COULEE CITY — The Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors (2-0) are off to a hot start this season after earning their second straight victory with a win over the Liberty Christian Patriots 50-30 on Friday.  

"It's a good start, we're excited about how things have gotten going," Head Coach Brandon Walsh said. "Especially Friday night – that was a huge win for us against a really good team. The kids played really well, and we were happy to come out of that one with a big win." 

The Warriors came out firing with a balanced offensive attack led by Max Grindy, who utilized weapons like Nolan Grindy and Trey Kast to take a 30-8 lead by halftime. In the second half, ACH added 20 points in the third quarter alone to put the game well out of reach. Liberty Christian fought to the final whistle, going on a 22-point scoring run in the fourth quarter, but it was too late for a comeback, and the Warriors left the field victorious.  

"Those points they scored at the end were against our young guys," Walsh said. "Our varsity was off the field at that point; we want to keep those guys healthy, and so we got them off once we had the game in hand. We want to get our young guys playing time – Those are valuable reps for those kids, and we're not too worried about that final two or three touchdowns in the fourth quarter." 

First half 

The Warriors were dominant out of the gate, building a 16-0 lead in the first quarter. Both scores came by the swift feet of Nolan, who turned out a 5-yard rushing touchdown and 47-yard passing touchdown. His brother Max converted the two-point play on both scoring drives.  

The Patriots were first to score in the second quarter off an 11-yard passing touchdown. However, the Warriors bounced back with a 66-yard passing touchdown from Max to Kast. With another two-point conversion, ACH extended its lead to 24-8.  

The Warriors held Liberty Christian scoreless for the remainder of the first half while they added one more score off a run by Nolan from 3 yards out to make it 30-8 at halftime. 

"Nolan's a really good athlete, a super smart football player," Walsh said. "As a receiver, he's always going to be a matchup nightmare because he's big and fast and he's smart. He finds open space on the field, and as a runner, he has great vision and he's a big kid and has good vision in the hole. He can run somebody over if he needs to, or he can run away from guys." 

Second half 

The Warriors continued their dominance in the third quarter, amassing 20 points unanswered behind two passing touchdowns by Max, who found Cade Carstensen for a 26-yard touchdown and Jackson Elder from 13 yards out.  

With the game well out of reach at 50-8, Walsh pulled the starters ahead of the fourth quarter and gave his younger players some reps. They gave up 22 points in the fourth, but it was not enough for the Patriots to mount a comeback and the Warriors sealed the win on the road over a team they fell to last season. 

Despite the late hiccups, Walsh was pleased overall with how his team showed up on Friday. A primary focus for the team this season is finding consistency on the gridiron.  

One area that shined was their fourth-down conversion rate, Walsh said; the Warriors successfully converted four of five fourth downs. 

Gaining experience in non-league games may prove beneficial later in the season when the Warriors find themselves in higher-stakes matchups, Walsh said. 

"That's why we wanted to schedule these tough games early in the season so we could put ourselves in those kinds of situations and make adjustments if we need to," he said. "That will all pay off down the road." 

Max finished the day by completing eight of 10 passes for 229 yards and four touchdowns, meaning half of his completions turned into points for the Warriors. 

"It was awesome to watch," Walsh said. "Credit to him (for) his athleticism and seeing guys open down the field. Also, (to) the receivers getting open and catching the ball and making guys miss in space. A couple of the plays were actually short passes; receivers just did a great job after the catch. It's a nice addition to our offense to have an athletic quarterback like him that can get out of the pocket and create, and he has great vision. He can throw the ball a mile, it seems like." 

Max Grindy, Walsh and the Warriors are eager to carry this momentum into Friday at 7 p.m. against the defending 1B state champion DeSales, to which they fell in the semifinals last November. 

"To go back-to-back with the defending state champs and have a chance to see where we match up against a really good team, that's exciting," Walsh said. "You don't get a lot of opportunities in your playing career to have these kinds of meaningful games at this time of the season, and we get to have it at home, which is exciting. It's going to be fun. We get an opportunity to see where we're at against a really good team and we want to play well." 

BOX SCORE: 

LBTY: 0-8-0-22: 30 

ACHW: 16-14-20-0: 50