Gibson Hardie made his quarterbacking debut for the Grade 8 GW Graham Grizzlies football team a memorable one.
Hardie led four touchdown drives in the first half alone, running one in himself, en-route to a 40-6 thrashing of the Mission Roadrunners.
Hardie made a statement on the very first play, launching a 55 yard scoring strike to receiver Noah Dubosoff.
“Gibson normally plays on the line for us, and he is a very physical player,” noted head coach Laurie Smith. “So the highlight for me came early in the third quarter when he stepped back into the pocket and a defender was all over him. Gibson simply pushed the rusher off and threw a strike downfield.”
Hardie completed four of seven passes for 102 yards, with TD tosses to Dubosoff and Spencer Breslin.
Gabe Mannes, Owen Eyres and Jared Lengert all had rushing TDs.
GWG’s defense completely overwhelmed the Roadrunners, keeping them under 50 yards of total offense for the game.
Michael Lengert and Jaimey Bessette had great performances on the defensive line.
Safety Kobe Pool and cornerback Eyres had interceptions.
Linebackers Miguel Wood and Spencer Breslin made several open field tackles to shut down the outside run.
The second place Grizzlies (4-1) play Eugene Reimer middle school (4-1) and Abbotsford (5-0) in their next two games.
With wins in both, the first-year team would finish in first place in the AA division heading into the playoffs.
The next game for the Grizzlies is Monday at Reimer (located next to Rick Hansen secondary school).
