
tries before they could complete a pass with either senior David Ramirez or sophomore Gage Snider at quarterback. The team did best offensively against Kern Valley where they had big runs and three touchdowns, including a touchdown pass from Ramirez.
“They did some good things,” Williams said about Ramirez and Snider. “But we’re still not reading our progressions, we’re still not managing the offense like we need too. That comes from Gage being a sophomore. And David, I expected a little more out of David. Threw a pretty bad ball there against Foothill. Overall I’m okay (with their performance).”
A big issue for Granite right now is their numbers. They only have 27 names listed on their Maxpreps.com roster but Williams said more players are still coming out. However none of those new players will be eligible next Friday when the Grizzlies host Orange Cove in their season-opener.
“We got Orange Cove coming Friday, they’re going to be pretty darn good,” Williams said.
All we can ask for is for our guys to go out and compete for four quarters. If we can do that and stay close, who knows what can happen. It’s going to be a battle for us and it’s going to be a rude awakening for us because of our number situation.”