ENTERPRISE—Facing a large deficit, the Bulldogs tried new things on the road last Friday, but the scoreboard looked much the same.
The Gunnison Valley football team suffered their fourth consecutive loss last week, falling 48-7 to Enterprise as their thinned-out roster got even thinner. The Bulldogs fell to 2-4 on the season and are now 0-3 in the 1A South.
After senior quarterback Jack Hansen began the game going 0-8 on pass attempts with an interception, Coach Patrick King determined that Hansen’s arm “was too injured to throw” and switched in sophomore Tyson Tucker to play under center. The converted lineman was impressive in a pinch, going 4-7 for 41 yards over three quarters, including a 34-yard heave to his brother, senior Carson Tucker.
“We improved quite a bit with the offense matriculating, getting 5-yard and 6-yard gains,” King said. “The offense hasn’t really been helping the defense the last few weeks; they have to help out a little bit more.”
Hansen slotted in at running back alongside senior Dylan Anderson and carried 10 times for 50 yards to lead the offense in collecting 188 yards on the ground on 24 total carries.
Enterprise played like contenders as they collected 374 total rushing yards, scoring all their points on the ground. They built up a 28-0 lead at halftime and led 42-0 in the fourth quarter before Gunnison finally got a drive together.
The Bulldogs started their final drive with Tyson Tucker throwing a long bomb to Carson Tucker to get within the Enterprise 40-yard line. Tucker took a 6-yard sack on the next play then threw an incompletion. Facing a third-and-23, Anderson ran for a big gain to make it fourth-and-8. Hansen converted the first down with a 10-yard carry.
Utilizing the sweep, Anderson took a direct snap and jetted right around the Enterprise defense to run for an 18-yard touchdown to avoid the shutout.
Gunnison’s schedule continues to be a gauntlet. They’ll be back home this Friday to take on Milford.
