AURORA | The Grandview football team improved week-by-week during the 2013 season, as much or more than any team around.
Unfortunately for coach John Schultz’s Wolves, an agonizing 13-9 loss to ThunderRidge on Saturday at blustery Legacy Stadium meant they won’t get to see what they might have looked like next week.
Seeded No. 20 in the Class 5A state football playoffs, Grandview nearly became one of the four teams left standing, but a variety of missed opportunities — including a missed fourth down chance in the end zone in the final minute — left the Wolves on the short end against the Grizzlies in the semifinals for the second straight season.
The Wolves lost for the fourth time overall in the past two seasons to fifth-seeded ThunderRidge (11-1), which rallied after the loss of starting quarterback Brody Westmoreland to return to the semifinals. The Grizzlies play host to top-seeded Fairview (12-0) for a berth in the 5A state championship game, while No. 2 Valor Christian faces No. 6 Cherokee Trail in the other semifinal.
Grandview had a last chance to win the game, but couldn’t punch the ball into the end zone on four plays from inside the ThunderRidge 10-yard line in the final minute-plus. The result was sealed when senior quarterback Tyler Smith’s fourth-down pass went high and deflected off the hand of wide open Brandon Brooks in the end zone.
Everything appeared to go Grandview’s way from the opening series of the game, when the Grizzlies lost Westmoreland to injury, changing the complexion of the game.
The Wolves then cashed in their first possession for a quick touchdown, with Smith finding Frank Solomon for a 28-yard touchdown and a 6-0 lead. Aiden Pirrin’s extra point went wide left in the howling wind, however.
Junior Keifer Glau intercepted Westmoreland’s replacement, Branden Brenning, on the next series deep in the Grizzlies end, but the drive lasted just three plays and ended on Pirrin’s 47-yard field goal try, which also blew left.
ThunderRidge finally got on the scoreboard on Mark Hopper’s 27-yard field goal early in the second period and the game reached halftime with the Wolves still in the lead 6-3.
The Grizzlies recovered an onside kick to open the second half and cashed in with their only touchdown of the day, an 8-yard keeper by Brenning around the left end of the line.
Grandview responded with a drive into ThunderRidge’s red zone, but a personal foul call forced them to try another field goal, which Pirrin knocked in from 39 yards out to make it a one-point game.
The Grizzlies got those three points back, however, on a long march that took seven minutes off the clock and ended in Hopper’s 22-yard field goal. The drive included a controversial spot on a 4th-and-1 attempt where ThunderRidge’s Mark Stanley appeared to be swarmed behind the line of scrimmage, but a generous spot gave the Grizzlies a first down by the nose of the football.
Things looked bleak for Grandview after junior running back Chukwuma Obinnah — who rushed for a team-high 130 yards — got brought down inches short on a 4th down run on the next series, but the Wolves’ defense stepped up to force a fumble from ThunderRidge as it tried to run out the clock.
A crucial 4th down conversion on a pass from Smith to Solomon had Grandview at the 11-yard line with 1:45 left, but Ben Marshall and Obinnah were stuffed on runs and Smith threw incomplete on third down, setting up a 4th down try.
On the final play, Brooks somehow made it out of the formation and to the end zone unnoticed, but Smith’s pass into the wind was just off target.
(5) THUNDERRIDGE 13, (20) GRANDVIEW 9
Score by quarters:
ThunderRidge 0 3 7 3 — 13
Grandview 6 0 3 0 — 9
SCORING
First quarter
Grandview — Frank Solomon 28 yard pass from Tyler Smith (kick failed), 9:43
Second quarter
ThunderRidge — Mark Hopper 27 yard field goal, 10:04
Third quarter
ThunderRidge — Branden Benning 8 yard run (Hopper kick), 8:16
Grandview — Aiden Pirrin 39 yard field goal, 3:15
Fourth quarter
ThunderRidge — Hopper 22 field goal, 5:52
RUSHING
ThunderRidge: Kevin Knox 17-95, Matt Stanley 25-87, Jon Jones 2-11, Steve Ray 8-11, Branden Brenning 5-4, Brody Westmoreland 1-(minus 8)
Grandview: Chukwuma Obinnah 23-130, Ben Marshall 6-31, Tyler Smith 7-(minus 2), Frank Solomon 1-(minus 6)
PASSING
ThunderRidge: Brenning 1-7, 18 yards, 1 interception
Grandview: Smith 4-9, 92 yards, 1 touchdown
RECEIVING
ThunderRidge: Mark Hopper 1-18
Grandview: Solomon 4-83, Jason Burger 1-9
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel.
