The Spartans overcome penalties in a big 50-22 win over Bremerton.
BREMERTON – According to Bainbridge football coach Andy Grimm, some of the players may have a future as lawyers.
“It’s a ‘gasser’ (an all-out sprint from one sideline to the other at practice) for every penalty,” he said. “But they’re trying to cut deals on the sideline in the third quarter.
“They get pizza for the scoop and score (when they recover a fumble for a touchdown) so they’re trying to buy me off with pizza,” Grimm continued. “They said if you take the gassers off, you don’t have to buy us pizza. They’re smart enough. They know.”
Despite their best negotiating tactics, the players can count on running in practice after committing 16 penalties in a 50-22 win over the Knights Friday night.
“We talked to the kids about it at halftime,” Grimm said. “From the stands and the sidelines you can get a little ticked off at the refs, but most of those penalties were because we weren’t disciplined.
“Any time we’re tackling guys around the head or not tackling guys low or holding guys or clipping, we’re taking the easy way out.”
Even with the numerous infractions, the Spartans dominated on the ground again, rushing for 448 yards as a team.
“It shows our talent as a team that we can still (commit penalties) and put up some pretty good numbers,” Grimm said.
Dayton Gilbreath and Ross Cobb led the way with just six rushes each for 138 and 130 yards, respectively.
Cobb scored three touchdowns and Gilbreath added another one.
It did take some time for the offense to get it together, but the defense and special teams contributed to put points on the board.
On the first drive of the game, the defense buried Bremerton deep in their own territory.
Then on the punt, a bad snap and bobble forced the punter to get rid of the ball, but linebacker Kiyle Playter tackled him in the end zone for the safety.
Cobb scored on the first play of the second drive for Bainbridge, but it was called back for a hold.
After a punt, linebacker James Herman made a big play when he stripped Knights running back Jamiere Abney of the ball and raced 30 yards into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game.
“Herman’s fumble recovery was huge,” Grimm said. “As the offense sputtered, other teams picked up the slack. Good teams will do that.”
But Bremerton came back.
Aided by a pair of penalties – one on a 15-yard facemask penalty on third and 13 and a offsides penalty on second and 11 – the Knights scored when Abney ran one in from 36 yards out to close the gap to just two points.
Bremerton was offside on the kickoff, however, and Max Olson made them pay for it, following his blockers for an 80-yard return to put Bainbridge in control.
Gilbreath scored on the ensuing two-point conversion to make it 17-7.
On the Spartans’ next drive, Cobb raced around the left side and didn’t stop until he reached the end zone 68 yards later.
Bremerton tried a fake punt on their next drive but it was snuffed out.
It took all of three plays for the Spartans to score.
After a holding call pushed them back ten yards, Gilbreath broke off a 40-plus yard run, followed by Kauika Peleti finding another lane after his original one was closed and rushed for 14 yards.
Cobb closed it out with a 16-yard score as he bowled over several players en route to the end zone.
The first drive of the third quarter summed up the game for Bainbridge.
After two holding calls and a run for no gain pushed them back deep in their own territory, Gilbreath broke off an amazing run of 89 yards for the score, breaking several tackles and racing away from the defense.
“(He has) great leg drive,” Grimm said. “Ross is really running hard. Both are big play guys.”
After a 25-yard punt return by Gilbreath put the Spartans deep into Knight territory, Cobb scored his third touchdown of the game from 23 yards out.
Alex Johnson rounded out the scoring with a six-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Abney scored two more times for Bremerton late in the fourth quarter, but that was all they could muster.
Despite the lopsided score, Grimm warned them afterwards that they can’t make that many mistakes and not pay for it.
“What we preach is excellence and execution,” he said. “I told them you can get away with it with a team that’s not at your level, but once we get into league, you can’t have mistakes like this or you’ll get pounded by Eastside Catholic or O’Dea.”
Bainbridge travels to Seattle this Friday to play Chief Sealth at the Southwest Athletic Complex.
Game time is at 7 p.m.
