Do you believe in miracles?

 The Grace High football team does!  Like most amazing stories, this one is best told from the beginning.  The Grizzlies came into the game excited to be playing in the state tournament and you could tell they were prepared and ready to play.  But things slowly started to go against them in the first half.  Grace swapped scores with the Notus Pirates early and with 5 minutes remaining they were down 16 - 14 and it looked like it would go back and forth like this all night.  But a costly fumble in their own territory gave Notus an opportunity to score quickly before the half.  The Grizzlies went into the locker room down 24 - 14.

 Notus received the kickoff to start the 2nd half and they wasted no time and scored again making it 32 - 14.  Notus had many offensive weapons but the one that most hurt the Grizzlies was running back Ryan Vibbert.  The Pirates ran the counter reverse to perfection.  Grace had no answer. That one play yielded more yards for Notus than all their other plays combined.  If it didn't go for a touchdown, then it was going for 30 plus yards. 

 A few stops by the Notus defense and Grace found themselves down 48 - 20 with 9:30 remaining in the 4th quarter.  This is where things get good.  Grace received the kickoff and wasted no time, scoring in 45 seconds and putting the score at 48-26.  A defining moment came shortly after.  As the kickoff team prepared to take the field, Coach Millward encouraged the boys to compete and to have heart.  They broke the huddle with a unison cry of "compete".  But sophomore QB and team captain Josh Jensen wasn't satisfied.  As the team walked out onto the field he called them together again and they changed their huddle breaking cheer to "win".  At that moment you knew what these boys had made the 5 hour trip for.  A recovered onside kick and quick score by Trevor Simonson sparked hope for the Grizzlies and the game announcer proclaimed "we have a ball game"!  The score is now 48 - 32 and there is still 7 minutes left.

 

 The Grizzlies opt to kick it deep and put trust in the hands of their defense.  It proved to be exactly the right thing to do as Grace forced a fumble and recovered it at about the 50.  The offense once again showed their ability and marched down for another score.  This time they were able to convert a crucial 2pt conversion by passing it to Chase Ackerman in the left corner of the end zone, making the score 48 - 40.  

 An onside kick is now necessary.  It comes close to being recovered by the grizzlies but ends up in the hands of a Notus player.  The grizzly defense once again comes up huge and stop notus on 4th down when they tried to fake the punt.   

 

 Wasting no time, Grace find the end zone again making the score 48 - 46 with just 1:57 on the clock.  Now they must go for the 2pt conversion to tie.  An unblocked Notus blitzer tied up Josh Jensen in the backfield and the conversion failed.  It seemed that Grace had come so close but would end up falling just 2 points short.

 The onside kick is recovered by Grace, but the refs saw a first touching by the Grizzlies before the ball had gone 10 yards and Notus is given the ball at the Grizzly 45 yard line.  On 1st down the defense holds them to about 2 yards. Time is ticking. Grace has two timeouts left, but Coach Millward is waiting for the opportune moment to use them.  Notus rushes on 2nd down and gains minimal yardage and Millward calls a timeout, stopping the clock with about 1:25.  The 3rd down play proved to be the same and Notus only gains 1 or 2. Grace uses their last timeout to stop the clock.  It's now 4th and 3 and Notus is going to for it.  The defense was ready for it and they stopped the run well short of the 1st down marker.  

 Grace now has the ball back with just over a minute left and no timeouts.  A crucial 10 yard run by Simonson to get a first down, stops the clock momentarily.  The offense hurries to the line of scrimmage and Jensen spikes the ball setting up a 2nd and 10 from the Notus 46 yard line.  The grizzlies now have some time to huddle up and get a good play set up.  A short flag route to Ackerman and then some impressive footwork by the receiver put the Grizzlies in the red zone with just 11 seconds remaining in the game.  Jensen spikes the ball again and gives the offense some time to gather themselves.  The play is called and again Ackerman's number is was called.  A high pass in the end zone is leapt up for by the senior receiver but couldn't quite get the handles on it because of a defender taking him out at the legs.  Ackerman fell hard on his back and was not getting up.  The coaches and medical staff run to his aid.  A few minutes later he is on his feet and seemed to have been just dizzied by the hard fall.  But because of rules on injured players, Ackerman must now sit out the next play.  Because the pass was incomplete the clock had been stopped with 5 seconds left.  One last chance for the win.  Jensen rolls right and you can tell he's eyeing the end zone him self.  But Senior Damien Martinez is open for a split second and a bullet pass from Jensen is caught in the end zone as time expires. The sidelines empty as the team swarms around Martinez.

 The Grizzlies had done it.  What seemed to be a blowout defeat, turned into the most memorable game in Grace High history.  The team will now move on to the semi-finals of the state tournament and will play district foe, Hagerman, at the Holt Arena. 

 Grace High will always "Remember, remember the 5th of November"