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West Grand Mustangs chalk up wins in two sports

Larry Banman
Special to the Sky-Hi News
Kremmling, CO Colorado

KREMMLING – West Grand High School secured victories in both volleyball and football this past weekend as the Mustangs defeated North Park in games that were played in Walden and Kremmling.

The Lady Mustangs hosted the Lady Wildcats on Friday night and defeated North Park in five games. The boys traveled to Walden on Saturday and, in an afternoon contest, defeated the Wildcats, 47-6.

Volleyball



North Park and West Grand were able to play junior varsity and varsity matches on Friday night. The junior varsity came out and played with great energy and as a team, coach Elizabeth Bauer said.

“I am very pleased with the junior varsity’s play throughout the season,” coach Bauer said. “They are solid and play well as a team. I look forward to them continuing to play hard in practice and in games.”



In the varsity contest, North Park played solid volleyball, Bauer noted, and didn’t commit a lot of unforced errors.

“That left it up to West Grand to take the win,” Bauer said, “However, that proved more difficult than we thought. The hitting errors continue to plague us as a team, with 48 hitting errors alone on Friday night. We were not moving, talking or playing as a team.

“I thought North Park played well as a team and I could see their intensity pick up as the match went on,” Bauer added.

Fortunately, the Mustangs pulled it out, beating North Park in five games, 25-23,18-25, 25-15, 11-25 and 15-9.

For Homecoming this weekend, the Mustangs will host a triangular meet on Saturday against SoRoCo and Hayden. “Both teams will be tough opponents,” Bauer said. “But both beatable if we play to our potential.”

Football

The West Grand football team gained over 562 yards in total offense as the Mustangs dominated the Wildcats in a game played on the turf in Walden. That offense was generated even though senior quarterback Travis Gore didn’t play beyond the first quarter.

The Mustangs came charging out of the gate, scoring two plays into the game when Casey Gore took a handoff and raced 66 yards for a touchdown.

North Park was unable to secure a first down on its possession but pinned the Mustangs on their own nine-yard line with a 60-yard punt. That didn’t deter West Grand as Travis Gore passed to Nick Ritschard for a 91-yard touchdown pass. The Mustangs were unable to convert the PAT after either of those scores, however, and the score was 12-0 in favor of West Grand.

Ritschard was then able to find Casey Gore on a 71-yard touchdown pass for the final score of the first quarter. Ritschard tacked on the PAT kick and the scoreboard reflected a 19-0 score.

North Park was finally able to stop the Mustangs on the next series of plays. The West Grand defense was stout, however, and forced two four-play drives that resulted in a punt and then a turnover on downs.

Ritschard quickly found Kiley O’Brien on a passing play that O’Brien turned into a 45-yard touchdown play. Coleman Springer nailed the PAT and it was 26-0 in favor of the Mustangs.

West Grand was able to score two more times in the first half for a halftime lead of 39-0.

In the second half, the rout continued and a mercifully running clock meant the second half quickly played itself to a conclusion.

For the game, the leading rushers were Ritschard with 72 yards, Casey Gore with 66 yards and Tracy with 45 yards. Ritschard was 7-13 for 174 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. Leading receivers were Ritschard with 91 yards, Casey Gore with 90 yards and O’Brien with 84 yards.

The team had 299 yards in passing and 263 yards in rushing for a total of 562 yards for the game.

North Park was able to score on a 74-yard touchdown strike from Luke Pantle to Zane Sanchez.


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