Bison Rumble by Sandies, 51-12

By Will Johnson

Messenger Reporter

BUFFALO – The Grapeland Sandies hit the road Last Friday night and traveled to Buffalo for a contest against the Buffalo Bison. It was probably a trip they would just as soon forget as the Bison hammered the Sandies by a final score of 51-12.

While the passing offense was still effective, Grapeland just could not seem to find the end zone as it had in the first two weeks of the season.

“We got outplayed,” Grapeland AD/Head Coach Wayne Mahaffey said after the game. “The simple answer is we got outplayed. We got outplayed on both sides of the ball. They’re a pretty good football team – they’re undefeated.”

The coach said the tone of the game was set on the Sandies’ first play from scrimmage. “We ran the wrong play. Some of the linemen were blocking for one play and we ran a different play and we fumbled the exchange. It was a disaster. They got the ball on the 30 with a short field and it went downhill from there.”

Coach Mahaffey said the Bison were also more physical than his team and added “… we struggled both in pass blocking and in the run game. Defensively, their offensive linemen were good size and as a result we struggled to get off their blocks.”

Buffalo scored 21 points in the first quarter to Grapeland’s six and added 20 more in the second before the first half mercifully came to an end with the score, 41-6. Riley Chipman gave the Sandies their only points of the first half when he hauled in a Rick Frauenberger pass on a crossing route, made a cut and outraced everyone to the end zone.

Mahaffey expressed optimism, however, when he discussed Grapeland’s play in the second half. “It was 10-6 after the break. We made several stops on defense, after we changed up a few things which I think made us more effective. We seemed to play a little better from that standpoint, but I still feel we played well below what we were capable of.”

The second Grapeland TD was scored by Josh “Bear” Ackley. “I’m not sure on the yardage, but he caught a 50 or 60 yard pass. They blew the coverage, he found a seam and it was an easy stroll into the end zone.”

“I still think we’re better than we were at this point last year. It’s just been the match-ups the last two weeks haven’t been very good for us.  I feel like we had better skill players than they did in both games.”

The Sandies will take on the Colmesneil Bulldogs on Friday night in Grapeland. Colmesneil comes into the game with a record of 0-3, while Grapeland is 1-2. The kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].