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Mustangs hammer Wildcats, 57-6

Larry Banman
Sky-Hi News
Grand County, CO Colorado

The West Grand Mustang football team took advantage of every error made by the North Park Wildcats on Friday night, Oct. 1, and coasted to a 57-6 victory in its Homecoming contest.

One of the larger crowds in recent history was treated to quick early scoring by the Mustangs. North Park was only able to suit up nine players for the game and one of those was lost to an ankle sprain during the game.

It was quickly evident that the Mustangs would be too much for the Wildcats to handle. Several turnovers by North Park gave West Grand a short field and the Mustangs capitalized at nearly every opportunity.



Coach Chris Brown praised the Wildcats for their effort. “They played hard, they hit and they tackled,” he said. “They gave a good effort.”

North Park started the game with an onside kick, which was recovered at the 50-yard line by the Mustangs.



Going immediately to the air, quarterback Travis Gore found Luke Miller on three plays for a total of 37 yards and then hit Tim Ritschard on a five-yard pass for a touchdown. For the game, Gore was 11-14 for 155 yards and four touchdowns.

West Grand’s defense was able to hold North Park to one three-and-out series and then Auztin Ramirez recovered a Wildcat fumble. The offense responded with two quick scores. Gore ran one in from 67 yards and ran another in from 11 yards. The second touchdown was set up by a nice 19-yard catch and run by Chase Hill.

After another short series by the Wildcats, Miller caught a 30-yard touchdown from Gore. On the next series for the Mustangs, Gore found Miller, who made a diving 27-yard catch and then completed the drive with a two-yard touchdown to Ritschard. A senior wideout, Ritschard caught three touchdown passes during the game.

With the Mustangs leading 39-0, freshman quarterback Nick Ritschard got into the first-half action when he hit Miller on a 19-yard touchdown pass. The Mustangs recovered a fumble on the kickoff and Ritschard ran two times, the second time for 25 yards and a diving touchdown.

With the one-sided lead, the referees went to a running clock for the remainder of the first half and in the second half, when the clock automatically runs if one team secures a lead of at least 40 points.

Over the remainder of the first half and the second half, each team was able to score a touchdown.

On a broken play, North Park quarterback Brett Lytle found Clay Russell for a 35-yard touchdown.

The Mustangs scored on a one-yard run by Nick Ritschard. That play was set up by a nice leaping catch by Leo Pesch, who battled a North Park defender and came down with the Nick Ritschard pass on the one-yard line.

With the 57-6 victory, the Mustangs improved their record to 4-1 and 2-0 in league play. There are three games left in the regular season, all league contests.


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