Grizzlies crush Southeast with big plays

A week after beating Wright 51-0 in a zero-week practice game, the Rocky Mountain Grizzlies took a long road trip to Yoder Friday and kept the pedal to the metal with a 57-12 win over the Southeast Cyclones in the regular season opener.

In a true illustration that statistics can be deceiving, both Rocky Mountain and Southeast generated six first downs on offense Friday, primarily because the Grizzlies advanced the ball in chunks and scored with big plays. In fact, the Grizz averaged 52 yards per scoring play including a 91-yard punt return and go-the-distance plays of 83, 73 and 53 yards.

Head coach Jessee Wilson was pleased with how his team played Friday for the most part, though there are a number of things to clean up heading into week two.

“I was pleased with the way that we came out, our attitude, our effort, energy,” Wilson said. “That’s what I talked about at the beginning of the game, just playing with excitement and energy. And so I was happy with the way the kids came out, even after our kickoff time got delayed 20 minutes (due to officials arriving late from a game in Cheyenne).

“I always get worried if we have things like that that get us out of our routine. But the kids did a really good job. We still have a lot of work to do, though, in order for us to get where we need to be.

First-half explosion

The Grizz took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards in six plays as quarterback Mason Moss (17 yards), running back Sam Loyning (10), slot Jaxx May (10) and running back Cooper Ward (8) moved the ball to the Southeast 20-yard line. Moss hit May for five yards on a short pass, then ran a keeper left for a 15-yard touchdown run. A Moss PAT left Rocky up 7-0 with 8:30 left in the first quarter.

A high snap from center was bobbled and fumbled by the Southeast quarterback, and Evin Clendenen pounced on the loose pigskin at the Southeast 25. Loyning ran for nine yards, and May ran a jet sweep around right end for a 16-yard touchdown play – 14-0 with 6:56 on the clock. H-back Paul Shetler sealed the end with a strong block on the play.

“We’ve been working on that. Paul’s coming around,” Wilson said. “He did some good stuff.”

Southeast picked up a pair of first downs on the ensuing series (one on a penalty) but then had to punt. May snared the ball at the 9-yard line, picked up a couple of blocks and dashed 91 yards for a touchdown – 21-0 (2:57, 1Q).

“We were playing defense (on the punt return), because we thought they might go for it,” Wilson said. “We told Jaxx to go back deep, just in case. We weren’t even anticipating returning it, but our guys did a really good job. We actually brought some pressure on the punter. We got a couple of blocks, and honestly, Jaxx just outran everybody.”

Wilson noted that Ryan Grant helped spring May free with a nice block, and Cache Thompson escorted May to the end zone.

Rocky forced Southeast three and out, and despite a nice punt return by Ward, who circled from one side of the field to the other for a big return, the Grizzlies were set back to their own 17 by an illegal block penalty. No matter. On the first play of the new series, Ward burst 83 yards for a touchdown – 28-0 (:20, 1Q).

Second quarter

After another Southeast three and out, the Grizzlies again scored quickly. On second and 10 from the Rocky 27, Loyning broke free down the left sideline, juked a defender and outran a second for a 73-yard touchdown run – 35-0 (10:29, 2Q).

Wilson has talked about his “lightning and lightning” running backs in Loyning and Ward, but add slot May and QB Moss to the mix, and the Grizzlies have four backs who can fly.

“We’ve got four kids that can scoot,” he said. “They’re all, like 4.6/4.7 kids (in the 40-meter dash). I don’t think we’ve ever had that many (speedsters) in my time, but we also put a pretty big emphasis on speed development in the summertime.”

The four backs also see the field well and can follow blocks and slot openings, Wilson added.

“Especially Jaxx,” he said of May. “That guy does a tremendous job. He just has that kind of intuitiveness when it comes to running and setting defenders up and using his blocks. And Coop and Sam, they’re just shifty little buggers, you know. So yeah, we’re pretty fast this year, which is cool, because on a lot of the plays that we broke for touchdowns, the one with Cooper and the one with Sam, those are the plays that we’re talking about with the line tonight because they weren’t blocked perfectly. And so that little bit of speed, especially in nine-man football, where there’s a little bit of space, if you can find a crease and hit it, you can turn it into a pretty big play.”

Following another Southeast three-and-out, Moss broke free for a 46-yard touchdown on third and 10 following a pair of incomplete passes, one of them a drop. The junior tight-roped the left sideline, stayed inbounds and cut back for the score – 42-0 (8:32, 2Q).

“That was a pretty awesome run,” Wilson said. “It was supposed to be a pass. I wanted to just try to go down the field throwing the ball, see if we could do that and just work on some of that stuff. But Mason gets around the end, gets to the sideline and cuts back.”

An interception by Ward ended the next Cyclone drive, and Loyning broke tackles and carried a couple of defenders into the end zone for a 44-yard touchdown run. Rocky led 49-0 with 6:05 left in the second quarter.

“Sam is really coming into his own as a runner, and he’s running really hard,” Wilson said. “He didn’t play football his sophomore year, ran cross country, and then came out again last year. He’s a great addition to the squad for sure.”

The Grizz got the ball back one more time before halftime and drove to the Southeast four-yard line before choosing to take a knee to end the half.

Second half

Hendrick Slabbert blocked a punt in the third quarter for the Grizzlies, but the Grizz fumbled deep in Southeast territory. However, the Cyclones gave it right back on a fumble recovered by Slabbert, and one play later, sophomore quarterback May dashed for a 53-yard touchdown. After a two-point conversion by Jaxson Sponsel on a jet sweep, Rocky led 57-0.

Southeast added two passing touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make the final score 57-12.

The Grizzlies finished with 390 yards rushing on just 21 carries, an average of 18.1 yards per carry. They also threw for 39 yards and out-gained Southeast overall 429-172. Loyning gained 136 yards rushing on four carries, 34 yards per carry, and Ward 92 yards on three attempts, 30.7 yards per carry. May carried three times for 79 yards, Moss five times for 74 yards and Brooks Brost twice for 10 yards.

Moss completed three of seven passes for 30 yards, Hudson Moore one of one for 9 yards. Sponsel caught two passes for 29 yards, May and Clendenen one pass for five yards each.

Slabbert led the team with 13 defensive points, and Benson Jolley recorded 11 defensive points, Ward 10 and Clendenen 9.

To the road again

The Grizzlies will open 1A 9-man West play in Big Piney Friday, with kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. Big Piney opened the season with a 25-22 win over the Lusk Tigers Friday.

Wilson said the Grizz have played some close games with the Punchers in recent years, including a 12-8 loss in 2022, a 17-6 loss in 2024 and a 30-28 loss a year ago.

“It’s always a tight game, and for the last few years, it just hasn’t gone our way,” he said. “We’re hoping to turn the tide this time.”

The Punchers graduated some linemen off last year’s team including 1A lineman of the year Zef Zuniga but return some top skill players including speedy running back Xavier Clifford and receiver Finley Strong. The Punchers run a spread offense designed to get the ball to the playmakers. They run a 3-3 stack formation on defense and will commit players “to the box” in order to stop the running game.

As of Monday, the Grizzlies still did not have a game on the schedule to replace the September 18 home game against Shoshoni, which has been cancelled due to low numbers in the Shoshoni program.