"We just played our hearts out tonight. Everyone was stepping up"

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - The Gridley Bulldogs varsity football team has been electric this season for head coach Matt Kemmis. Senior quarterback Cameron Carr has been lights out on the ground, with almost 700 rushing yards coming into Friday night’s game against Paradise High School. The air attack has been solid, but the silent tale of success this year has been that Bulldogs defense. The senior heavy defense, led by three-year varsity starter and captain Christopher Richins, has been a force to be reckoned with, literally. The defensive line averages about 5’11 230 pounds, and they are strong and physical. The defense allowed only two touchdowns all season and kept most teams around 100 yards per game on the ground. 

Friday, April 23, 2021, in front of a packed Homecoming crowd, the Bulldogs left no doubts that they are the best team in the Butte View League. Gridley received the opening kickoff and drove down the field on the Bobcats with ease. A Carr pass to Elias Counihan on a 3rd down and 7-yards to go gave the Bulldogs all they needed to keep the threat alive. Carr connected with a wide-open Brigham Lessard for the first score of the game to make it 7-0. The Bulldogs defense shut down any Bobcat threat on offense during the first quarter. 

In the second quarter Carr connected with Lessard again for 40-yards to increase Gridley’s lead 14-0, allowing the Bulldog defense to showcase their strength and abilities. A forced fumble recovered by junior Jayden Punzo paved the way for a 19-yard rushing touchdown by junior Ryan Smith and a 21-0 Bulldog lead at halftime.

Even though Paradise received the opening kickoff to start the second half, the Bulldogs defense shut them down and forced the punt. Carr once again connected in the air to Counihan, this time for a 27-yard score and the 28-0 lead. Smith put the Bobcats away for good with a 25-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs the 35-0 victory.

In a postgame interview, defensive captain Richins explained how the defense was able to shut out a tough Paradise team. “We just played our hearts out tonight. Everyone was stepping up. Juniors, seniors, they played their hearts out. And it was so much fun.”

Coach Kemmis had a lot of great things to say about his senior class, “I’m extremely proud to be the head football coach of the Gridley Bulldogs. And I’m extremely proud of my first group of seniors that I brought through for four years. We treated the whole season as a playoff run. And so we looked at this as a championship game. That was our mindset and we knew it was the end of it and I couldn’t be any more proud of the way they performed.”

Coach and the Bulldogs send off their senior class with the victory: Abraham Garcia, Alejandro Munguia, Brigham Lessard, Cameron Carr, Chance Nicolson, Christopher Richins, Dakota Dewsnup, Elias Counihan, Jordan Bischoff, Josue Jauregui, Julian Ramos, Miko Montero, and Robert Taylor.