The #2 (1A) Grundy Center football team won its 50th straight game and advanced to a seventh consecutive semifinal game by defeating #8 (1A) Beckman Catholic 21-0 in a 1A quarterfinal Friday, as aired on 99 The Wave.
After trading punts to start the game, the Spartans got on the board when Judd Jirovsky scampered in from 38 yards out.
The teams swapped turnovers on three consecutive plays: Grundy Center fumbled, followed by a Beckman fumble, then Jirovsky threw an interception near the end zone on a deep pass. The Trailblazers sustained some drives in their run-heavy system, but the Spartan defense never broke. Jirovsky added another short score just before halftime for a 14-0 lead, and it was scoreless for most of the second half. The Spartans came up short on two scoring opportunities by turning it over on downs in plus territory, but bounced back from such adversity. Late in the game after Grundy Center backed themselves up with numerous penalties, Jirovsky found Pete Lebo for a wide open touchdown pass on fourth and goal from 14 yards away.
“We were having our way offensively, we were moving the ball pretty much at will, especially on the ground,” Head Coach Travis Zajac says. “What ended up happening, at least three drives, was once we got inside the 20 yard line, it was either a poor play call on my part or a penalty on the field. And we just ended up behind the sticks and turning it over on downs. It was really not the way that we typically play. We did a lot of shooting ourselves in the foot offensively, but we still won the game by three scores. So I think you clean up a little bit of the bonehead play calls on my side of things and some of the technique errors that we had on the field, and we probably win that game by a couple more scores. I think the story of the night, though, is our defensive play. It was unbelievable to hold that rushing attack to what was it, 70 yards or something like that. And the goose egg, was a thorough performance on that side of the ball.”
Jirovsky was the leading ground gainer with 147 yards and had 56 passing yards. Defensively, Ryder Slifer led with seven tackles and two for loss.
They’ll take on #3 (1A) Iowa City Regina in a 1A semifinal on Friday, November 14 at 10:00 a.m., which’ll air on 99 The Wave.
Travis Zajac interview:
