Gans travels to play top-ranked Keota

Gans is headed to Keota for the District B-6 regular-season finale at 7 p.m.

Grizzlies head coach Brian Morton has his charges playing the best football of the year just in time to play the district‚s top team. Morton wants to build on the successes from the team‚s win versus Foyil, and the spread offense that worked well during that game.

“Our ability to score with Clay Martinez, Caleb Martin, Nakota White and Christian Martinez on pass plays was huge, and allowed us to open up the run after we were able to wear them down,” Morton said. “Once their defense was tired, we were able to really get Clay Martinez‚s run going, and our quarterback, Hunter Walters, had success running the ball as well, getting a few touchdowns as well before the end of the game.”

The Gans‚ defense was playing well enough to hold the Panthers to just 20 points and only one touchdown in the second half. Morton is working with the defense on fundamentals, especially blocking and tackling skills to help shore up some issues he saw during the Foyil win.

“We gave ’em a lot of trouble on defense, and we were able to pick ’em apart. But it wasn‚t all good, especially in the first half. I feel like we could‚ve done better on three specific series that we had them down third and long or even fourth and long that we broke down on assignments and gave up the first down and, eventually, they would go on to score on those drives,” Morton said.

The Gans program returns a lot of the talent that went through the grinder this year, and these players are fighters that don‚t give up.

“We‚ve got some good kids. They just needed some experience. That time on the field is still a little hit-and-miss. We‚re very capable of looking pretty decent one night, and very capable of dropping the ball the next week.”

If Gans can step up and play well, then the Grizzlies can stay in the game and be competitive during the Keota game.

“I feel like if we make those stops, we could‚ve put the game away in the first half. But we threw away some opportunities,” Morton said.

“We‚ve got Keota, and they‚re leading our district right now. They‚re physical. They‚ve got their tradition behind them. They‚re a tough program.”