GRANTS - Despite what some players dubbed a “slow start,” the Grants High School Pirates notched a momentous victory over Espanola Valley on Friday night, 34-12.

Quarterback Charles Miller (12) shovels a pass to Brandon Rael (31) in a play that worked well against Espanola. The Pirates defeated Espanola 34-12. Rael had 266 yards in the game and three touchdowns. BEACON / ROMERO

If the Pirates (3-1 overall) meant they only led 14-12 at the half, then we'll begrudge them their assessment. Nevertheless, the Grants defense sharpened up and shut out the visiting Sundevils (1-3) in the second half to help mark what has become an important point in the Pirates' season.

    Their three straight wins, after the season-opening loss to Socorro, has not happened since the 2005 Pirates won four in a row en route to a state tourney berth. In fact, it's been losing streaks of similar numbers that have been the rule for Grants in recent years.

    Brandon Rael rushed for 266 yards on 39 carries, and he punched the ball across the end zone three different times. But, he said he'd trade those numbers for a three-game winning streak any day.

    “It's by far the most yards I've gotten in a single game,” Rael said, pointing also to his three catches for 18 yards. “But I wasn't trying to do anything spectacular, I was just trying to do anything I could to help the team win. I wasn't thinking about yards or touchdowns or anything else.”

    Senior quarterback Charles Miller had 142 yards passing on 10 completions, including a 67-yard hook up with little brother Cody, but he also looked, well, un-Miller like.

    He threw three interceptions on the night, but he said that being able to count on his Pirate brethren let him forget about the mistakes and keep playing.

    “I know I can count on our receivers, and Brandon, the workhorse,” Miller said. “The offensive and defensive lines too; everybody was doing well.”

Speaking of defense - Espanola couldn't contain Cody and his 115 receiving yards - the Grants “D” put up another stellar performance after allowing two first-half touchdowns.

    Senior safety Derreck Hassell said he and his fellow defenders just didn't come out with the intensity they needed to in the first half.

    “We knew it was coming, and they did everything we thought they would,” Hassell said. “But I guess we were just slacking. We weren't committing to the ball and to the pursuit of the defenders.”

That all changed, Hassell said, as each defender renewed his effort in the locker room at half time.

    “Everyone was pretty mad that we let them score,” Hassell said. “We went in there with higher intensity in the second half.”

    Meanwhile, Miller said that the importance of the Pirates' three-game win streak cannot be overstated. It's his first such streak in a Pirate uniform, but besides the fact that he and his teammates are beaming, he said that the on-field success has spread to others as well.

    “Last year our fans would come for one game, we'd start losing and they would leave,” Miller said.         “Now we have support from the fans, the community, people in school, tailgaters. It feels good. We all practice hard every day and we just want to keep getting better.”

    Grants gets almost two weeks off before facing a high-powered Pojoaque team at home on Oct. 2, then district begins with not a single weak team on the schedule.

    “I don't think anyone is really satisfied yet,” Rael said. “We don't think we're there yet. We still know we have a long way to go before we can start playing up to our level.”

Even so, Miller can't help but think about the 2005 Pirates and their four-game winning streak, which helped send them to a playoff game.

    “Our goal is to go to the playoffs,” Miller said. “We have a lot of seniors on the team, it's our last year, and we'd like to go to state to close things out.”