Lions sink Pirates
GRANGER — It was pandemonium at The Lions Den as the Granger High School varsity football team pulled off a thrilling 17-14 victory Friday night at home against Chilton High School.
Lions junior kicker Jose Valverde was the hero for Granger as he kicked a field goal as time expired to give his team a massive 2A-2 District 13 victory over a Pirates team that came into the night undefeated and the No. 4 ranked team in the class.
“It’s remarkable. I’m speechless,” said Granger head coach Stephen Brosch after the game. “I can’t say enough about what we just overcame this past week after what we did last week ... to come out and beat such a high-quality Chilton team in that fashion, in that manor and to finish a game like that, I’m just super proud.”
After Chilton went down the field and scored on its opening possession to take a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter, the Granger defense was phenomenal the rest of the way. However, the Lions got their first points on the night thanks to a blocked punt by sophomore linebacker Stephen Rogers that went out of the back of the Pirates’ end zone for a safety to draw Granger within a 7-2 deficit.
Following a long pass from Granger senior quarterback Chase Edwards to fellow senior tight end Thomas Youngblood, the Lions got into the end zone midway through the second quarter on a 21-yard touchdown strike from Edwards to senior wide receiver Lucas Matta to put the Lions up 8-7, a score that would hold until halftime as these two strong defenses slugged it out.
After a scoreless third quarter, Granger’s offense got it going with Edwards at the helm down the stretch of this game. With just over five minutes left in regulation, Edwards tossed a perfectly thrown ball over the middle to Youngblood, who made a leaping catch over a defender and got his feet inbounds for a touchdown. Granger tried to go for a two-point conversion but the attempt came up one yard short.
Chilton then returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown that tied the game up 14-14 but the Granger offense did not blink. With the Pirates out of timeouts, Edwards was able to masterfully guide the Lions downfield and into field-goal range as solid running plays ate up time. With just seconds to go, Valverde came on to seal it with a game-winning 32yard field goal as time expired to give Granger the thrilling victory at home.
Granger High School varsity football junior Jose Valverde (1) kicks the ball from the hold of senior Isaac Lizardo (2) for the game-winning field goal as time expires Oct. 20 during the Lions’ 17-14 home victory over Chilton High School. Photo by Andrew Salmi
“It’s just buying into what we were trying to do, take away the big play and collectively throughout the night our secondary,” Brosch said. “I have to tip my hat to them, they ran hit-for-hit, pocket-forpocket with every deep shot that they took.
And we gave up a big play obviously once or twice, but we made enough plays down the stretch to get the job done.”
The Lions (6-2 overall, 2-1 in district) will host Milano High School for senior night next Friday before concluding the regular season on the road Nov. 3 at Bartlett High School.
