ALBUQUERQUE – Saddled by a sputtering offensive game, and constantly dealing with a short field on defense proved the Grants Pirates’ undoing in their matchup with St. Pius, which came away with a 56-20 win in a Thursday night football game that had state tournament implications.

Grants (5-3 overall, 0-1 District 6-4A) crossed midfield only once in the first half as St. Pius (5-3, 1-0)  continually brought the house up the middle to hound GHS quarterback Charles Miller and running back Brandon Rael. Meanwhile, a well-rested Sartan offense – the team had two weeks to prepare for Grants – racked up 35 points in the first half alone, benefiting from good field position while the Pirates struggled to get anything going offensively.

The 20 points were a season low for the Pirates.

After a three-and-out drive to begin the game, Miller punted to the Pius 39, and the scoring fireworks began. Xavier Madrid took it to the house from the 2 at the 7:43 mark and the Sartans quickly snagged the lead.

Then, on Grants’ ensuing drive, the Sartans turned a questionable non-call by referees into another score.

The Pirates advanced the ball to their own 25 and were forced to punt. Miller’s punt sailed across midfield and Robert Quintana downed the ball by touching it. Just then, a Sartan player picked up the ball and began running towards the end zone as Grants coaches called for their players to stop him. Quintana’s downing of the ball was ignored however and Pius went up 15-0.

Grants finally got on the board at the 3:00 mark when Pius quarterback Trey Casaus fumbled and Miller scooped up the prize and ran it to paydirt for an 82-yard touchdown run.

Pius went into the locker room with a 35-7 edge but Grants, as it has been known to do, got off to a quick second-half start. Quintana intercepted a Casaus pass and ran it into the endzone from 25 yards out for a touchdown which shrunk the gap a bit.

But the Sartans kept up the pressure, as, after a Jeremy Wilson interception and a three-and-out drive by Grants, Casaus found Jacob Garcia for a 51-yard bomb to make the score 42-14.

A Sam Peters interception for touchdown from 90 yards out made the score 49-14 before the Pirates finally got their only offensive touchdown on the night.

With 3:23 remaining in the third quarter, Miller connected with a streaking James Lopez for a 55-yard strike, but the two-point conversion failed, making the score 49-20.

The Sartans added a Garcia touchdown at the 5:23 mark of the fourth for their final score.

Unofficially, Miller finished with 241 yards passing on the night. Cody Miller accounted for 116 of those yards on only five receptions.

Grants now turns its attention to 4A powerhouse Belen, which comes to Grants on Friday, October 30.