Defense wins championships. And for Golden Valley, defense wins games on Friday night.
Following a home loss to the Crespi Celts last week, the Grizzlies entered Friday’s matchup looking for a bounce-back win against the Crescenta Valley Falcons, who shut out their opponent the week prior.
After a back-and-forth matchup, the Grizzlies came on top over the Falcons, 21-7, highlighted by a comeback in the fourth quarter to begin the season 2-1 Friday at Canyon High School.
“This victory goes to the defense,” head coach Dan Kelley told The Signal. “Our defensive coordinator, Michael Carr, did a great job in stopping [Crescenta Valley] and giving the offense the chance to finally find something that can work.”
In the opening frame, the Grizzlies took an early 6-0 lead after sophomore quarterback Jaxon Ray connected with Andrew Markovich for a 13-yard touchdown.
Despite the early score, the Grizzlies were unable to capitalize on their following drives and held onto a 6-0 lead into halftime.
While the offense staggered in the first half, Golden Valley’s defense kept the pressure on Crescenta Valley’s offense and held on to the team’s lead.
In the second half, a Golden Valley turnover led to the Falcons scoring a touchdown on the following drive and taking a 7-6 lead going into the fourth quarter.
While the momentum seemed with the Falcons, the Grizzlies’ defense was relentless and forced a takeaway on Crescenta Valley in the end zone with Kayden McIntyre picking off the Falcons quarterback.
In the fourth quarter, Ray and senior running back Aaron McCormick led the team downfield and capitalized on the remaining possessions.
With a little under four minutes remaining in the game, Ray scored a rushing touchdown off a quarterback sneak and gave the Grizzlies the late lead. And in the game’s final seconds, McCormick iced the game with a 2-yard touchdown after the defense held the Falcons scoreless in the previous possession.
While the offense came alive in the final frame, Kelley gave credit to his team’s defense for keeping Golden Valley in the game and ultimately the win.
“We didn’t play very well on offense in the first half,” Kelley said. “Our defense really won the game for us. Hats off to our kids, we had some great plays.”
Kelley said that he’s glad to see the offense play as a cohesive unit in the fourth quarter but wants to see more production throughout the game.
He was happy to see the team come out with a win and for the defense to perform timely plays in key moments.
“Our defense won the game. Defense wins ball games and we waited a while to score some points,” Kelley said. “We turned the ball over, but our defense was put in tough spots and they responded … we need to learn from this game because we have a lot of big opponents down the road and clean some stuff up.”
With the win, the Grizzlies begin the season 2-1 and rebound after last week’s loss to Crespi. The Grizzlies will have a quick turnaround and prepare for a game on Thursday as the team hits the road to Burbank High School for a matchup against the Bulldogs.
Thursday’s matchup will be Golden Valley’s final non-league game of the season and last opportunity for the Grizzlies and Kelley to prepare before the team kicks off Foothill League play in the following week.
Kelley still believes the Grizzlies have much left to learn but sees the potential on how dangerous this year’s Golden Valley football team can be later this season.
“We need to continue to grow as an offense and a defense and a team,” Kelley said. “We’re playing a really tough Burbank team. I know the record doesn’t show it. They played some tough opponents, so we have our work cut out against Burbank.”
Thursday’s game against the Bulldogs and Grizzlies is set for kickoff at 7 p.m. at Burbank High School.
