Granbury runs past Chisholm Trail to spoil homecoming
Granbury (5-3, 4-2 in District 3-5A Division 1) upended Chisholm Trail 31-7 to spoil the Rangers’ homecoming Friday night.
Granbury’s leading rusher, Zach Watson, was injured after his 18-yard touchdown run gave the Pirates a 10-7 lead with seven seconds left in the first quarter. Preliminary indications were that Watson suffered an Achilles tendon injury. He finished with 27 yards on seven carries.
That left it to Clayton Kracy and quarterback Kyler Gibson to take over in Watson’s absence. Kracy finished with 173 yards on 20 carries and two touchdowns. Gibson ran and scrambled for 87 yards on 13 carries and another touchdown. All three scores came in the second half, as the Pirates dodged several first-half bullets to take control.
Granbury took its 10-7 lead over Chisholm Trail (2-6, 1-5) into halftime. Both teams squandered scoring opportunities in the first half.
After a three-and-out by Chisholm Trail and a short punt to start the game, Granbury took over at the Rangers’ 35-yard line. But six plays later, the running back coughed up the ball at the 9, and Jalon Sowels recovered for the Rangers.
Chisholm Trail’s drive stalled, but on a punt attempt from his 24, Jalique Martin took a mishandled snap, scrambled to his left and turned the miscue into a 28-yard gain and a first down at the Granbury 48. On the following play, Martin was rewarded when quarterback Garrison Haskell found him about 20 yards downfield, over the middle, on a crossing pattern. Martin went the rest of the distance for 48-yard touchdown and 7-0 Rangers lead.
It could have been 14-0 had an open receiver streaking down the sideline not dropped the ball on the Rangers’ next possession.
After a 27-yard field goal by Logan Moore, Granbury got the 10-7 lead after a fumble at the Chisholm Trail 18. On the following play, Watson broke through for the touchdown, dragging tacklers into the end zone but at a price with the injury he suffered.
But while Granbury was able to capitalize on Chisholm Trail’s miscues, the Rangers were unable to do the same. In the second quarter, the Rangers defense stopped Granbury for no gain on fourth-and-1 at the Pirates’ 27. But three plays later, Chisholm Trail fumbled away at the 7-yard line.
Chisholm Trail got the ball right back at the Granbury 25 after a 15-yard punt into the wind. In three plays, the Rangers moved it to the 3 for a first down. But on the subsequent play, a pass by Haskell was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Tristan Morris at the 1-yard line in the waning moments of the first half.
In the second half, the Pirates took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in five plays for a 17-7 lead. Gibson completed his first two passes of the game on the drive, back-to-back for 12 and 21 yards, after going 0 for 3 in the first half. The latter completion set up a 1-yard plunge by Kracy for the score.
Granbury scored twice again in the fourth quarter, the final score coming with less than a minute left.
This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 11:11 PM.