Helms, Grabow lead the charge with nine total TDs; Big Horns emphasize importance of finishing games
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
A win is a win, but Friday night’s 58-42 victory also presented Lone Peak High School’s football team with a learning opportunity.
The Big Horns held a comfortable lead at multiple checkpoints throughout the game, but a slow finish robbed the team of complete satisfaction with their performance against visiting Twin Bridges High School on Sept. 19.
The Big Horns led 34-14 at halftime. On the second half’s opening kickoff, they immediately extended the lead to 40-14 on a kick return by senior Ebe Grabow, and further to 46-14 on a 65-yard Grabow reception, a go-route thrown by promising freshman quarterback Jens Biggerstaff. Leading by 32 with less than half the game remaining, a blowout victory seemed imminent.
Twin Bridges kept their focus and turned the game around.
In the fourth quarter, the Falcons closed the deficit to 10 points, trailing 52-42 with less than two minutes left—before another Grabow kick return put the game on ice, finally.
“We did not finish that well,” Lone Peak senior Will Helms told EBS after the game. “We have to play as a team the whole time, we cannot give up… I gotta lead the team better as a senior. All of us seniors need to lead the team better.”
Heading into a bye week, Helms is motivated to fix the shortcomings that became clear in the second half. When asked about his strong game—he forced a fumble in the first quarter and scored thrice including a gritty, 30-yard touchdown after breaking tackles and running the tightrope along the right sideline—he instead reflected on a disappointing second half.
“We just gotta finish games. It’s unbelievable that we gave up that many points,” Helms said.
Head coach Dustin Shipman said the bye week will allow players to get healthy, and the team will focus on finishing after “everything went well” in the first half.
“It just kind of fell off in the second half, and that’s where we gotta start working,” Shipman said. “… That was a team that kept fighting until the very last down.”
Grabow said the key is keeping pressure after halftime, even after a strong first half.
“I mean, we just can’t let up,” Grabow said.
The Falcons and sophomore quarterback Brandt Nelson executed chunk passing plays, forced turnovers and recovered an onside kick in the fourth quarter to keep the game interesting. But when an opponent scores six touchdowns, there’s only so much you can do.
Grabow’s intensity leads offense
The Falcon defense could not contain Grabow, who caught three touchdown passes, and returned one punt and two kickoffs in his third-to-last high school home game.
With one minute before halftime, Twin Bridges scored to cut Lone Peak’s lead to 28-14. Jogging back to receive a kickoff, Grabow shouted, “Hey, we got a minute!”
He would need only half of that time.
Biggerstaff provided a 40-yard pass to Grabow and a 20-yard catch-and-run to junior receiver Lucas O’Connor to bring the Big Horns near the goal line. And with 37 seconds on the clock, Grabow made a spectacular toe-tap grab in the corner of the end zone to give the Big Horns a 34-14 lead and ignite his Lone Peak classmates, watching in awe just a few feet away.
“That felt good. I almost didn’t think I had it,” Grabow said. “Jens had a great game, threw a great ball. I just had to go up and get it.”
Grabow doesn’t see himself as the sole factor in the multi-touchdown performances fans have come to expect. He said everyone around contributes, blocking and doing their jobs to open running lanes.
“They’re setting me up,” Grabow said. “But I just really want to win games. Our whole team wants to win games, and that’s just our strive. We just want to win.”
He credited Biggerstaff for his fast improvement as a freshman quarterback, looking more comfortable every week. He passed for four touchdowns Friday night.
Coach Shipman agreed, noting Biggerstaff has the traits of a successful quarterback.
“He’s tall, he’s smart, he’s got a good arm,” Shipman said. “And I think he’s got a lot of confidence when you have the receiving set that we have.”
He added praise for Helms, too. “Will Helms is quietly putting together one solid game after another, steady defensive play, making plays on offense at key times and playing every play at 100%.”
The 2-2 Big Horns will resume their season on Oct. 3 at Park City High School, before returning to Big Sky to host Harlowton High School on Oct. 10 for homecoming.
