Gans set a new school record for most points in a game on Friday night while cruising to a 70-20 win over Cave Springs at Grizzly Field.
Westin Choate and Cody Johnson scored three touchdowns apiece as the Grizzlies evened their overall record at 1-1 and moved to 1-0 in District B-4.
Their efforts, along with three touchdown passes from quarterback Braily Couffer, helped the Grizzlies break their old record for most points in a game, which was 68 in a 2007 win over Kiefer.
Gans struck early with three big plays to grab a lead in the first quarter. Choate, a senior tailback, ran 50 yards for a touchdown and Kaleb Kepke added the conversion. Couffer then tossed a 39-yard TD pass to Johnson before going 72 yards on a quarterback keeper to make it 20-0.
Johnson set up the next score when he intercepted a Cave Springs pass and returned it to the Hornets’ 14. On the next play, Couffer tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Woodruff. Kepke’s conversion run put Gans up 28-0 with 11:40 left in the second quarter.
The Hornets responded with a promising drive, but were turned away when Ryhan Qureshi picked off a pass near the goal-line and ran it back to midfield. On fourth-and-long, Gans punter Trevor Christie chased down an errant snap and ran 35 yards for a first down. Kepke moved the chains again when he ran for 16 yards on fourth-and-seven.That set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Devin Brown to put Gans up 34-0 late in the half.
The Grizzlies led 34-6 at halftime and continued to pull away after the break when Choate took the opening kickoff of the third quarter 70 yards to the end zone. Couffer ran for the two-point conversion for a 42-6 lead.
Couffer added a 15-yard TD pass to Johnson later in the quarter and Hunter Holt scored on a 2-yard run. Brown and Couffer ran for the conversions and Gans took a 58-14 lead into the fourth period.
Choate ran 54 yards for his final touchdown of the night and Johnson ran 14 yards for the touchdown that brought the mercy rule into effect and ended the game.
“I was pleased to get the win, especially with it being a district game,” said Gans head coach Trent Holt. “We still had too many penalties. We have to stop that and get more disciplined in what we’re doing. We didn’t fumble the ball much and I was proud of the kids for that and I also thought we were pretty physical.”
Choate was the game’s leading rusher with 148 yards on seven carries. Couffer picked up 100 yards on just four attempts. Christie ran twice for 37 yards, Kepke five times for 37 yards, Holt four for 19 and Brown three for nine.
Couffer was 6 of 13 passing for 98 yards. Woodruff (29 yards) and Johnson (54 yards) both had two receptions for the Grizzlies.
