By Damian Juneau, American Press

The No. 3 Grand Lake Hornets advanced to the Class 1A quarterfinals for the first time in school history with a 36-6 lead over the No. 19 Delhi Bears.

Grand Lake advanced to play at No. 11 Centerville next week. Centerville advanced with a 42-20 double overtime win at No. 11 Oberlin.

The Grand Lake defense dominated, limiting Delhi to 80 yardsand making 10 sacks.

“It’s awesome to see this game tonight and it was a great win for our team and community,” said Grand Lake coach Jeff Wainwright. “Football is just a little thing going on in Grand Lake right now. The big thing is our community is broken and we are fixing it day by day and the football team is just a part of it.”

The Hornets wasted little time getting on the board. A 2-yard punt by the Bears was returned by Kyler Little for a 13-yard punt return for a touchdown to give the Hornets a 7-0 lead with 9:59 to play in the first quarter.

Grand Lake scored on its first two offensive possessions. The first came when Eli Fountain scored on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Conner Guillotte on a fourth-down play. Delhi answered with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Camryn Smith from D.J. Chandler, also on a fourth down. The Hornets scored again on a 19-yard run by Levi Murrell.

After two scoreless quarters, Grand Lake got back on the scoreboard with a 4-yard run by Fountain with 10:57 left in the game.

Grand Lake increased its lead with 4:36 to play when Cole Mott blocked a punt in the end zone for a safety for a 29-6. Murrell scored the game’s final touchdown on a 1-yard run.

“We were worried the rust and not playing in almost a month,” Wainwright said. “The defense just played lights out putting pressure on the quarterback and let the offense figure out things as the game went on.”

The Hornets finished with 242 rushing yards and 20 passing yards. Murrell and Fountain finished with 113 and 81 rushing yards, respectively, and each scored two touchdowns.

The Bears finished with 99 passing yards and minus-19 yards rushing. Chandler completed 6-of-10 passing for 99 yards. South finished with two receptions for 59 yards.