Bengals flat in second half
The Grants Pirates played Gallup relatively even in the first half, but came out in the second half and outscored the Bengals 26-0 to close out an Oct. 3 football game played at Gallup Public School Stadium.
“I’m proud of our team,” Pirates’ head coach Rio Thompson said. “We stuck together and came together on both offense and defense when we had to in the whole game.”
Gallup (2-4) took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter when junior quarterback Dominick Stewart found senior wide receiver Kevin Stewart on a 28-yard touchdown. The point after TD was not good, but the Bengals looked as though they were just getting warmed up.
Grants got its offense started early in the first quarter with a balanced attack led by junior quarterback Justin Mattila. Gallup experienced some trouble in trying to prevent Pirates’ running back Ed Woodbury from gaining yardage up the middle.
Grants (4-2) scooped up a Gallup fumble on the Bengals’ first possession of the second half and ran the fumble back 28 yards to build on game momentum and a lead. Dominic Stewart went down with a shoulder injury in the third quarter and that forced Bengals’ head coach Josh Olsen to end up using four quarterbacks in the game.
Johnny Blueeyes, Quincy Smith, and Burton Stalker did what they could as replacements for Stewart, but the trio went a combined 6-for-14 and a minus six yards passing against a stingy Pirates defense. Blueeyes and Smith are freshmen, and Stalker is a sophomore.
“I think we need more focus up front,” Olsen said after the game. “We will put some emphasis on our offensive and defensive lines in the next few practices and games.”
Gallup ran a variety of offensive plays in the first half, with Stewart periodically handing off to senior running back Jason Alatorre for short gains. Blueeyes, who starts as wideout for the Bengals, was open at times in the first half, but the Bengals’ passing game failed to develop consistency.
Woodbury ran well for Grants throughout the game and helped open up the passing game for senior wideout Joshua Bustos. Mattila scored on a 20-yard scamper in the third, and ultimately scored on a successive running play for a 24-6 Grants lead.
Fittingly, the Grants defense forced the Bengals to give up a safety when a when a bad Gallup snap on a second down play went awry and into the end zone.
Both Gallup and Grants play in District 1-5A. Gallup takes on Farmington (0-4-1) at home on Oct. 7. The loss was the third consecutive for Gallup, which suffered a 51-14 home drubbing to Los Alamos (3-3) two weeks ago. Grants plays St. Pius X of Albuquerque (5-1) on Oct. 7.
By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent