Cleburne Times-Review, Cleburne, TX

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August 29, 2009

Grandview starts 2009 with 35-14 win

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By Jesse Robles, Special to the Times-Review

GRANDVIEW — Daniel Spencer’s 40-yard interception return for a touchdown was the final nail in the coffin for Fort Worth Castleberry and the first of what the Grandview Zebras hope is the start of another winning streak in 2009.

The Zebras defeated the Lions, 35-14, at home on Friday night to move to 1-0 and will face Troy on the road at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

Grandview’s defense came up big at the beginning of the fourth quarter when the Lions had possession on their own 7.

Castleberry faced a third-and-13 before Trenton Jackson intercepted Rick Aguillon and returned it seven yards for the score.

Derek Jarrell and Ian Speer started the offensive fireworks for Grandview as Jarrell found Speer for a 65-yard reception, and then hit him again for 20 yards on the following play to set the Zebras up inside the Lion 10.

However, the drive was killed on a bad snap, and Castleberry evaded the first Grandview scoring threat.

Later in the quarter, Jarrell and Speer hooked up again, this time from 91 yards out, and Speer took it to the house to put the Zebras up, 7-0.

Speer finished the game with three receptions for 176 yards.

The Lions went three-and-out on the next possession and Grandview regained possession on its own 29.

With 10:15 remaining in the second quarter, the Zebras began to march again and were aided by several pass interference calls on Castleberry, as well as a key 21-yard sprint by Jarrell.

With the ball on the Lions’ 1, Jarrell took it in himself to give Grandview a 14-0 lead.

Castleberry responded on the following drive by taking it to the Zebras’ 44, but a sack by Speer helped stop the effort cold.

The Lions responded again by driving 80 yards on nine plays, and cashed in this time as Aguillon hit Ryan Garcia from 27 yards out to make it 14-7.

Grandview had an answer, though, as the Zebras mounted a 44-second scoring drive before halftime as Spencer ran it in from six yards out to give Grandview a 21-7 lead.

Castleberry came out in the third quarter and went right back down the field on a 67-yard drive that was finished off by a Jacob Rubio 3-yard touchdown run.

The Zebras were plagued by five fumbles on the night and lost two of them.

The Lions fumbled three times, but retained possession on all of them.

“The defense saw some different fronts and just missed some tackles,” Grandview head coach Aubrey Sims said. “The guys were in the right position, but they just didn’t make the plays.

“Overall, the defense looked good. It’s a new defense that just needs to get better, but it was nice to get a win. There are a lot of places where we need to get better.

“The turnovers didn’t hurt us tonight, but they will down the road as the season goes on.”

Jarrell finished with 90 yards rushing on 15 attempts and had 229 yards passing after finishing 9-for-11.

Spencer caught four passes for 43 yards and Brandt Rice caught one pass for 17 yards.

Castleberry was penalized 10 times for 80 yards, to the Zebras’ six miscues for 55 yards.

Grandview forced eight punts on the night with their revamped defense.

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