Gans quarterback Mike Royal breaks free for a touchdown run on Friday night in the Grizzlies’ 52-24 win over Welch. Royal rushed for 254 yards and four touchdowns as Gans clinched second place in District B-4. (Mike Erwin•TIMES)
Gans scored six touchdowns of at least 35 yards while romping to a 52-24 win over Welch at Grizzly Field.
“Offensively, we played real well,” said Gans head coach Trent Holt. “The kids ran well and we threw it OK when we passed the ball. I was happy because we need to get two or three threats and we did that. And our offensive line did a pretty good job too.”
Many of the big plays were turned in by Mike Royal. The senior quarterback ran the ball 15 times for 254 yards and four touchdowns as Gans improved to 6-3 overall and 6-1 in the district.
However, it was senior running back Weston Choate who had the first long-distance touchdown. On the second play of the game, Choate raced 69 yards to the end zone to give Gans an early lead. Braily Couffer ran for the conversion.
When Gans got the ball back, Couffer went 67 yards on the first play to put the Grizzlies up 14-0 at the 8:25 mark of the first quarter.
Welch’s Chance Harris tossed the first of four touchdown passes for the Wildcats, a 48-yarder to Malachi Sears that pulled the visitors within 14-6 entering the second period. The conversion failed, though, when Kaleb Kepke tackled the ball-carrier behind the line of scrimmage.
Kepke had a big game on defense for Gans and his fumble recovery near midfield set up the Grizzlies’ next score. One play after Choate had a 53-yard touchdown run wiped out by a penalty, Royal went 58 yards down the right sideline. Couffer ran for two to give Gans a 22-6 lead.
Kepke set up the next touchdown as well, when he intercepted a pass and returned it to the Welch 35. Royal scored from there on the first play of the drive and Couffer added the two-point conversion to make it 30-6 with 5:44 left in the half.
Dylan Woodruff recovered a fumble to stop Welch’s next drive. That led to a 10-yard touchdown run by Couffer.
Gans came up with another turnover moments later when Ryhan Qureshi picked off a Welch pass. Royal then ran for a 70-yard touchdown on a quarterback-keeper and ran for two to put the Grizzlies up 44-6.
Harris and Sears hooked up for their second TD strike of the night late in the second quarter to pull Welch within 44-12 at the break.
The Wildcats scored on a pair of pass plays in the third quarter to rally to within 44-24, but Royal clinched the win for Gans with his fourth TD of the night.
The touchdown came on a 40-yard run in the fourth quarter and Royal passed to Cody Johnson on the conversion to make it 52-24.
Royal completed 4 of 5 passes for 59 yards in the victory. Couffer caught a 47-yarder and Johnson had a 10-yard reception.
In addition to Royal’s 254 yards rushing, the Grizzlies also got a combined 168 yards from Couffer and Choate. Couffer ran four times for 73 yards and Choate picked up 95 yards on six carries.
Defensively, Gans was led by Kepke. The junior safety made 11 tackles, intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble. Qureshi, an outside linebacker, had seven tackles and an interception while Choate was in on another seven tackles.
