Finally, after nine years, the Canyon Cowboys have taken a victory against the Golden Valley Grizzlies!
On Friday, Oct. 6, 2023, Canyon held their annual Pink Out game against Golden Valley High School. Every fan looks forward to this annual game, as it is the most packed game of the season. Canyon fans had a good feeling about this game, and they were hoping to see the players break their nine year losing streak against Golden Valley.
On top of all that, the Cowboy players themselves were very hyped up for this game. Senior Diego Olujich says, “I wouldn’t say I was scared or nervous of a cross town rival that wanted to win just as much as me. But once I felt that first hit, I knew it was going to be a good game because I wasn’t holding back.”
Starting out in the first quarter with a bang, the Cowboys earned 10 points, making the score 10-0. This was such a thrilling way to start off the game. This put fans, players, and coaches in high spirits for the rest of the game.
The defense in the second quarter played a strong game, only letting the opposing team score two points. Sadly, they played a strong defense too, and no points were scored for the Cowboys in the second quarter. This concluded the first half of the game, with the score being 10-2, Cowboys in the lead.
The football players weren’t the only ones competing with each other; both schools’ student sections were competing for who had more school spirit. Whoever the losing school was had to have their student section leader pied in the face at half-time, and the Cowboys won the competition. Way to go Cowboys with all your school spirit!
After all that fun at half time was over, the players rushed back on the field, ready to finish off the Grizzlies and take their rightful victory.
The third quarter was a real head-to-head competition between both teams. Both the Grizzlies and the Cowboys scored a touchdown, moving the score to 17-9. First the Grizzlies, then the Cowboys where senior Jeremiah Taylor ran a 99-yard touchdown. This was a game changer that motivated both teams to work extremely hard.
But if fans thought the third quarter was stressful, the fourth was a real nail biter. The Grizzlies scored 12 points, putting the Cowboys behind by 7 points. All the Cowboys needed was one more touchdown, but time was getting low, and the fans were on the edge of their seats. With four minutes left to spare, they needed to drain time long enough to make sure there was no chance for the other team to miraculously score. But finally, with only 29 seconds on the clock, senior Ganisten Turner rushed a 4-yard touchdown, securing the win for the Cowboys.
Even after the win, the players and coaches both agree that there were moments that they could’ve played better to avoid keeping the score so close. O-Line coach, Jake Holsenbeck, says, “Something the team could’ve done better is improving the execution on our blocks,” but then continues to rave about a few players he thought did amazing.
Holsenbeck said, “Jeremiah Taylor had a couple of key runs that secured the game. Andrew Ruiz did a good job opening the holes for the running back to follow. Golden Valley put a fast dude on Zack Demerst, hoping they could outspeed him on the pass rush, but he did a good job keeping up with him.”
This was a win for the books, and Canyon is very proud of their players. Good luck with the rest of league, Cowboys!
