In a tale of two halves, Gruver dominated the first half only to see Stratford battle back in the final two quarters, however, it was the Greyhounds standing tall in the end getting a huge 33-26 victory over rival Stratford.
This is only the third win for Gruver over Stratford since 2005 and the first since 2018. The victory also snapped the Elks 15-game district win streak.
“We knew Stratford was going to be a great opponent and this was a great game,” Gruver head coach Kurt Haberthur said. “We knew they had the personnel to make it difficult for us, but if we knew if we could block and tackle, we had a chance. Our team executed for the most part and the defense was solid. I’m proud of them.”
Gruver remains unbeaten pushing its record to a perfect 7-0 and are more importantly 1-0 in District 1-2A Division I. After back-to-back wins, Stratford drops to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in district action.
After a quick Julio Valdez -seven-yard touchdown scamper putting Stratford up 6-0 on the opening drive of the game, the rest of the half belonged to Gruver.
The Greyhounds scored the next 26 points starting on the first offensive play from scrimmage when Nick Shepard took a jet sweep, caught the edge and took it 60-plus yards for the score tying it up 6-6.
In the second, quarterback Briggs Satterfield put Gruver up for good 13-6 on a three-yard plunge. The Greyhounds then saw Walker Maupin break loose for a score and Shepard haul in a TD catch from Satterfield as it looked like the blowout was on 26-6 at the break.
Stratford never wavered. The Elks took the momentum in the second half trimming that deficit 33-20 late in the third.
To open the fourth, Bryce Braden broke free for a 40-yard run down the sideline inside the Gruver 15-yard line. A few players later, Braden bulldozed his way in for paydirt and all of a sudden, the Greyhounds were clinging to a 33-26 lead with 9:50 left.
“We knew Stratford was more than capable of coming back,” Haberthur said. They are such a great football team. We didn’t want to get into milk the clock mode but be played smart and did things to limit opportunities.”
The Greyhounds proved they belonged as a serious regional contender outplaying the Elks on the offensive and defensive lines for most of the 48 minutes and forced Stratford into three interceptions. The Gruver defense also limited Stratford to 215 yards of offense with only 46 yards passing.
Linebacker Victor Flores was stellar making 10 tackles, three for a loss with a sack. Stephan Cowan and Emmanuel Valverde each had nine tackles of their own and Wesley Maupin tallied eight tackles.
Shepard caught four passes for 78 yards with two touchdowns and Walker Maupin racked up 60 yards rushing with a score.
“We some guys that have some speed,” Haberthur said. “That showed for us in this win. Getting a win like this is huge for our program. Stratford always has a target on its back, and they know that. At the end of the day, this is just the first district win, and we have a lot of season left.”
Braden led the Elks with 151 yards rushing on 23 carries with two touchdowns.
