Griffith remains undefeated in GSSC after blowout of Calumet
Indiana Preps NWI No. 7 and 3A No. 15 Griffith 63, Calumet 14
By Paul Honeycutt

CALUMET – NIPSCO prices are up all over Northern Indiana, and Calumet’s rate will be exponentially higher after Friday night thanks to Griffith.

Indiana Preps NWI No. 7 and Class 3A No. 15 Griffith won its fifth straight game in a big way by absolutely lighting up the scoreboard in a 63-14 rout of Calumet in a Greater South Shore Conference South matchup.

This sets up a winner-take-all game next Friday in Week 9 for the GSSC South crown between Griffith (7-1, 3-0 GSSC South) and Indiana Preps NWI No. 6 and Class 2A No. 10 Wheeler (7-0, 3-0), who beat Whiting 52-0.

With it being so close to the postseason, Griffith coach Phil Mason gave a resounding no when asked if any of his players will rest for the postseason run.

“No, absolutely not,” said Mason. “We will play with pride and compete for a conference championship because you have to show that respect to Wheeler, who is a great team.”

All the Griffith threats were out in full force, as junior QB Ryan Bullion passed for 212 yards and four touchdowns.

“None of it happens without the O-Line because we got some dogs up front and they give me the time I need to distribute to our guys outside,” said Bullion, one of NWI’s leading passers.

After a three-and-out from Calumet (5-3, 1-2), Bullion and Co. made quick work on their first drive by scoring in six plays.

Panthers junior Davon Thomaston torched the Warriors defense for 49 yards on the first drive, which was capped off by a 1-yard Ventris Tetter run.

Griffith, who has won five straight, netted 245 yards in the first quarter and scored 21 in the opening period, including a 26-yard TD pass from Bullion to fellow junior Jason Quillin.

Thomaston would be heard from again, but this time on a 52-yard TD run to make it 21-0.

Quillin and Bullion connected again in the second quarter from 24 yards out to start the scoring onslaught in the 35-point frame.

One of the top rushers in NWI, Bryce Brandon got the Warriors on the board with an 8-yard rushing score after Michael Olivarri ran the kickoff back 66 yards to set up the score.

On Griffith’s next drive, it scored in just two plays after Bullion hit senior WR Jalen Wilson for a 33-yard touchdown strike.

Griffith then recovered the ensuing onside kick and Tetter notched his second score, this one from 22 yards out.

A little over two minutes later, the Warriors scored on a 35-yard TD pass from freshman QB Jaden Campbell to Treyvon Brown.

Thomaston came calling once again not one but two times at the end of the first half, as he caught Bullion’s fourth TD pass of the night from 18 yards out.

The electric junior also recorded a pick-6 from 64 yards out with 13 seconds left in the first half.

“Davon is really confident with who he is as a person and as a football player,” Mason said.

The running attack was just as dangerous with the duo of Tetter, a senior, and junior Desmond Naylon.

Tetter ran for 79 yards on 10 carries with two scores and Naylon rushed for 120 yards on 10 carries.

Brandon entered Friday’s game for Calumet with having rushed for 100 yards in all seven games and the Griffith defense held him to just 23 yards on 16 carries.

Mason cites the 42-14 Week 3 loss to Lowell as the turning point.

“We’ve been practicing harder with iron sharpening iron since that loss,” said Mason. “I think that game taught our team how to compete against the teams we are going to see in the future because Lowell is a good team and we wanted to beef up the schedule.”

Griffith 63, Calumet 14

Griffith; 21 35 0 7 – 63

Calumet; 0 14 0 0 – 14

G – Ventris Tetter 1 run (Kyle Hornyak kick), 10:00 1st

G – Jason Quillin 26 pass from Ryan Bullion (Hornyak kick), 6:23 1st

G – Davon Thomaston 52 run (Hornyak kick), 4:15 1st

G – Quillin 24 pass from Bullion (Hornyak kick), 9:23 2nd

C – Bryce Brandon 8 run (pass failed), 9:08 2nd

G – Jalen Wilson 33 pass from Bullion (Hornyak kick), 8:20 2nd

G – Tetter 22 run (Hornyak kick), 7:28 2nd

C – Treyvon Brown 35 pass from Jaden Campbell (Brandon run), 5:04 2nd

G – Thomaston 18 pass from Bullion (Hornyak kick), 2:43 2nd

G – Thomaston 64 int return (Hornyak kick), 0:13 2nd

G – Mason Litke 4 run (Juelz Ramos kick), 3:13 4th



Griffith;Calumet

First Downs;26;11

Total Yards;565;130

Rushes-Yards;31-313;22-7

Passing;252;123

Comp.-Att.-Int.;13-17-0;7-15-1

Penalties-Yards;10-100;3-13

Fumbles-Lost;0-0;2-1



INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – GRIFFITH, Desmond Naylon 10-120, Ventris Tetter 10-79, Davon Thomaston 2-57, Mason Litke 5-39, Lucas Hernandez 5-18. CALUMET, Bryce Brandon 16-23, Michael Olivarri 1-(-1), John Boyd 2-(-5), Jaden Campbell 3-(-10).

PASSING – GRIFFITH, Ryan Bullion 10-14-212-4-0, Jason Keck 3-3-40-0-0. CALUMET, Jaden Campbell 7-15-123-1-1.

RECEIVING – GRIFFITH, Davon Thomaston 5-110, Jason Quillin 3-54, Jalen Wilson 2-48, Sebastian Kutscher 2-22, Lucas Hernandez 1-18. CALUMET, Treyvon Brown 3-65, Michael Olivarri 2-40, Lance Freeman 2-18.