It got spooky for the Golden Valley football team on Friday on Halloween Eve, but the Grizzlies weren’t scared and achieved their goal and are officially eligible for the playoffs.
The Grizzlies were in a battle all night with the visiting West Ranch Wildcats and faced a pivotal fourth-and-three from the Golden Valley 42 late in the fourth. On came the punt team, only for junior Samuel Flint to fake it and find sophomore Trenton Long on a pass to keep the drive going.
Less than two minutes later, sophomore Cornell Glass was in the end zone for the third time on Friday, and the Grizzlies were able to stave off the Wildcats, 28-20, at Canyon High School.
“It feels great,” Glass said. “I feel like everybody did their own assignments. I feel like everybody played accordingly. I’m just happy that my team played well.”
Flint found himself in another key situation just after the Grizzlies (5-5, 2-3) scored, as West Ranch booted the ensuing kickoff, right to Flint. He corralled the ball and the Grizzlies walked away victorious.
“When I got that ball, I ran it to the crowd,” Flint said. “It’s a good feeling, but playoffs isn’t guaranteed. Hopefully, we can make a slot to playoffs.”
Glass was crucial for the Grizzlies, who lost sophomore quarterback Jaxon Ray near the end of the first half with what appeared to be a lower leg injury. It was nearly all run plays from that point on, and Glass and senior Aaron McCormick answered the call of head coach Dan Kelley with 146 and 140 yards rushing, respectively.
“He’s special, and so is Aaron McCormick,” Kelley said. “So there’s a one-two punch there that I like. You know, we’ll give them three carries at a time, get fresh legs in there, and it’s a great thing to have. A lot of the credit, too, is the offensive line. Javi Quinones, who’s that fullback, you know, kicking those big D ends out. There’s a lot going on in there.”
McCormick added a rushing touchdown along with Glass’ three on the night. He looked to injure himself late in the fourth quarter, only to come back and help the Grizzlies get the win and earn their playoff eligibility after missing out last season by three points.
Ray is likely to be good to go for a potential playoff game next week, according to Kelley.
The Wildcats (2-8, 2-4) finish the season with arguably their best game of the season. They took the first lead of the game on senior Jake Nunez’s field goal from 39 yards out, and then Nunez tied the game at 20-20 late in the fourth quarter with a field goal from 30 yards out. Between those six points were some plays that had Kelley surprised with how much West Ranch had improved as the season went along.
“Hats off to West Ranch,” Kelley said. “They gave us everything they had tonight, and it came down to who had the ball last. They got better as the year went along. They showed a lot of heart. Hats off to them, man.”
Junior quarterback Humza Harsiola finished the game with 215 yards on 18-of-28 passing for West Ranch. Senior Charlie Samuelson had six catches for 85 yards, and junior Nate Striplin had five catches for 52 yards.
Senior Connor McIntosh only ran the ball five times, but he made those count with two touchdowns on the ground in what will end up being the final game of his high school career, along with the other West Ranch seniors.
“This is a team win tonight,” Kelley said. “A lot of bend but don’t break on defense, keeping them out of the end zone. A couple field goals, but we’ve got to get a win on third down. We got to get them off the field.”
All eyes at Golden Valley will now be on the CIF Southern Section playoff brackets, which are set to be released Sunday morning. After that, Kelley will be hoping for another playoff run — and maybe some less stress.
“You know, I’m 52 years old. I told them they almost gave me a heart attack,” Kelley said. “I can’t be handling this right here. You know, you want things to go smoothly, but it was a fourth-quarter battle tonight, and like I said, hats off to West Ranch and our guys too. It was a good game.”
