Grand River Conference

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Chloe Gilbert launched a 2-out solo home run in the bottom of the 5th inning to put the Polo Panthers up 4-3 over Plattsburg.  Hanna Vaught would retire the Tigers in the top of the 6th to clinch the Plattsburg Tournament Championship.   Vaught pitched 6 strong innings striking out 9 Plattsburg hitters.  The Tigers scored 3 unearned runs, all on throwing errors by Gilbert.   After allowing a run in the first, the Panthers responded with 2 runs in the bottom of the first.  Gilbert walked with one out followed by a Vaught single.  Mya Heil followed with a 2-run single scoring Gilbert and Mya Stigger, who ran for Vaught. Plattsburg would plate two more in the 3rd, but Polo answered once again.  Kenley Moore led off with a walk.  Vaught knocked her in with a double.  After Stigger ran for Vaught again, Kendyl Fitzwater singled into center.  Stigger tried to score, but was thrown out at the...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com It was a matchup of two top ten teams in Rosendale to open the 2022 football season.  #10 King City Wildkats traveled to North Andrew to face the #2 Cardinals in a Grand River Conference game.  North Andrew had revenge on their mind after losing to King City 62-26 a year ago.  The Cardinals only lost one senior to graduation and returned many players from an injury-plagued 2021 campaign. King City is coming off of a season in which they made it to the state semifinals, but they lost all-state running back Parker Muff and quarterback Landon Wells.  However, they have 17 seniors ready to take over this season. The game did not start off well for the Wildkats.  They muffed the opening kickoff, and North Andrew was able to capitalize with a 23-yard touchdown run by Hayden Ecker. That would be the only scoring for the Cardinals in the first half.  They would continually make mistakes in the first half.  Their next ...

The fall sports season is upon us.  Games start to count on Friday.  But we already have had jamborees over the past week. In addition, we have previews for both football divisions within the GRC.  In case you missed it, here are all of the pre-season and jamboree blogs and podcasts: GRC 8-Man Preview Blog:  https://grandriverconference.blogspot.com/2022/08/grc-8-man-football-preview.html Podcast:  https://anchor.fm/grandriverconference/episodes/GRC-8-Man-Preview-with-Devin-Albertson-e1mpes6 GRC 11-Man Preview: Blog:  https://grandriverconference.blogspot.com/2022/08/grc-11-man-football-preview.html Podcast:  https://anchor.fm/grandriverconference/episodes/GRC-11-Man-Preview-with-Chris-award-e1mu0c3 North Andrew Football Jamboree Blog:  https://grandriverconference.blogspot.com/2022/08/north-andrew-and-pattonsburg-compete-in.html Podcast:  https://anchor.fm/grandriverconference/episodes/GRC-Football-Friday---North-Andrew-Jamboree-and-More-e1m...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Stanberry Bulldogs hosted fellow GRC member Albany Warriors along with DeKalb and Stewartsville-Osborn in the softball jamboree on Tuesday, August 23. Each game in the jamboree was 3 innings or 45 minutes (whichever came first).  Each inning was also limited to 5 runs. The order of games was: Stanberry vs. DeKalb; Albany vs. Stewartsville-Osborn Stanberry vs. Stewartsville-Osborn; Albany vs. DeKalb Stanberry vs. Albany; DeKalb vs. Stewartsville-Osborn Stanberry played all of their games on the south field (softball field) while the other game was played on the north field (baseball field). Since there were 2 games happening at the same time, my goal was to attend 2 games each for both Albany and Stanberry.  I attended the following games: Albany 6 Stewartsville-Osborn 0 Addisyn Crawford of Albany held the Wildcards of Stewartsville-Osborn hitless in 3 innings in route to a 6-0 victory.  The Warriors were unable to take advantage ...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com St. Joseph Christian Lions hosted West Platte Blue Jays and East Buchanan Bulldogs at their annual Volleyball jamboree on Saturday, August 20.  The jamboree featured 3 sets against both teams.  Each set started with the score at 4-4 going to 25 points.  And unlike the regular season, the set could end without a team winning by 2. The matchups were: St. Joseph Christian vs. West Platte West Platte vs. East Buchanan St. Joseph Christian vs. East Buchanan Match #1 In the first match, West Platte got out to out to a 9-4 lead after scoring the first 5 points.  The Lions cut the lead to 11-10 before West Platte extended the lead to 17-12.  After a St. Joseph Christian timeout, the Lions would hit the next shot long to fall behind by 6 points.  That is when the tide turned.  Maya Freudenthal had a kill that was just in.  The next two points featured a key block by Ella Bowman and dig by Chloe Burnahm to make it ...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Two GRC teams competed in the North Andrew Football Jamboree on Friday Night.  North Andrew Cardinals hosted the jamboree and was joined by fellow GRC member Pattonsburg Panthers along with Platte Valley and DeKalb. Each of the teams in the jamboree had the opportunity to play the other teams on offense and defense.  They would start at their own 20 yard line and have 12 plays.  If they turned the ball over or failed to make a first down, then the ball would go back to the 20 yard line. The order of the jamboree was: 1st Quarter - North Andrew vs. Pattonsburg 2nd Quarter - Platte Valley vs. DeKalb 3rd Quarter - North Andrew vs. DeKalb 4th Quarter - Pattonsburg vs. Platte Valley 5th Quarter - Pattonsburg vs. DeKalb 6th Quarter - North Andrew vs. Platte Valley 1st Quarter - North Andrew vs. Pattonsburg The 1st Quarter featured the two GRC teams.  North Andrew started on offense, and Hayden Ecker immediately ran 60 yards for a ...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Coaches' Pre-Season Poll North Andrew's season last year was a difficult one.  They had multiple players out with injury.  But last year's struggles may pay dividends for them in 2022.  With many key players out, the younger players were able to gain some experience.  Now everyone is healthy and North Andrew is the coaches' pick to win the GRC 8-Man. Here are the coaches' picks for the 2022 season for GRC 8-Man: North Andrew North Andrew finished 6-5 in 2021 including 2-3 in the GRC.  Owen Graham is the only graduating senior from last season.  The Cardinals will be led this season by Sophomore dual-threat Quarterback Braxon Linville, who threw for 940 yards last year, but his biggest threat is his legs.  As a freshman, Linville was able to run for 1,467 yards.  Those stats helped him earn first season all-conference at All-Purpose Back.  With Senior Running Back Hayden Ecker expected to be healthy f...

by Jeremy Benson, GrandRiverConference.com Coaches' Pre-Season Poll Defending GRC 11-Man Champion Gallatin Bulldogs look to repeat as champions this year.  According to the coaches, they are the favorites to become the first GRC football team to capture back-to-back outright titles since South Harrison in 2012 and 2013. Here are the coaches' picks for the 2022 season for GRC 11-Man: Gallatin Gallatin finished 9-3 in 2021 including 6-1 in the GRC.  They finished a game in front of South Harrison and Milan to win their 12th conference championship.  They advanced to the District Championship game before falling to Hamilton.  Of their 3 losses in 2022, Hamilton was the opponent in 2 of them. The core of the Bulldogs team is returning including Junior Quarterback Peyton Baker.  Baker threw for over 2000 yards and rushed for over 500 yards during his sophomore campaign.  This dual-threat quarterback will be tough for opponents to defend this year.  Senior D...