Granite Hills Grizzlies miss FG; lose 9-7
It’s every kicker’s dream to kick the gamewinning field goal at the end of a close football game.
For freshman Antonio Valencia, he had the chance. With a little more than 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter and on 2nd-and-11 after a delay-of-game penalty, the Granite Hills High School football team made the decision to go for the 40-yard field goal. The snap was fine, the hold perfect and the kick had plenty of distance. Unfortunately for Grizzly fans, the kick was wide left and Corcoran survived, winning 9-7 at Rankin Stadium on Friday.
The Grizzlies weren’t able to defend their field on Homecoming night. It was their second straight loss by one score or less and the second straight week they struggled to move the ball in the first half.
Earlier in the fourth quarter the Grizzlies were steadily moving the ball down the field, thanks to runs by quarterback Andy Alvarez and running backs Baggio Gutierrez and Salvador Arellano. But on a 3rd-and-7 in Corcoran territory, they were stuffed and lost three yards. And on 4th-and-10, the Grizzlies elected to run a pass play that resulted in a check-down pass to the running back. The pass hit the ground and Granite turned the ball over on downs with 1:30 to play.
But just a few plays later, Oscar Mata recovered a Panther fumble and reignited hope for the Grizzlies. But the first time Valencia lined up for a kick — it would have been from 35 yards — Granite was flagged for a delay-of-game penalty. It was something head coach Marc Salazar took responsibility for.
“That was me. I made the call too late,” Salazar said. “I blew it. I blew it. I took it away from our kids.”
The Granite Hills defense was stout once again, with senior captain Fernando Tapia collecting four sacks. Alejandro Linares logged a sack that set Corcoran back 15 yards, and Michael Simpson batted down a pass earlier in the first half.
“The defense played lights out again,” Salazar said.
Gutierrez scored Granite’s lone touchdown in the fourth quarter on a one-yard run. He set that score up by returning a punt about 40 yards to the Corcoran 12-yard line.
Corcoran’s offense
didn’t fare much better than Granite Hills’. There were a few long completed passes, but all of the Panther’s points were scored on a kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter and a safety in the same period when a Granite snap sailed over the head of Alvarez and into the end zone.
Though dropping the first East Sequoia League matchup of the season isn’t ideal, the Grizzlies will look to get back in the winning column when they visit Lindsay next Friday. They dropped to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the league.