COULEE CITY — On Friday, the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors (3-1) were victorious 58-20 over the visiting Curlew Cougars. The Warriors dominated with their run game. Head coach Brandon Walsh said his players were sharp in all phases of the game.   

“We're happy with how we played,” Walsh said. “It was fun to see the kids starting to take on some of the little things that matter for good teams. We're getting better at some of that stuff, and it's starting to show in the results."   

The Warriors opened the game with an explosive first quarter. They scored six touchdowns on the ground that went for 40 yards or more to take a commanding 36-12 lead by the end of the quarter.   

“Part of it is we have good athletes, and when they get out in space, they're hard to tackle," Walsh said. “But also, because that is our identity, we focus a lot on our scheme and blocking and the kids are bought into that stuff.”   

In the second quarter, the Warriors continued to pound the rock and pile on the points. Nolan Grindy took the ball for an 18-yard rushing touchdown while Max Grindy converted the two-point try. On the next scoring drive, Max broke free for an 81-yard rushing touchdown with Nolan converting the two-point play, increasing their lead to 52-12 at halftime.   

“I was really excited with how we blocked in the open field, downfield, secondary level blocks and that made several of our touchdowns that would have been five- or 10-yard gains, turned (them) into long touchdown runs because kids were hustling downfield and picking up second and third blocks to spring guys for big runs,” Walsh said.   

There was no other touchdown until the fourth quarter when Curlew found their way into the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown run and converted a two-point play. However, the Warriors responded when Nolan Grindy found Max Grindy on a 16-yard passing touchdown to seal the 58-20 win.   

Max finished the game with 124 yards rushing, 63 yards receiving and four total touchdowns. Walsh said he has been a threat for opposing defenses no matter where he lines up on the field.   

“He's a very good athlete, and it's been fun to watch him get a little bit better every week. As good an athlete as he is, he takes it seriously and works hard at fixing things that he needs to fix every now and then ... he's been very consistent all season long,” he said.   

In the absence of Harvest Parrish, who went down with a season-ending injury earlier this season, Walsh said the rest of the defense has stepped up.  

“He's a tough kid to replace, especially on our defense. He was an all-state defender last year, and probably our best tackler,” Walsh said. “We certainly miss having him out there, but it's been neat to see the other kids kind of rally around (each other), picking up their game to replace what we missed from him.”   

Despite the dominant win, Curlew was able to pull off some big plays offensively, Walsh said. The Cougars executed a few misdirection or counter plays that resulted in big gains. However, he said, the defense did a great job of adjusting.   

“To see those kinds of things and learn from them, it was fun to see,” he said. 'They beat us early on, (with) a couple of misdirection things, but once our kids saw it they made adjustments and took that away. It was cool to see our kids make an adjustment and learn from the mistake and shut it down."   

The Warriors only have four games left in their 2025 season. 

“It’s been fun to see growth over the last month and a half since we started and we're hoping to continue with that growth and see more over the next few weeks and once the playoffs come, we’re peaking at the right time and we can make some noise in the playoffs,” Walsh said.   

The Warriors go on the road Oct. 10 to play Mary Walker at 7 p.m.  

BOX SCORE:  

ACHW: 36-16-0-6: 58  

CHSC: 12-0-0-8: 20 

    The Warriors’ Max Grindy (12) slips a tackle from a Liberty Christian defender. Grindy led the team in rushing yards with 124 and had four total touchdowns on Friday against the Curlew Cougars.
  

    The Warriors’ Nolan Grindy (11) breaks a tackle against Liberty Christian. Head Coach Brandon Walsh said the Warriors offense works hard on blocking schemes to make their run game stronger.
  

    The Warriors’ Caden Corriea (2) steps up to make a pass against Liberty Christian. Corriea had a 47-yard passing touchdown against Curlew on Friday.