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Down to the wire
  
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ThunderRidge shakes up league standings with OT win over Chaparral
By Benn Farrell
The phrase “It’s anybody’s game,” was an understatement when ThunderRidge football beat Chaparral.
With no score in the first quarter, and almost the half until a 30-yard pass from Grizzlies quarterback Alex Waner to receiver David Bidwell with two seconds left, the Southern League battle Oct. 22 at Burt.com Stadium in Parker could not have been more epic.
ThunderRidge, who came into the game with two losses on the season, beat the Wolverines, whose only loss was to Highlands Ranch the week before, 28-27 in overtime, opening up the Southern League standings to a four-place tie for first place going into the final week of the regular season.
The Grizzlies had a lot of momentum going into halftime, with a couple of defensive stands against Chaparral deep in T-Ridge territory and the 30-yard touchdown from Waner and Bidwell.
“That was great momentum going into the second half,” Bidwell said. “That’s all we needed. We came out there expecting to make a great play and visualized everything we could do. I have to give credit to the O-line and Alex [Waner] for giving me a great pass. That’s all we can accept. We came to the second half ready to go.”
It was Chaparral to strike next in the third quarter and tie things up at 7, aided by a 40-yard run from Spencer Duran. Duran ran in four touchdowns for the Wolverines total, including the first TD of the overtime session after the two teams tied at 21.
However, ThunderRidge’s Kyle Kempf blocked Chaparral’s extra point kick attempt, setting up the Grizzlies to make a one-point victory after 1-yard touchdown run from Kwade Glassman. Glassman had a touchdown earlier. Fellow Grizzlie Derek Munsey also scored on a 22-yard run.
Including two overtime game’s against Douglas County over the past two season, ThunderRidge is no stranger to OT pressure.
“It’s a great confidence booster,” Bidwell said. “We love games like that. We love the intensity. We love getting a win like that. We’ll take on anybody and just be ready to go into overtime and do what we have to do. We will bear down.”
Bidwell said the block of Chaparral’s overtime PAT wasn’t a surprise to him since the Grizzlies work on it regularly through the week.
“We practice goal line every week,” the wide receiver said. “We had a lot of confidence going out there. With how we practiced this week, we did great.”
Waner finished with 44 yards passing and 88 rushing. Munsey had 77 rushing yards, while Glassman finished with 68.
Chaparral quarterback Andrew Loudenback, who completed better than 60 percent against ThunderRidge, finished with 263 passing yards. Duran rushed for 210. J.D. Henry had 210 receiving yards.
With no score in the first quarter, and almost the half until a 30-yard pass from Grizzlies quarterback Alex Waner to receiver David Bidwell with two seconds left, the Southern League battle Oct. 22 at Burt.com Stadium in Parker could not have been more epic.
ThunderRidge, who came into the game with two losses on the season, beat the Wolverines, whose only loss was to Highlands Ranch the week before, 28-27 in overtime, opening up the Southern League standings to a four-place tie for first place going into the final week of the regular season.
The Grizzlies had a lot of momentum going into halftime, with a couple of defensive stands against Chaparral deep in T-Ridge territory and the 30-yard touchdown from Waner and Bidwell.
“That was great momentum going into the second half,” Bidwell said. “That’s all we needed. We came out there expecting to make a great play and visualized everything we could do. I have to give credit to the O-line and Alex [Waner] for giving me a great pass. That’s all we can accept. We came to the second half ready to go.”
It was Chaparral to strike next in the third quarter and tie things up at 7, aided by a 40-yard run from Spencer Duran. Duran ran in four touchdowns for the Wolverines total, including the first TD of the overtime session after the two teams tied at 21.
However, ThunderRidge’s Kyle Kempf blocked Chaparral’s extra point kick attempt, setting up the Grizzlies to make a one-point victory after 1-yard touchdown run from Kwade Glassman. Glassman had a touchdown earlier. Fellow Grizzlie Derek Munsey also scored on a 22-yard run.
Including two overtime game’s against Douglas County over the past two season, ThunderRidge is no stranger to OT pressure.
“It’s a great confidence booster,” Bidwell said. “We love games like that. We love the intensity. We love getting a win like that. We’ll take on anybody and just be ready to go into overtime and do what we have to do. We will bear down.”
Bidwell said the block of Chaparral’s overtime PAT wasn’t a surprise to him since the Grizzlies work on it regularly through the week.
“We practice goal line every week,” the wide receiver said. “We had a lot of confidence going out there. With how we practiced this week, we did great.”
Waner finished with 44 yards passing and 88 rushing. Munsey had 77 rushing yards, while Glassman finished with 68.
Chaparral quarterback Andrew Loudenback, who completed better than 60 percent against ThunderRidge, finished with 263 passing yards. Duran rushed for 210. J.D. Henry had 210 receiving yards.
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