Lights out.
That was the thought racing through many spectators mind’s as the Grant Generals seemed to pick apart the Trojans of Wilson High School in the first half last Friday night. It also may have been the thought on the brains of the hosting Trojans all night after their first offensive possession as the Generals delivered several hard hits to start the game.
After forcing a Wilson punt, quarterback Sam Davis lead the offense down the field and handed off to senior Mike Waters who took it 33 yards to open the scoring with 6:54 left in the first quarter.
The defense forced another Wilson punt, but Grant’s offense put itself in a hole by committing back-to-back penalties on what would have been 3rd down conversions. Davis dug the Generals out on try number three however, as he delivered what could only be described as a “perfect ball” to senior receiver Chris Lewis for an 80-yard touchdown to close out the first quarter.
That seemed to be the early kill shot the Generals needed to deliver to take control of the contest.
On their next possession, the Trojans looked to be waking up from their first quarter slumber, only to be knocked out by Mike Waters’ second touchdown of the game, this time picking off a deflected pass and taking it 57 yards to pay-dirt.
From there the Generals used some slight of hand to break the collective backs of the Wilson defense. After a second interception by Waters, Chris Lewis decided to burn the other side of the defensive backfield. After taking a reverse pitch, the senior receiver tossed a 55-yard touchdown to junior Luke Davis.
Perhaps poetically, as kicker Joey Kenney tacked on the extra point to make the score 28-0, half of the stadium lights went out forcing the teams to play the rest of the first half in a dim glow with limited visibility.
After the Generals forced their sixth consecutive stop to start the game, Waters caught a botched punt and took it all the way back to make the score 35-0 Grant headed into halftime.
Grant showed more defensive proficiency in the second half, forcing three more turnovers (including Waters’ third interception), and shutting out Wilson until late in the third quarter when tight end Steffen Jacobsen scored his first of two touchdowns on a 23-yard play-action pass.
Collectively, the Grant front seven dominated the Trojans, getting huge contributions from linebackers Daniel
Green and Dominique Penn, and linemen Juwan Curtis, Caleb Weekly, and D’Angelo Penn. This group will need to take an even bigger step forward this week as they face the leading rusher in the state in Lincoln’s John Duffey.
Catch Grant next week as they host Lincoln at the Grant Bowl for the first time ever, kick-off set for 4:00 PM.
Generals Football Blog 