Grapeland Stumbles Against Kirbyville, 33-14
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
GRAPELAND – The Grapeland Sandies welcomed the Kirbyville Wildcats to Sandie Stadium last Friday for a non-district matchup as the Sandies begin to get ready for league play.
The game was a good measuring stick for the Sandies to see how they far they had progressed this season. The Class 3A-DI Wildcats have always been a solid football team but 2021 looked to be a rebuilding year.
It appears the rebuilding is ahead of schedule in Kirbyville, however, as the Wildcats used a second-half surge to take down the Sandies and sneak out of Grapeland with a 33-14 win.
The Sandies opened the game with possession of the ball but three consecutive runs by Cadarian Wiley only produced five yards forcing Grapeland to punt. On the kick, however, the ball sailed over punter Jeremy Pierce’s head.
Zandric Anderson
Pierce was able to track down the ball at the Sandies’ 19, but by then, the Wildcats had swarmed all over him and Kirbyville took possession of the ball in the Grapeland red zone.
Three plays later, Brayden Mahathy blasted his way across the goal line to make the score 6-0 with 8:47 left in the opening period of play. The extra point attempt was blocked by Grapeland’s Zandric Anderson.
Grapeland’s second series of downs wasn’t much better than the first. After the kickoff, the Sandies took over at their own 34. On first down, Riley Murchison completed a pass to Lekerian Smith for a one-yard loss. Second down was a busted play, but Wiley still managed to pick up seven yards. An incompletion by Murchison on third down forced Grapeland into a punting situation.
This time, fortunately, the Sandies got the punt off and the Wildcats took over at their own 24. Kirbyville launched a sustained drive and when Devin St. Cyr bulled his way down to the 10-yard line, the Wildcats looked like they were about to expand their lead.
The Grapeland D stood its ground, however, and forced the Wildcats to turn the ball over on downs. Wiley ripped off eight yards on first down and then added another five on second to move the ball out to the 23.
That was as far as Grapeland would get as Kirbyville’s defense clamped down and forced another punt.
The Wildcats took over at midfield and put running back Vanten Hutchinson to work. He gained three yards on first down and following a Mahathy incompletion, Hutchison ripped off 22 yards to move the ball down to the Grapeland 21. Mahathy added another 12 and then Hutchinson took it the rest of the way for a nine-yard TD. The try for two was good and with seven minutes remaining in the half, the Wildcats now led 14-0.
Following Kirbyville’s second TD of the game, Grapeland’s offense found a spark. The Sandies took possession at their own 37 and on first down, Wiley picked up three. Murchison threw incomplete on second down but connected with Johnny Lamb for 10 yards and a new set of downs at midfield.
Murchison then found Smith for another 10 yards to move down to the Wildcats’ 40. An incompletion and a loss of one by Murchison set up a third-and-11 at the Kirbyville 41. Faced with a third-and-long, Murchison dropped back to pass and saw Anderson running free across the middle.
The QB threw a bullet to Anderson who hauled in the pass at the 20 and then outraced everyone to the end zone to put Grapeland on the scoreboard. The Murchison-to-Anderson combination worked so well on the touchdown, the coaching staff dialed that number again on the try for two and just like that, the Sandies were back in the ball game with 2:57 left in the first half, trailing 14-8.
Knowing they would get the ball to start the second half, the Wildcats were hoping to score before halftime. Hutchinson picked up nine on first down but was drilled for a loss by Grapeland’s Wyatt Lewis on second down.
On third-and-two, Mahathy completed a ball to Stephen Carrell for 19 yards and followed up with a 20-yarder to Chase Young. An illegal procedure call pushed the ball back to the 19, but Hutchinson picked up nine after the penalty to put the ball at the 10.
On the next play, Mahathy appeared to score but a personal foul on Kirbyville wiped out the TD. With time running down and the ball now at the 15, Mahathy completed a six-yard pass to Carrell to bring up a fourth-and-six. Once again, the Grapeland defense rose up and stopped the Wildcats when Kaleb Gardner and Will McClendon chased Mahathy out of bounds at the 16 to give the ball back to the Sandies with 26 seconds left to play in the first half.
Starting at their own 16, Murchison picked up 11 to move out to the 27. Grapeland called timeout with 17 seconds left. Head Coach Jordan Wood then dialed up a play for the ages as he called for a hook-and-lateral, which the Sandies executed to perfection.
Murchison dropped back to pass and found Jax Vickers on a hook route. Vickers caught the ball and lateraled to Wiley. The All-State running back caught the lateral cleanly, turned on the after-burners and outraced everyone to the end zone for a touchdown. The try for two was no good, but with only three seconds left in the half, Grapeland had tied the game at 14.
It seemed the momentum had jumped to the Sandies’ side after halftime, but the Wildcats quickly flipped the script at the start of the third quarter.
Kirbyville opened the second half with possession of the ball at their own 35 and went on a sustained drive that ended with an Azion Mahathy one-yard TD plunge at the 7:42 mark of the third. The extra point was good and Kirbyville was back in front 21-14.
After a three-and-out from Grapeland, the Wildcats added another touchdown on their second possession of the half as Brayden Mahathy scored from 26-yards out to make the score 27-14.
Try as they might, the Sandies simply could not get anything going after the break. Turnovers and penalties killed any chance Grapeland had at a comeback and when A. Mahathy scored from 26 yards out, the Wildcats salted the game away as they went on to win by a final score of 33-14.
The Sandies are back in action on Friday evening, Sept. 24 as they hit the road for a game against the Burkeville Mustangs. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
