And sure enough, Ropes found out about the talented and gritty Gruver Greyhounds.
Entering Friday night, Gruver had never trailed by 14 points in a game at any point of its 13-0 season.
But the scoreboard doesn’t lie, and the feel-good story of the Ropes Eagles was in full flight after one quarter holding a 14-0 lead over Gruver with Ropes speedy sophomore Kolter Dockery returning an 80-yard interception for a TD and hauling in a 77-yard TD pass.
Gruver didn’t flinch.
The Greyhounds had the game tied at 14 by halftime – Hounds senior Stephen Cowan sparking the comeback by returning the favor to Ropes deftly finding the sideline with a 67-yard interception return for a TD midway through the second quarter – and would take the lead for good on the opening possession of the third quarter.
Gruver remains unbeaten at 14-0 by rolling out 28 unanswered points, having several players make key contributions and coming away with a 42-28 win over Ropes on a chilly night at Happy State Bank Stadium in Canyon.
Gruver advances to the state semifinals for the first time since 2018 and second time in school history since the first Gruver football season in 1930.
The Hounds will meet 12-2 Muenster at 7 p.m. Thursday on Charlie Johnston Field at Fair Park Stadium in Childress with a trip to Jerry’s World on the line.
Muenster defeated Collinsville 54-14 in its state quarterfinal game on Friday and is making its first state semifinal appearance since winning the 2A DII state championship in 2017.
Second-year Gruver coach Kurt Haberthur saw a game where a little bit of everything happened despite only two leads changes a fake punt, an onside kick recovered by Ropes, six turnovers from his ball-hawking defense, three TDs of 67 yards or longer and most of all a team not phased after trailing 14-0 at the end of the first quarter.
“We have been there before, now not this year,” Haberthur said. “But we have been there before, and our kids believe. Our message was it’s a long game and keep playing. It’s going to be fine. We have been fortunate to get up on people in some games this year and that’s the same message, it’s a long game we have to keep going.”
Gruver two-way starter at running back and linebacker senior Walker Maupin, who scored twice and recovered a fumble, said trailing 14-0 didn’t send the Greyhounds into a tizzy but was more of a refocus.
“For us it was just staying with it and staying with it every play.”
The mindset worked.
Maupin returned the second half kickoff 58 yards to the Ropes’ 37-yard line and that was a sign of things to come for Gruver.
Gruver’s defense held Ropes to two yards on three plays forcing a punt and Gruver would move 69 yards in six plays to go up 28-14 with 5:42 to play in the third quarter.
It was a Satterfield to junior Brock Butler pass of 41 yards that keyed the drive with Satterfield doing the honors from a yard out for the touchdown.
Ropes answered by the end of third quarter taking advantage of an interception with Mason Marmolejo scoring from a yard out with 32 seconds to play in third cutting the Gruver lead to 28-21.
Ropes continued the momentum by forcing Gruver to punt on a three-and-out and setting up its offense at the Ropes 32-yardline.
On first down Ropes standout senior running back Marmolejo made a burst into a pile but fumbled. Gruver’s Maupin recovered at the 37-yard line.
“I just looked down and the ball was right there,” Maupin said . “I mean it was just see ball take ball.”
Gruver would score 38 seconds later for a 42-21 lead with 7:02 to play.
Greyhounds defensive back Cowan continued his outstanding game making his second of four Greyhounds interceptions from Ropes quarterback Kade Franklin.
Gruver took one play from 25 yards to score when Maupin found massive running room produced by the Hounds o-line for the 25-yard TD and the 21-point lead with 7:02 remaining in the game.
“The difference in this game was our o-line and d-line,” Maupin said. “They got after it. And we have several players when you get the ball in their hands they can do something with it. That makes for a tough matchup.
“We are blessed to be here (in the state semifinals). We’ve had some great luck. It’s just great.”
Ropes kept things interesting scoring on a Franklin 8-yard pass to Reese Williams with 4:16 to play and then recovering the onside kick.
Gruver was led on offense by quarterback Satterfield who ran for 102 yards and two touchdowns and he did a really nice job keeping Ropes off balance with his RPO reads. Satterfield threw for 231 yards and a touchdown beating up Ropes’ secondary on six completions of 20 yards or longer.
Maupin added 79 yards on 18 carries and scored twice.
Ropes found the running tough against the Gruver defense finishing with 134 yards, its longest run of 18 yards by sophomore backup quarterback Zayden Pittman with five minutes to play.
Marmolejo led Ropes with 54 yards rushing. QB Franklin hit passes of 72 and 44 yards but struggled completing five passes and tossing four interceptions.
Second-year Ropes head coach Beau Riker led his team to a 12-2 record and the schools’ first playoff wins since Ropes moved from six-man to 11-man after the 2019 season.
“Oh man, it’s a game of momentum and it’s a long game,” Riker said. “I know having the early momentum was going to be tough to hang to. Our kids fought. But Gruver fought back and have good kids and good coaching staff. It was a tough battle.
“I wanted to eliminate the big plays from them, I’m a defensive guy. And they had big plays. There is a reason they average 50.3 points and 450 or 470 yards a game. You have to give it to them.
“No loss is fun. We are sad today but we will wake up tomorrow and celebrate the victories of the season.”
For Gruver, it was a game of showing it can come from behind and it can handle a game with big plays going against them. Those are things strong teams handle under the pressure of the playoffs.
“That was a big momentum shift there to come out of halftime and score and be able to stay on them and win the half,” Haberthur said. “Man, this is a phenomenal deal being in the state semifinals. It’s the character of our kids that kept us in this thing and they were able to take it over. We are very blessed.”