GPhs FOOTBALL

In this article, Dante will talk about the 2023 season

GPHS Football

By Dante Pierce

@ray4otos

The 2023 football season has come to an end for the Grants Pass Cavemen. The Cavemen varsity team started off the season 1-0 with a win against Del Norte, although they struggled to find their stride again, losing four straight games. However, there was something in the air when they took on the North Salem Vikings because the Cavemen came out with a win. Even so, they could not ride the wave and did not find themselves emerging victorious again for the remainder of the season.

The Cavemen emerged victorious over Del Norte in a 20-6 victory to open their season at home, starting 1-0. The following week, the Cavemen traveled over to Bend to take on Caldera Wolfpack and the game did not go in the favor of the Cavemen. They ended up losing: 34-14. The GPHS team that played in that week two matchup is not the same team that played the rest of the season because of the way the team later improved, not only skill-wise but also because they became more of a family. The loss to Caldera after beating the Wolfpack 35-0 last year was a real eye-opener for the team.

Even though the team came together later in the season, the wins did not get much better for the Cavemen. Their next three matches ended in losses against South Salem, West Salem, and North Medford-- until week five against North Salem. Something was different that day in October; the whole stadium of Mel Ingram was packed full of fans for both teams, and the public was ready to watch the highly anticipated rematch. There was something magical in the way the Cavemen played that night. There was a glimpse of who the Cavemen really were. There was passion in the way that everyone played that night. The Cavemen defied all odds and emerged victorious against the North Salem Vikings, improving to 2-4 on the year. Sadly, unbeknownst to the seniors and the whole team, this would be the last game that they would win for the 2023 season. GPHS varsity senior Gage Blay said, "Although we didn't win again the rest of the season, that homecoming game was the best game I've ever seen."

@ray4otos

Even with the momentum from the previous game carrying the Cavemen, the next game against South Medford was a hard-fought game for the Cavemen. They fell short, losing 33-14 and dropping to 2-5 on the season. With only two games left in the regular season, the Cavemen were sitting at number 25 in the state and had a home playoff game in sight. The only thing they needed to do in order to make the Colombia Cup was to finish the season out strong against the Sheldon Irish and Roseburg Indians. Coach Wes Cox said, "These are winnable games we just have to make something out of nothing and leave all of our cards out on the table."

Sadly, like the rest of the season, the games did not go in the Caveman's favor. Against the Irish, the Cavemen found themselves pulling the short stick once again. At the final buzzer, the score was Irish 49, Cavemen 0. With a heartbreaking loss coming in front of their home crowd, the Cavemen had one final opportunity to show the doubters that the Cavemen are no joke, and are here to play with the best of them. The final game of the regular season rolled around and it was senior night for the Cavemen, against the 1-7 Roseburg Indians, who have plenty of history with the Cavemen. GPHS had to win this game to keep their home-field advantage in the playoffs. However, this would be the last time that the seniors would ever play on Mel Ingram field, losing 7-3 at home in the last game of the regular season.

Although the Cavemen lost, they still managed to sneak into the playoffs to play Liberty Falcons in Liberty. The Cavemen put up a great fight but still managed to fall short in the fourth quarter, losing 21-17 and ending their season for good. Even though the record did not show it, the Cavemen were still a great team that also had a lot of great accomplishments. They will be an exciting team to watch in the years to come. With that, the 2023 season came to an end.

Sources:

@ray4otos
Gage Blay
Wes Cox

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