Granville rallies past Sheridan 24-21

GRANVILLE – The Blue Aces have made their lives difficult throughout the summer.

A little more adversity was not going to stand in their way with the game on the line. Granville overcame three penalties and drove 81 yards Friday for the winning touchdown to edge visiting Sheridan 24-21 in the season opener.

Kyle Zies hit Jack Peterson for a 30-yard touchdown down the left sideline for the game-winner with 36 seconds left. Earlier in the drive they connected for a 59-yard score that was wiped away by one of the penalties.

"Our offense was struggling a little bit, so I saw that corner coming up and just thought, 'Fade. We can get him there,'" Peterson said. "Great ball by (Zies) and great protection by our line. … During that timeout, I told (offensive coordinator Eric Steele) that the fade was open, so we called it next play."

Injuries and suspensions had Granville playing shorthanded, and the Blue Aces did not help themselves with 11 penalties. They, however, found a way to win in Week 1 in dramatic fashion for the second consecutive season.

After Justyn Bobo scored on a 10-yard run to give Sheridan the lead with 5:11 left, Zies was 7-of-9 for 93 yards on the winning drive. He hit five different receivers.

"They beat a freshman. That's what you get. We are so depleted with injuries and everything else," Sheridan coach Paul Culver Jr. "A freshman was in a bad situation. I feel bad for him. It isn't his fault. We had juniors and seniors that could have made plays the entire ballgame, but they didn't."

Sheridan trailed 17-7 midway through the third quarter after Zies' 40-yard touchdown pass to Drew Dilger. The Generals, however, took just three plays to go 59 yards, scoring on Dylan Dupler's 8-yard touchdown run.

The Generals later took the lead after a short Granville punt gave them the ball at the Blue Aces' 41-yard line. Deryk Grosse carried twice for 31 yards before Bobo bowled his way into the end zone.

"You have things you have to deal with internally, and the last couple years, we have had that," Granville coach J.R. Wait said. "We put ourselves a little bit behind the 8-ball in Week 1 sometimes because of it. It's something I would rather not be getting on a trend."

Granville, however, had one final response. Zies was 23-of-38 for 278 yards. Jack Peterson had six catches for 77 yards, Hunter Brown six catches for 90 yards and freshman Brandon Haley a big catch for 20 yards on the final drive after scoring his first touchdown on a 4-yard run in the first quarter.

"The biggest thing for us was realizing there was a lot of time left on the clock," Zies said. "We had a lot of setbacks penalty-wise, not getting enough guys on the field, little things that make a big difference. We did a great job of keeping our foot on the pedal and playing football."

Dupler had 56 yards rushing and two touchdowns and 51 yards passing. Grosse had 120 yards on 22 carries, and Bobo added 81 yards on 10 carries.

"We still can't throw the ball worth a lick," Culver said. "Spreading people out to run the ball, that's OK, but it's still football. You have to make plays. You have to block, and you have to tackle."

ksnyder@gannett.com

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Twitter: @newarkurt