ALAMOSA, Colo. – The Adams State Grizzlies Football team prepares to host Colorado Mesa University in the annual Spud Bowl this Saturday in what will be the final home game of the 2019 season. The game will feature its share of in-game presentations, including the senior presentation prior to kickoff, honoring the 2019 Adams State Grizzly seniors, a halftime presentation awarding the annual Spud Queen, as well as highlighting the potato growers of the San Luis Valley in between quarters. The contest kicks off at 1 p.m. from Rex Stadium Saturday, but fans will want to be early in order to catch the senior walk-out presentation.
The game itself features a matchup of two 4-5 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foes, both whom have had up and down seasons and would love to pick up another conference victory and get to at least five wins on the year. The Mavericks of Colorado Mesa come into Saturday boasting a five-game win streak over the Grizzlies, with their last loss coming at the conclusion of the 2013 season. The Grizzlies will look to break this streak Saturday, and get to five wins which would be their highest win total since that 2013 season that saw them win a total of seven games.
The Grizzlies were hit with a big blow last weekend against Angelo State when their star offensive player, receiver
Tariq Bitson went out with an apparent leg injury early in the first quarter. They relied on receiver
Ziere Banner to shoulder the load, as he registered a solid performance with five receptions for 88 yards and two touchdowns. A nice complimentary piece in the Grizzly passing attack last week was receiver
Quintion Garrett, who had his first big game of the season catching six passes for 79 yards in the loss. If Bitson is unavailable for Saturday's matchup and for the forseeable future, look for the Grizzlies to target both Banner and Garrett a ton in order to keep what could be a high-powered offensive attack Saturday rolling.
The Grizzlies rushing attack played a big part in keeping the game close and manageable last weekend, as running backs
Duson Sproles and
Otumus Payemanu led the way on the ground and combined for 118 yards toward Adams State's grand total of 164 rushing yards for the game. Look for the two of them, as well as back
Jamarcus Federick to get going early, especially if the Grizzlies try to slow the game down in the event that Bitson does not play.
The Grizzly defense quietly had a very solid day last Saturday, sacking Angelo State quarterback Payne Sullins four times, and pitching a shutout in the first quarter. As was the story against CSU-Pueblo two weeks ago, the Grizzlies put their defense in tough spots due to turnovers especially in the second half. Defensive end
Alani Pututau was the big performer on the day, cashing in a sack to go along with three tackles for loss on the afternoon. He goes into Saturday with ten and a half sacks on the season, and he and the interior defense of the Grizzlies look to go to work against a run-heavy Colorado Mesa team.
The Adams State Grizzlies host the Colorado Mesa Mavericks Saturday, November 9
th from Rex Stadium at 1 p.m. The corporate sponsor for the game is Alamosa's First Southwest Bank and is presented by the Colorado Potato Administrative Committee for the annual Spud Bowl.
