After a back-and-forth first half, Spring Grove dominated the second stanza to defeat Houston, 33-16, at Blayne Onsgard Memorial Field in the October 11 season opener of 2020. Trailing 16-7, the Lions drove 65 yards to make it 16-14 just 41 seconds before halftime. It became two touchdowns within 56 seconds on the game clock when sophomore Hunter Holland took the second half kickoff 84 yards to put SG ahead for the first time, 21-16.
The Lion offense added two more scores while the defense shut down the Hurricane attack. Houston scored both touchdowns with 60-yard drives while gaining 194 yards in the first half and only 86 in the second half. Caiden Olson (32 carries, 171 yards) scored on 4 and 2-yard plunges. Quarterback Isaac Heyer (25 carries, 74 yards) ran in the first two-point conversion, and Olson ran in the second two-pointer with 1:47 to play before halftime for a 16-7 lead.
Five scrimmage plays later, SG capped a 65-yard possession with a 27-yard TD pass from senior Isaac Griffin to sophomore Tysen Grinde, who made an over-the-shoulder catch at full speed at the back of the end zone (Hou 16, SG 14).
After Holland scored with the kickoff and then forced a fumble at the Houston 23, Grinde struck again with a leaping grab in the same corner of the same end zone – an 18-yard scoring play that put the Lions up, 27-16.
Holland (11 runs, 85 yards) would cap the scoring with a 19-yard TD run, breaking five tackles before dragging a sixth defender across the goal line.
With the ‘Canes concentrating the sub-district’s leading 2019 receiver Caden Grinde (2 catches, 23 yards), his younger brother Tysen Grinde (3-51 yards) stepped up with two TD receptions. Five different Lions caught passes; junior Reid Bjerke was the leading receiver (5-55 yards), including an 8-yard TD catch that capped a 90-yard drive for the first Lion TD (Hou 8, SG 7).
Griffin, in his varsity debut as a starting quarterback, completed 12 of 20 passes for 141 yards and 3 touchdowns and kicked 3 extra points. ‘Cane quarterback Heyer completed 2 of 2 passes for 8 yards, had no fumbles and no turnovers. Houston fumbled 9 times, losing 3. And the Grove guys’ 60 of 62 Hurricane plays were runs.
In addition to drawing double coverage on offense, Caden Grinde spearheaded the defense with 189 tackles (6 solo). Tristan Hammel had 13 tackles while Elijah Solum and Ty Cleven were each in on 11 stops. Holland was credited with 10 tackles along with nine from Tysen Grinde.
It was the Lions’ 14th straight win the series they now lead 41 wins to 30 with 2 ties (since 1949).
SCORING SUMMARY
SG—0—14—13—6 = 33
Hou—8 –8—–0—-0 = 16
>>FIRST QUARTER
Hou 8, SG 0
4 run Caiden Olson (run Isaac Heyer)
Drive: 60 yards, 9 plays
Keys: 24-yard run
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>>SECOND QUARTER
Hou 8, SG 7
8 pass Reid Bjerke from Isaac Griffin (Griffin kick)
Drive: 90 yards, 6 plays
Keys: 27-yard run; 22, 17 passes
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Hou 16, SG 7
2 run Olson (run Olson)
Drive: 60 yards, 12 plays
Keys: 13-yard run
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Hou 16, SG 14
27 pass Tysen Grinde from Griffin (kick Griffin)
Drive: 65 yards, 5 plays
Keys: 20-yard run
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>>THIRD QUARTER
Hou 16, SG 21
84 kickoff return Hunter Holland (kick Griffin)
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Hou 16, SG 27
18 pass Tysen Grinde from Griffin (team kick fail)
Drive: 23 yards, 3 plays
Keys: recovered fumble at Hou 23
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>>FOURTH QUARTER
Hou 16, SG 33
19 run Holland (team kick fail)
Drive: 30 yards, 4 plays
Keys: held Hou on fourth down at Hou 30
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YARDAGE total (rush+pass)
SG 278 (137+141), Hou 280 (272+8)
RUSHING: att.-yards (avg.)
SG. 24-137, TD (5.7), Hou 60-272, 2TD (4.5)
PASSES: comp-att-int, yds. (TD)
SG 12-20-0, 141 yds.(3TD); Hou 2-2-0 8 yds.
Sacks allowed: SG 0, Hou 0
TD: SG – 1 run, 3 pass, 1 spec. teams
TD: Hou – 2 run
PAT: SG kick 3-5; Hou run 2-2
TOTAL PLAYS: SG 44, Hou 62
AVG. yards per play: SG 6.3, Hou 4.5
FUMBLES – LOST: SG 0-0, Hou 9-3
TURNOVERS: SG 0, Hou 3
PENALTIES: SG 3-31, Hou 1-5
3rd downs: SG 3-8, Hou 4-11
4th downs: SG 0-1, Hou 0-4
Red zone: SG 3-3, Hou 2-3
First downs: SG 14, Hou 16
Plays of 20+ yards: SG 4, Hou 2
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SG INDIVIDUALS:
RUSHING: 137: Hunter Holland 11-85, TD
Isaac Griffin 11-55
Team knee 2-(-3)
PASSING: Isaac Griffin 12-20-0, 141 yds. 3TD
RECEIVING: 141 yds. Reid Bjerke 5-55, TD; Tysen Grinde 3-51, 2TD; Caden Grinde 2-23; Logan Brumm 1-10; Hunter Holland 1-2
SCORING – 33: -Tysen Grinde 12, Hunter Holland 12, Reid Bjerke 6, Isaac Griffin 3
XP KICKING: Isaac Griffin 3-3; team 0-2
PUNTING: Caden Grinde 4-133 (33.3 avg.)
INTERCEPTIONS: none
PASS BREAKUPS: none
SACKS: none
FUMBLE RECOVERIES: Isaac Griffin 1, Tristan Hammel 1, Ty Cleven 1
FUMBLES FORCED: Elijah Solum 1, Hunter Holland 1, Reid Bjerke 1
TACKLES for LOSS (incl. sacks): Hunter Holland 2, Reid Bjerke 1
TACKLES (solo + assists): Caden Grinde 19 (6+13), Tristan Hammel 13 (1+12); Elijah Solum 11 (2+9), Ty Cleven 11 (1+10), Hunter Holland 10 (3+7), Isaac Griffin 9 (4+5), Tysen Grinde 9 (2+7), Reid Bjerke 8 (3+5), Logan Brumm 4 (3+1), Ethan Crouch 4 (1+3), Cameron Kraus 1 (1+0), Caleb Griffin 1 (1+0)
KICKOFF RETURNS: Hunter Holland 1-84, TD; Caden Grinde 1-28; Tysen Grinde 1- 2
PUNT RETURNS: none
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Houston INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING: Caiden Olson 32-171, 2TD +PAT
Isaac Heyer 25-74 + PAT
Ethan Hargrove 1-20
Kam Morgan 2-7
PASSING: Isaac Heyer 2-2-0, 8 yds.
RECEIVING: Caiden Olson 1-5, Kenny Grupe 1-3
SCORING: Caiden Olson 14, Isaac Heyer 2
PUNTING: Tanner Kubitz 2-72 (36.0 avg.)
KICKOFF RETURNS: Isaac Heyer 3-84, Caiden Olson 2-21, Tanner Kubitz 1-20, Unidentified 0-0, Caiden Olson 1-11
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