The plan was well executed, if not perfect for the Gruver Greyhounds most of Thursday night at Happy State Bank Stadium, as reflected by the statistics tallied up at the end of the evening.
Unfortunately for the Greyhounds, those numbers didn’t get them to the state championship.
In a rematch from the same round last year, Gruver did everything right for over three quarters against defending state champion Muenster in the Class 2A Division II state semifinal. However, missed opportunities and a late big play added up to hand the Greyhounds and 21-18 defeat and deny them a shot at a state title next week at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium.
Gruver (12-3) out gained Muenster (13-2) in every category at the end of the evening and even had an edge in the turnover battle. None of it added up to a victory of the Greyhounds.
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“That will drive us in the offseason,” said Gruver coach Kurt Haberthur, who also led his team to this point last season against Muenster, which was a 49-26 loss at Childress. “It will for the few kids we have in the offseason, the rest of them will go on to other things like basketball, track and baseball. We were running the ball really well but we had to take a shot on fourth down and didn’t connect. We had several good drives and that really hurts.”
It was as competitive a game as could be expected from two teams who went this far last season and entered the evening with identical records. Although neither team had more than a one-score lead at any time, Gruver still appeared to be in control in the second half.
After stopping Muenster following the second half kickoff, the Greyhounds put together their best sustained drive of the night, largely on the ground. Quarterback Briggs Satterfield and running back Dax Conyers were the main principles in getting Gruver to the doorstep.
Gruver punched it in on fourth and goal from a yard out when Satterfield kept it and gave the Greyhounds an 18-14 lead with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
Conyers had a game-high 126 yards on 26 carries for the Greyhounds. It was part of a sustained effort to wear down the Hornets after halftime.
“We were running it well in the first half and we made a few adjustments with some of our blocking schemes and there were some holes there,” Haberthur said. “We were able to hit them.”
After a defensive stop, the Greyhounds had an opportunity to put some more distance between themselves and Muenster when they drove the ball just inside the red zone early in the fourth quarter. They opted to go for it on fourth down, though, and Satterfield just missed Nick Shepard for what probably would have been a touchdown.
Up to that point, the Greyhounds had every reason to be confident in their defense. They’d forced a three-and-out and a fumble on Muenster’s first two second half possessions.
The Hornets finally got their initial first down of the second half, and it was huge. Quarterback Casen Carney hit a streaking Clayton Cunningham behind Gruver’s secondary, and Cunningham completed a 71-yard scoring play for his only reception of the evening. It gave Muenster a 21-18 lead with 9:12 remaining in the game.
“It was just a great route and throw,” Haberthur said.
Gruver got the ball back and continued grinding away on the ground, moving inside Muenster’s 35-yard line with under four minutes left. The Greyhounds didn’t get any positive yardage after that.
Satterfield tried a keeper on second-and-nine and was stuffed for a two-yard loss. He was then sacked for a six-yard loss and on fourth down, lost his footing and slipped in his own territory, giving Muenster the ball with two minutes left in the game.
“I think we were able to pick apart their weaknesses but ultimately it wasn’t enough,” said Satterfield, who threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns. “I just think they started bringing pressure and got to us. They’re a great team. We’re really grateful to be here, but we’re sad right now.”
Muenster faced a third-and-seven and the Greyhounds would have had a shot to get the ball back for a last desperation opportunity, but Muenster’s Dustyn Croft broke off a 35-yard run for a first down to clinch it.
The Leopards won despite the fact Gruver had all the statistical edges. Gruver ran 68 plays to Muenster’s 48, had 16 first downs to 10 for the Hornets, and outgained Muenster by a 315-251 margin.
“Big plays were the whole difference in the ball game for us and them,” Muenster coach Brady Carney. “(The Greyhounds) hit the two deep passes (in the first half) and we hit one late. They didn’t win the scoreboard part, but I thought they won every other part of the game. Those kids played their tails off.”
It might have been the heightened tension of the situation which led to a not so clean first half of football. Each team lost two fumbles (one of which was turned into a touchdown) and two failed point after conversions led to Gruver trailing 14-12 at halftime and ultimately proved the difference in the game.
Both teams lost fumbles on the first three possessions of the game, but it was the third one which was, or wasn’t a charm depending on your point of view. Satterfield was stripped of the ball with the Greyhounds deep in Muenster territory, and Garrett Hess picked it up and ran untouched for an 80-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead for Muenster.
After that, the Greyhounds got their offense cranked up with their big play passing game. Less than 90 seconds after Muenster got on the board, Satterfield hit Brock Butler for a 57-yard touchdown to make it 7-6, which is how it stayed after Emmanuel Valverde missed the extra point kick.
Only 28 seconds into the second quarter, Gruver took the lead for the first time on a 28-yard scoring pass from Satterfield to Butler for a 12-7 lead. This time, a two-point conversion pass missed.
Butler torched Muenster with five catches for 114 yards.
“Defensively and offensively it was a phenomenal effort for our kids tonight,” Haberthur said. “We had our opportunities. You don’t get many opportunities in a game like this but they were there.”
Muenster’s offense was quiet for most of the first half, but the Hornets finally landed a sting with just over five minutes left in the first half. Casen Carney capped an impressive drive by carrying it over from a yard out as Muenster reclaimed the lead at 14-12 and eventually took it into halftime.
That alone signaled that it was going to be a far different game than last year’s meeting between the two teams. Muenster dominated at the start of both halves and Gruver never really threatened seriously.
This time, there was plenty of doubt until the final minute.
“It’s definitely a feather in their hat to move forward,” Haberthur said. “If they look at that and think that’s how good they are they’ll get a surprise, because they’ll have to go to work again.”
A defensive highlight for Gruver came from sophomore linebacker Bo Cowan, who pulled off a hat trick by recovering three fumbles.
Muenster 21, Gruver 18
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final | ||
| Muenster | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 | |
| Gruver | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 18 |
First Quarter
M – Garrett Hess 80 fumble return (Legend Bounds kick), 5:54
G – Brock Butler 57 pass from Briggs Satterfield (kick failed), 4:27
Second Quarter
G – Butler 28 pass from Satterfield (pass failed), 11:32
M – Casen Carney 1 run (Bounds kick), 5:04
Third Quarter
G – Satterfield 1 run (run failed), 5:15
Fourth Quarter
M – Clayton Cunningham 71 pass from Carney (Bounds kick), 9:12
| Muenster | Gruver | |
| First Downs | 10 | 16 |
| Rushing | 111 | 147 |
| Passing | 140 | 168 |
| Total Yards | 251 | 315 |
| C-A-I | 7-18-0 | 8-15-0 |
| Punts-Avg. | 3-37 | 1-44 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 3-3 | 2-2 |
| Penalties-Yards | 7-65 | 3-30 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Muenster: Carney 16-44, Carter Heller 1-2, Nolan Peel 6-26, Dustyn Croft 2-39. Gruver: Satterfield 25-34, Dax Conyers 26-126, Butler 1-(-11), Emmanuel Valverde 1-(-2).
Passing – Muenster: Carney 7-18-0-140. Gruver: Satterfield 8-15-0-168.
Receiving – Muenster: Peel 3-23, Brody Baggs 2-38, Croft 1-8, Cunningham 1-71. Gruver: Butler 5-114, Mason Lankford 2-50, Pake Babbs 1-4.