Serioulsy, Andy McCance, that was just sick....
Gregory junior Andy McCance ran through, over and around the Stanley County defense as the Gorillas powered into the Dakota Dome with a 44-7 rout of Stanley County.
By Rich Winter
Late in the first half of Gregory's 44-7 win over Stanley County, with the Gorillas having taken an energy deflating, 22-7 lead with about 20 seconds remaining, Gregory junior, Andy McCance put this blogger's jaw on the floor of Mike Dacy field.
McCance took the snap for the two point conversion, scrambled left, couldn't find anyone, dipsey-dooed out of a tackle, buckled the knees of another would be defender, then completely reversed field, leaving an angry swarm of Buffalo defenders grasping at air. Finding himself about 20-yards behind the line of scrimmage, McCance, now back in the middle of the field, sauntered to the right and delivered a beautiful ball to an open teammate for a 2-point conversion with some serious mileage behind it.
Doesn't even matter that the Gorillas had linemen downfield, doesn't matter that a flag was thrown, and ultimately it didn't matter the Gorillas didn't convert the conversion.....Andy McCance can ball!
Yeah, ball to the tune of completing 14-16 passes for 221 yards while rushing for 128 yards. The two missed passes...A 60-yard bomb that just missed and a near catch from Jayd VanDerWerff on what would have been the sickest high school catch in history had it been hauled in.
Andy McCance puts the finishing touches on a 51-yard run as Gregory defeated Stanley County, 44-7 to advance to the 9AA state championship game.
A lot to feel good about for Gregory coach Brian Allmendinger as his gorillas went to work early with the Jayd VanDerWerff show. Found it interesting the kind of blocking escort that JV gets and as I scrolled through the photos this morning, there it was, blocking assist after assist from Robert Vomacka.
Jayd VanDerWerff gets a blocking assist from Robert Vomacka on his way to a huge night of 108 yards rushing. VanDerWerff also hauled in 8 receptions for 164 yards and two TD's.
Alright, so just prior to kick, while I'm listening to the 7th grade tuba player just destroy the Seven Nation Army song, happened to look up at some of the Gregory kids going through tackling drills at about 80 percent. Now, I don't always watch pre-game, but the tackling seemed a little different and something I don't see a lot of teams do.
Whatever it was, works, because the normally offensive Gregory squad turned defensive last night with a number of sure-handed tackles, a lot of them solo stuff that really shut down a good Stanley County squad.
JJ Beck...That kid is gonna be a player...
JJ Beck, only a sophomore finished with 13 tackles, three for a loss and a sack.
Alright, so especially in the first half, all I'm hearing on the speaker when Gregory is playing defense is the name JJ Beck. Not sure if Stanley County didn't account for the sophomore or if Beck was having the game of his life, but the kid was absolutely everywhere on defense, not just making plays but POPPING people.
Just before the half, Caleb Stukel with hands of glue, intercepted a Stanley County pass.
And so, the Gregory Gorillas march on to the Dakota Dome where they will take on Webster in a rematch of the 1984 11B title game the Bearcats won. Guessing the town of Gregory, who has danced this dance a few times with their remarkable football tradition, closes shop and hunkers down for what should be heck of a show!
