Gruver’s dream season comes to an end at hands of Muenster in Class 2A Division II state semifinals

CHILDRESS – A dream season that won’t soon be forgotten came to an end for the Gruver Greyhounds as No. 1-ranked Muenster had too much firepower running away with a 49-26 victory during a UIL Class 2A Division II state semifinal Thursday night on Charlie Johnston Field at Fair Park Stadium.

The Greyhounds, making their second state semifinal appearance since 2018, finish an incredible season that saw Gruver win the Region I championship at 14-1 overall.

The Hornets (13-2) advance to the UIL Class 2A Division II state championship game for the first time since winning it all in 2017 and will now take on Shiner (12-3) for the state title at 7 p.m. Wednesday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The game couldn’t have gotten off to a more scripted start for Muenster.

The Hornets marched the opening drive down the field that resulted in a 13-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Casen Carney to Maverick Bayer giving Muenster a lead it’d never relinquish at the 8:20 mark of the first quarter.

After a quick Greyhound three-and-out, Muenster went right back to work going up 14-0 on a Nolan Peel two-yard plunge for a 14-0 advantage.

Gruver showed fight not going away proving what made the Greyhounds unbeaten to this point of the season by answering on the following possession on a Briggs Satterfield four-yard QB keeper trimming the deficit 14-7.

After the Hornets answered going up 21-7, Gruver inched closer by getting a big defensive stop. The offense took advantage of the defensive effort with a Satterfield to Mason Lankford eight-yard pitch and catch that saw the Greyhounds trail 21-13 with 4:43 to halftime.

Unfortunately, that was as close as Gruver could get.

Muenster took back the momentum for good scoring 14 unanswered points in the final four minutes of the half highlighted by a pair of Carney touchdown scampers of 15 and four yards giving the Hornets a commanding 35-13 lead at the break.

The opening minutes of the third quarter was the dagger for the Greyhounds.

Satterfield threw an interception on the first play of the third stanza. Muenster capitalized on that mistake with a Carney 17-yard run for a 42-13 lead. Moments later, Satterfield was then picked off by Simon Johnson who returned it 32-yards down the sideline for a TD sealing up the win.

Muenster finished the game with 430 total yards with 250 of those coming on the ground. Carney showed his dual-threat talent and elusiveness carrying the ball 19 times for 155 yards with three touchdowns and was 10-of-15 passing for 162 yards for two more scores.

Walker Maupin led the Greyhounds with 77 yards on 14 carries ending a tremendous year with an eye-popping 2,145 rushing yards in 15 games.

Satterfield tacked on 77 yards of his own but struggled through the air going 11-of-28 for 152 yards but did have three interceptions.