COULEE CITY — The Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors (10-2) season comes to an end after falling to the DeSales Irish 44-22 in the semifinals of the 1B state football tournament Saturday. Despite the tough loss, head coach Brandon Walsh said the Warriors are left with a lot to be proud of.  

“We had a good season,” Walsh said. “Anytime we can make a playoff run into the semifinals, there’s a lot to be proud of and a lot to celebrate. The players worked hard all season and bought into the culture, and it showed in the results pretty much all season.”

The Warriors started strong in the first quarter; however, after a 30-point second quarter by DeSales, the game slipped away. They had moments of brilliance in the second half but were unable to capitalize, and DeSales came away with the win to advance to the 1B state championship game.

“For probably three quarters, we played good enough to win, but the second quarter killed us. It kind of snowballed on us and we couldn't recover from that. We thought we had a chance to win the game and mostly played well enough to win it, but against a good team, you can't make mistakes and we unfortunately made a few too many,” Walsh said.

In the first quarter, the Warriors jumped out to a 12-0 lead thanks to two Max Grindy touchdowns, the first of which was a passing touchdown by Caden Correia. DeSales responded before the end of the first quarter with a four-yard rushing touchdown and followed it up with a successful two-point play to cut the deficit to 12-8.

The Irish carried their momentum into the second quarter with another score. This time on a 55-yard touchdown pass, after converting another two-point play they led the Warriors 12-16. Grindy led the charge on the Warriors' next offensive outing and punched the ball into the endzone to take a 20-16 lead.

Walsh praised Grindy for his efforts to keep him in the game against the Irish.

“He had a heck of a game on both sides of the ball. He was kind of our workhorse, running the ball, and scored three touchdowns, (he) forced at least one fumble in the game. One of them, he just yanked the ball out of the kid's hand,” Walsh said. 

Before halftime, DeSales erupted for three touchdowns to take a commanding 20-38 lead at the break. In the third quarter, the Warriors' defense stunted the Irish’s momentum by holding them scoreless and forcing a safety to cut the deficit to 22-38 heading into the fourth quarter.

However, ACH struggled to capitalize on turnovers and the safety to continue closing the gap. The Irish broke loose for an 88-yard rushing touchdown to seal the 22-44 win over the Warriors.

Despite the season ending sooner than they’d prefer, the Warriors are able to come away with a sense of accomplishment, Walsh said. After losing a game due to smoke advisories and suffering a loss to Liberty-Christian, the Warriors went on a nine-game win streak into the postseason. 

Max, Nolan Grindy and Brady Roberts were key fixtures on offense for the Warriors this season. Roberts is the only one of the trio that is graduating in the spring. His presence on the gridiron will be missed, Walsh said. 

“Looking forward to having Max and Nolan back next year. We're going to miss Brady and his athleticism and speed, and he's a great player. He's part of a senior group that had a lot of success here, and so (we) appreciate everything he's been a part of in our program,” he said.

Another contributor to the Warriors success this season was Caden Correia. Coming into the season, he was sidelined from an injury he suffered in the spring. He was expected to miss the football season initially but managed to make substantial progress in his recovery and return to the field by October. Not only did he return to the field, he was able to make an impact weekly for the Warriors. 

“There were some growing pains, and it took him a while to get back to 100% physically, but by the end of the season, it seemed like he was there, and he did a fantastic job. His impact on our team is bigger than just the numbers and the kind of player he is, but he's a fantastic leader and kind of the heart and soul of our team, so it was awesome to have him back,” Walsh said.

Walsh said the Warriors showed their potential in the last three weeks of the regular season. Two out of three games were on the road against rivals Odessa and Wilbur-Creston. In that three-game stretch, ACH won all three to finish the regular season strong. 

As the fall sports season concludes for the Warriors, Walsh is already optimistic for next season. 

“We're not going to rebuild, we're going to reload,” he said. “We need to figure out a way to get over the hump after we've lost in the semifinals the last two years, but we think we're going to be in the thick of it again next year, and so we're excited about that.”  

BOX SCORE:  

ACHW: 12-8-2-0: 22
DSLS: 8-30-0-6: 44 

    The ACH Warriors’ Brody Pitts (10) and Max Grindy (12) celebrating a touchdown during their game against Naselle. Grindy put up three scores for the Warriors in their semifinal loss to DeSales Saturday.
  

    Haydon Boyd (4) punts the ball away with Nolan Grindy (11) running behind him. Head Coach Brandon Walsh said his players excelled at improving on a weekly basis this season.