It was an exciting night this past Friday as there were many people out supporting the Grand Terrace High School Football Program as they honored Youth Night. Tiny Titans prepared for their performance and future Titans wore their current football jerseys to represent their football organization. All were able to watch and cheer for the Titans who were battling it out on the field with the Blackhawks.
Citrus Valley started their game off by showing our Titans that they can sling the ball all over the field with a few first down passes leading to #11 Jesus Guzman scoring a 32-yard touchdown pass.
With such a quick score Grand Terrace tried to start up their rushing attack with Jeremy Massey #37. However, after getting a first down they were stopped for a punt by Kyle Waldon #16.
Citrus Valley quarterback connected to his favorite target Colby Grames #47 for a 40-yard pass. The pass slipped thru the 2 safety’s for a touchdown extending the Blackhawk's lead to 13-0.
Grand Terrace tried getting their offense going when they reached Citrus Valley’s 20-yard line and Mekhi Lewis #12 was picked off by the safety Jordan Scott #6. With the ball being at the 15-yard line they tried passing the ball but received sacks by Troy Steptoe #27, David Gusta #60 and Aaron Torres #10 to force Citrus Valley to punt.
Citrus Valley drove down the field slowly by executing on third downs and even tried a well thought out trick play with hand-offs between the running back and wide receiver. Colby Grames #47, with a wall of blockers for 15-yards to set up Jonathan Calderon #2 to throw a lob pass to Jesus Guzma #11 for a 20-yard touchdown.
Grand Terrace’s own Mekhi Lewis #12 was throwing Hail Mary’s when one was picked off by #37 ending the first half of the game.
With the mighty Titans trailing at the half 20-0 it was time for a spirited pick me up. The half time was full of cheer and pep from students, staff, and parents. They were determined not to let the score falter their spirit. Many students gathered in the stands in what is known as the "Thunder Zone" using their voices to lift spirits and rally their team. With one of their most spirited cheers they even threw colored powder into the sky painting it a pastel rainbow.
This was a special night for Grand Terrace as it was celebrating Youth Night with the youth football and cheer organizations in attendance along with the Tiny Titan Cheer Camp.
The Tiny Titan Cheer Camp was a 3 day camp put together by the Grand Terrace Spirit Squad. For 2 days the cheer and song leaders from the squad worked with and taught girls and boys from ages 2-13 years old. They worked for hours on getting down cheers and dance moves so that they could perform. The squad expected the camp to be a small turnout of less than 20 participants. However, there were over 100 youth participants who registered and participated in the camp. They taught the Tiny Titans how to rally and how to use their voices.
During the halftime show the Tiny Titan Cheer Camp took the field and performed 3 cheers for Grand Terrace. All in matching shirts and some in tutus and of course decked out in bows and spirited colors. It was amazing to watch each participant perform so well in learning all that they had in just 2 days. From beginners to amateurs, everyone gave it their all and brought that community and team spirit up.
Along with the cheer camp the high school varsity squad and the song squad performed for their Tiny Titans and the community in the stands.
Coming out of halftime Grand Terrace Titans were pumped and the crowd was rallying for the second half. The Titans tried to get their offense out of the slump to come back into the game. Citrus Valley wanted to start their rushing attack to show they are a more balanced team than they get recognized for.
Citrus Valley started the half with a strong drive ending with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Christopher Pettegrew #32.
Grand Terrace was trying to dominate the line of scrimmage with run play after run play, capping it off by Mekhi Lewis #12 throwing a dime to Garrett Ostrinski #15 for a 17-yard touchdown. Extra point good by Kyle Waldon #16.
Next drive, Mekhi Lewis #12 escaped a collapsed pocket and passed to Garrett Ostrinski #15 for a first down but couldn’t go any further as they punted it back to Citrus Valley.
After back to back punts, Grand Terrace decided to go for it on fourth down and a pass to Lonzel Bradford #13 got the first down. Mekhi Lewis #12 threw an electrifying pass to Dominic Balderrama #19 down in the middle of the field where he juked left on the safety and walked it in for a 56-yard touchdown to get the crowd fired up for a comeback 14-27!
Grand Terrace was running a no huddle formation and getting effortless first downs by Lewis throwing passes on the money for his receivers. Lewis threw a jump ball back-shoulder throw that was caught by Corey Young #18 for the touchdown with an impressive late comeback 21-27 with 30 seconds left in the game.
Grand Terrace tried for a desperate onside kick to keep their hopes alive but after the ball bounced and hit a Blackhawk defender back and kneed the ball to end the nightmare of a second half for them and escape with a win 27-21.
Grand Terrace will need to pick up their tempo in the first half so they do not have to resort to making a comeback in the end of the game if they are aiming to win back to back Sunkist league titles. Grand Terrace will try to get back into winning form with their first league game vs Bloomington High School.