Spartans dominate Braves, 48-0

Published 7:00 pm Saturday, October 21, 2006

Star Bryan Gilbreath was ejected, will miss the next game.

It was definitely a Senior Night to remember.

Four streakers raced through the marching band at halftime with one of Bainbridge’s finest in hot pursuit, to the delight of the crowd.

Two more Bainbridge fans ran through a sign held up by the Bishop Blanchet cheerleaders just before the third quarter.

And the Spartans gave the fans a show of their own, scoring 35 points in the first quarter en route to a 48-0 blowout of the Braves Thursday night at Memorial Stadium.

The win was the Spartans’ third in a row, their third shutout of the season and the fourth time Bainbridge has scored 40 points or more.

“They (Blanchet) had everything to play for,” head coach Andy Grimm said. “They were on the ropes and if they could beat us they would put us in a tough position on Monday.

“So we talked about setting the tone and we did just that. We did an awesome job. Whether it was defense, offense, we did what we wanted to do.”

Bainbridge got things started when Nick Stone partially blocked a Blanchet punt, sending it out at the Brave 20 yard line.

On the next play, Dayton Gilbreath broke through the defense untouched for a 20-yard touchdown run.

Three plays later, he came through unblocked on a blitz and blindsided Brave quarterback Spencer Marquiss, forcing the fumble.

Bryan Gilbreath picked it up and ran it in for the score.

After a Kyle Szarzynski interception, Stone broke through several tackles on a 42-yard touchdown run.

Blanchet got their running game going on the next drive, but the Spartans brought the pressure while Braves receiver Monte Brown dropped a sure touchdown in the end zone.

Alex Carter picked off a pass in the end zone on the next play to end the threat.

The Spartans rounded out the scoring in the quarter with a 35-yard touchdown run by Dayton Gilbreath and a five yard touchdown run by Ross Cobb.

The game wasn’t without its controversial moments.

Bryan Gilbreath was ejected for drawing two unsportsmanlike conduct penalites in the second quarter.

The first one came when he delivered a crushing block to the Blanchet quarterback after a Quinton Agosta interception and stood over the fallen player for a few moments. Line coach Kyle Freeman was flagged as well for protesting the call.

The second flag came when Bryan knocked Marquiss down on a blindside hit.

The referee felt he said something to Marquiss, so he was flagged and tossed.

Gilbreath said the first one he deserved, but said he didn’t say anything to the quarterback after the hit on the second flag.

“I looked at him, but it wasn’t as long and it wasn’t intentional,” he said. “It’s frustrating to sit out (next week) but we’ve got guys who can step up so I’m not worried.”

“I thought they were tough calls,” Grimm said. “He’s going to learn from it.”

Gilbreath will be suspended for one game.

After the game, the Blanchet coaches had some terse words for the Bainbridge coaching staff for what they felt was running up the score.

“I don’t think by any means we were airing it out,” Grimm said, mentioning thet Spartans’ own blowout loss to Blanchet last year. “They just got their butts whipped.”

With second place in the Mountain Division and a playoff spot secured, the Spartans take on Nathan Hale in the Metro crossover game next Friday at Memorial Stadium.

Game time is at 5 p.m.