West Grand Football has split their first two games of the season losing on the road to No. 3 ranked Sanford Mustangs 44-24. and then winning their home opener 32-30 against the Calhan Bulldogs. 

In Sanford on Aug. 29, West Grand found itself down 22-0 in the first quarter due to mistakes in the kicking game. They regrouped in the second half with an explosive passing game to outscore the home team 24-14 in the second half.

Quarterback Blake Terryberry was 15-of-28 with 227 passing yards. He scored two touchdowns and ran for a score. Five different receivers caught passes in the crew led by tight end Jacob Trail who had six for 94 yards and a touchdown. John Butler led the defense with 14 tackles while defensive end Lance Eisenman was strong in his play in his first start. 

On Sept. 5 in Kremmling, the Mustangs never trailed Calhan, building up a 16-0 lead at half. They drove inside the 10 three times only to fail to score either with penalties or turnovers.

On their first drive of the second half, an interception on their opening play resulted in a short field that the Bulldogs turned into a touchdown. This fired up the visitors and gave them hope for an upset. The Mustangs answered with two scoring drives to regain control of the game with an 18-point lead with nine minutes left in the game.

Calhan then put together two drives, mainly passing, to finish the game. West Grand had two good touchdown runs brought back due to costly penalties.

Terryberry again threw for over 200 yards with Trail having seven receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown. Butler again was the leading tackler with 17 as Rubin Hatcher and Walker Howell having 10 each.

On Friday, West Grand hosted Front Range Christian. The Mustangs played a shutout game, winning 46-0. After more than a 90-minute lighting delay, the West Grand Mustangs got to play the Front Range Christian Falcons.

On the opening kickoff, senior Ethan Barr electrified the crowd with a 96 yard return. Landon Lockhart who provided a key block on the return, ran in the extra point and the Mustangs led 8-0 after 14 seconds.

After a quick three and out, Terryberry hit Trail with a 37 yard touchdown pass. On the next drive, Lockhart intercepted a pass and went 50 yards to set up a short 12-yard drive that saw Rubin Hatcher have two carries to score the tochdown. Lockhart returned to run in the two-point conversion making it 24-0 still in the first quarter. 

The second quarter saw more scoring from the home team with Terryberry adding a three-yard touchdown, and a beautiful 25-yard strike to Sanjay Geffers who made a one-handed catch in the back on the end zone for the last touchdown.

Jalen Geffers hit his brother for one two-point play and freshmen quarterback Calib Klotz ran in the other conversion. With 3:42 left in the second quarter, the Mustangs had earned a running clock. In the second half, the young Mustangs second and third team offenses finished the game, gaining valuable playing experience. 

The Mustang defensive backs of Barr and Lockhart had 2 interceptions and a fumble recovery each, while defensive back Walker Howell had an interception. Linebacker John Butler led in tackles and defensive end Lance Eisenman had two sacks

The offensive linemen of center Conner Stone, and guards John Butler, Aiden Klotz and Tony Crane, did a great job opening large holes and protecting quarterback Terryberry.

This week, as they push on with hopes of a third straight league title, the Mustangs open league play in Leadville against the Lake County Panthers on Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m. The Panthers are 0-3 while the Mustangs are 2-1.

Chris Brown is the football coach of West Grand High School. He has coached over 500 games and won more than 360 in his 50-year career.