Published: September 06, 2008 01:22 am         

A tough loss for Warriors

NEW RICHMOND — An emotional day at Wyoming East ended in an emotional loss Friday night as the Warriors fell to Scott 35-14 at the War Zone.

Earlier Friday, the team said goodbye to assistant coach Andy Grogg, who died Tuesday of complications following heart surgery.

On Friday night, the emotions of the day caught up with the Warriors in the second half.

Scott’s Nevin Hunnicutt returned an interception 78 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter and that started a run of 23 unanswered points as the Skyhawks improved to 2-0.

“I’m not going to lie, my mind is not on football,” said Warriors coach Kevin Grogg, Andy’s brother. “I haven’t slept in eight or nine days. The kids, they lost a good friend. We’ve had a tough week. It’s hard on me ... I lost my best friend. I wish we had played a little better, but it’s just a game. I’m proud of the kids.”

The Warriors had the lead, 14-12, at the half after Thad Grogg, Andy’s son, found Trey Fralin on a pair of touchdown passes of 7 and 29 yards.

It stayed that way until Hunnicutt’s interception.

“The interception they returned for the touchdown was the key to the game,” Grogg said. “We were stopping them up to that point, we had the momentum. After that, the kids (were drained). They started using their power game. The two kind of went hand in hand.”

Scott coach Shane Griffith agreed.

“They had that play open, we didn’t recognize the formation,” he said. “Our kid, who was coming over to cover it, just happened to be in the right place at the right time. I don’t think the quarterback ever saw him. It was fortunate on our part because they had that play wide open.”

After that, the wheels came off for the emotionally drained Warriors.

Jacob Green picked up a blocked punt by Travis Thompson on the Warriors’ next possession and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown.

Fullback Travis Bender then scored on a 1-yard plunge to finish off the Scott scoring.

The Skyhawks were depleted themselves, at least in the backfield.

Their two starting backs, Shane Butcher and Jake Robinson, both of whom rushed for over 100 yards in a 13-0 season-opening win over Roane, were injured and out of the game.

Griffith went to a backup quarterback, Drew Runyon, and cornerback Cameron Reeves to start Friday’s game, but both went out with injuries near the end of the first half.

So Griffith went to pulling guard Green and Bender.

Green had never played halfback before Friday night.

“We went out behind (the fieldhouse) and worked on four plays at halftime,” Griffith said. “It was so dark we couldn’t hardly see to line up. I said, ‘Guys, just do it when the spotlight is on.’”

Green certainly answered the call. He finished with 125 yards on 19 carries.

“I might not be able to move him back now,” Griffith said. “Linemen don’t want to move back when they get their name in the paper.”

For Grogg, the healing process has started, albeit slowly.

“Life’s not always fair,” he said. “But we have to try.”

“You have to tip your hat to (Wyoming East),” Griffith said. “They’re a great football program and they have a great coach. I told Kevin we’d do whatever they thought was best. We would have moved the game. I think it was an emotional game for them. And I think they’ll realize at some point they did what Andy would have wanted them to do. What more could a coach ask for than for the kids to go out and compete?”

Grogg finished the night 15-of-30 for 233 yards and two touchdowns.

Andrew Bishop caught five passes for 93 yards and Fralin had five grabs for 50 yards and the two touchdowns.

The Warriors (0-1) play at Sherman next Saturday.



Scott 35, Wyoming East 14

S (2-0) 12 0 8 15 — 35

WE (0-1) 6 8 0 0 — 14

First Quarter

S — Tyler Thompson 11 pass from Nevin Hunnicutt, (kick failed), 10:47

S — Comeron reeves 10 run (pass failed), 5:45

WE — Trey Fralin 7 pass from Thad Grogg (run failed), 5:00

Second Quarter

WE — Fralin 29 pass from Grogg (Eli Bookout pass from Grogg), 2:17

Third Quarter

S — Hunnicutt 78 interception return (Jacob Green run), 0:00

Fourth Quarter

S — Green 15 return of blocked punt (Green run), 10:53

S — Travis Bender 1 run (kick good), 5:26

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — S: Green 19-125, Cameron Reeves 13-72, Travis Bender 7-32, Drew Runyon 7-35, Hunnicutt 2 (-1), . WE: Rob Harley 13-40, Grogg 2-3.

PASSING — S: Hunnicutt 3-6-44-1. WE: Grogg 15-30-233-3 .

RECEIVING — S: Thompson 3-44 . WE: J.R. Bishop 2-18, Andrew Bishop 5-93, Trey Fralin 5-50-2, Eli Bookout 3-71 .

TURNOVERS — S: Green (FR), Hunnicutt (int), Reeves (int), Runyon (int). WE: Andrew Bishop (FR), Fralin (FR).