Grant Union def. Joseph 54-20

JOHN DAY – When Joseph’s Randall Eschler returned the opening kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead on Friday, Oct. 10, the Grant Union crowd was stunned into silence – for all of five seconds.

On the ensuing on-side kickoff attempt, the Eagles botched the play giving the Prospectors the ball on the 46-yard line. The Pros lined up and on the first play from scrimmage, Toby Thomas scored the tying touchdown. Just like that.

As things turned out, Thomas’ touchdown run was the first of 54 unanswered points as the Prospectors rolled to their fourth-straight victory, clubbing the Eagles 54-20.

The win lifted first-place Grant Union’s season record to 3-0 in the Wapiti League and 4-2 overall.

“It was an eye-opener to have them do that,” Grant Union coach Monty Nash said regarding Joseph’s touchdown run on the opening kickoff. “They have some skill kids on their team, but at the same time, I liked our response. We came back and responded the way we should.”

Joseph went three plays and out on the next series of downs and punted the ball back to Grant Union. On the first play, senior Cody Frazier ripped off a 77-yard run off the left side of the offensive line for the go-ahead touchdown.

The extra point attempt was blocked, and the Prospectors held a 13-7 lead.

“We’re a mature club and after we got the first touchdown, our confidence came back and we were able to shut them down,” Nash said.

Thomas scored his second touchdown of the first quarter at the 2:20 mark, upping Grant Union’s lead to 20-7; and when quarterback Bo Thunell connected with Joel Silva on a 55-yard scoring strike with 39 seconds left in the quarter, the Pros had turned a 7-0 deficit into a 27-7 lead.

Grant Union’s machine continued to roll in the second period with Thomas scoring his third touchdown on a 1-yard run after a 52-yard return of an intercepted pass by Sterling Horn, and Frazier gave the Prospectors a 40-7 halftime lead on a 2-yard run with 2:33 remaining before the break.

Bryce Bartlett returned the favor taking back the second-half kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, and Horn’s second pass interception was returned 57 yards for another TD making the count 54-7.

“Our defense has played pretty well the last three or four weeks and that’s been nice to see,” Nash commented. “Sterling has been getting better and better every week and overall, I was pleased with the teams’ effort. We were really able to shut them down.”

At that point, under the new mercy rule, the officials ordered the game-clock to run without interruption for the remainder of the contest.

Joseph scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter against Grant Union’s reserve players on a 1-yard run by Kyle Hook with 3:36 remaining in the game and a 43-yard scamper by Eschler with no time showing on the clock.

“We gave up a couple late in the game, but we were playing young defense,” Nash said. “They wanted to quit (after Grant Union took the 54-7 lead). I don’t know what to say, that disappoints me when they want to do that when they have a pretty good football team.”

Grant Union had 275 yards in total offense, led by Frazier who carried the ball seven times for 107 yards. Thomas netted 77 yards on 11 carries.

Thunell was five for eight in the passing department for 98 yards.

Grant Union returns to action on Friday, Oct. 17, hosting Enterprise.

“It’s Homecoming and that’s always a distraction,” Nash said. “We’ll just have to keep working and do what we’ve been doing.”

Kickoff for the the game against Enterprise is set for 7:30 p.m.