Graham Grizzlies withstand late push by Lord Tweedsmuir, hold on for gritty 27-14 win Friday night in Chilliwack

CHILLIWACK — It looked and sounded like a playoff atmosphere in GW Graham’s final regular season home game at Exhibition Stadium Friday night in Chilliwack.

And when Lord Tweedsmuir was knocking on the door trailing only 20-14 in the second half, the Grizzlies came up with a couple of critical plays on defence when it counted, along with a late fourth quarter score to seal it, to give GW Graham a gritty 27-14 win over the visiting Panthers.

The Grizzlies and Panthers entered the game tied at 4-1 in a battle for the top spot in the East Division. Both teams showed they wanted to win in a battle of hard-hitting action. Yet it was the Grizzlies who started off stronger thanks to two touchdowns from running back Yapo Conteh in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead. Conteh capped off drives of six and four plays each to give the Grizzlies an early lead. GW Graham kept Tweedsmuir out of the end zone and scoreless en route to a 14-0 halftime lead.

Grizzlies linebacker and tight end Riley Ashley had an exceptional game on both sides of the ball. Early in the second half, Ashley hauled in a 55-yard touchdown pass and run from quarterback Aiden Hewitt to extend their lead to 20-0. Ashley added eight tackles on defense alongside fellow linebacker Billy Hunter, who contributed with eight tackles. Linebacker Owen Lal and defensive end Yapo Conteh both had a fumble recovery to punctuate the defensive effort.