Sept. 16, 2008

Hillmen Jr. Midgets Put Up Fight At Granite Bay

A hard fought tooth and nail battle between the Jr. Midget squads of Granite Bay and Placer last Saturday went the way of the Jr. Grizzlies as the hosts squeaked out a 26-20 win over the Green and Gold.

After a bruising first quarter in which defense reigned and the teams were scoreless, Placer got the scoring started on an eight-yard run by Kelton McDonald. The point after failed but it was 6-0, Hillmen.

The host Grizzlies then tied the game on a run with just over five minutes left in the half. After Placer stopped the conversion, the two teams went into halftime tied at 6-6.

Granite Bay forged ahead 14-6 with a touchdown and conversion in the early stages of the third quarter but Placer answered back on its next possession as Isaac Brahce tallied six points on a 10-yard toucdown run. Logan Strange then booted through the point after kick worth two points which knotted the game at 14-up.

With just over six minutes to play in the game, Granite Bay capped a long drive and pushed over a score to make it 20-14 but again the Hillmen weren’t to be denied as McDonald’s eight-yard tally tied the count at 20-20.

Placer tied to surprise the Grizzlies with an on-side kick but Granite Bay recovered and went on to cap the exciting game with a contest cinching touchdown with 1:40 to play.

McDonald was Placer’s leading rusher with 55 yards on eight carries while Brache added 48 more yards on eight carries. Todd Valiere contributed six more carries for 42 yards while Strange picked up 28 yards on two carries and also was 2x6 passing.

Logan Markstein shined on the offensive line for the Hillmen while Connor Rubio, Ryan Gray, Colton Blackwell, Cameron Scott and Sammy Queen all played well on defense.