by Michael Smith


Friday’s Senior Night game against Belton could not have gone much better for the Grain Valley football team.

At least one senior was involved in every touchdown scored and two seniors made a huge impact for a surging Eagles defense.

Seniors like Gabe Storment, Braylon Harden, Ty Williams, Sal Caldarella, and Tyler Wyzard were among those who contributed in the team’s 43-7 blowout of Pirates at Moody Murray Memorial Field.

Friday was the first time the Eagles got to play their backups in the fourth quarter all season because the seniors helped build such a big lead.

Head coach David Allie credited a much improved defense that started the season giving up 33.3 points per game in the first three contests. As of late, that unit is starting to stymie opposing offense, holding them to just 16.3 per game.

The Eagles are getting better at stopping the run game as of late and that was apparent against Belton. They held Belton senior running back Javon Minor to just 66 yards on 24 carries. They only allowed 73 on the ground and 165 yards total to the Pirates.

“That’s their bread and butter, they like to run the ball,” Gabe Storment said. “Everyone on defense just honed in. When we stopped the run, we made them throw the ball. When they threw it, we forced them into mistakes.

“It was an overall dominant performance from the defense.”

Grain Valley (5-1) not only limited the yards allowed, but it forced four turnovers.

Senior cornerback Braylon Harden had a ball thrown right to him from Belton quarterback Cooper Shrum for an interception late in the first, Storment picked off Shrum twice and sophomore recovered a fumble forced by junior DJ Harris late in the contest on a run from Kyron Tharp.

Storment nearly had his first career pick-six when he caught a wobbler from Shrum at the Grain Valley 31-yard line and took it all the way to the Belton 5 before getting tackled.

“I saw everyone running and I was just trying to make some cuts,” Storment said. “I got inside the 4 and I thought I was going to get there but their quarterback was just sitting there squatting.”

While the Eagles defense dominated, their offense continued to hum. Through the first five games, Williams, a running back, has been the key cog to the engine of the Eagles offense.

Coming into Friday’s Suburban White Conference against Belton, the senior running back had 1,102 yards rushing and 16 TDs with an average of 220.4 yards per game. He also had eight catches for 243 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

He still had a sparkling performance against the Pirates as he rushed for 191 yards on 18 carries and a score, but there were other Eagles who joined in on the fun.

Caldarella led the offense by completing 7 of 9 passes for 143 yards and two scores and he also ran the ball five times for 29 yards and two more TDs. He connected with five different receivers and threw accurate passes from all ranges Friday night.

He hit tight end Eli Monrian for an 11-yard TD pass in the back of the end on a play action pass at the 5:33 mark in the first. With 6:40 left in the first half he scored on a 2-yard run on a run-pass option play to put Grain Valley up 14-0.

Belton scored with 1:14 remaining in the first half on a 1-yard scoring run from senior running back Javon Minor to narrow the gap to 14-7.

But after that, it was all Eagles as Caldarella continued his stellar night by throwing a deep pass to junior wide receiver Aaron Barr, who made a leaping TD grab from 27 yards out with a defensive back all over him to put the Eagles (5-1) up 21-7 going into halftime.

“It was awesome to see that,” Caldarella said of Barr’s TD grab. “I have been putting more trust into my non go-to guys over the week. He came down and made a great play on the ball.”

Caldarella capped his special senior night with a 5-yard TD run on another run-pass option play with 11:27 left in the game.

Williams did his thing earlier in the third period when he scored on a 71-yard jaunt after breaking a tackle, making one cut, and outrunning the Belton defense. But he wasn’t the only running back to shine as Wyzard had eight carries for 36 yards and had a 3-yard scamper into the end zone as he earned a season-high in touches.

​“It felt great,” Wyzard said. “I am glad I am getting more reps. I have definitely been working really hard.” 

by Michael Smith


The defense for the Grain Valley football team continues to make strides.

It was a rough start to the season for that side of the ball for the Eagles as they gave up an average of 33.3 points per game during the first three games of the season.

In a Week 4 contest against Platte County, the Eagles made a big jump on defense, holding Platte County to just 238 total yards and forcing three turnovers in a 45-24 victory.

That momentum continued in Friday’s non-conference matchup with Blue Springs South. Grain Valley limited the Jaguars to 335 total yards, including surrendering just 120 on the ground during a 30-20 win at Larry Stewart Memorial Stadium.

“We knew we had to step up because we had big expectations coming in from last game,” Grain Valley junior cornerback Jordan Fuller said.

In the last two games, the defense has held opponents to just 22 points per game. The Eagles were getting consistent pressure on South starting quarterback Ayden Wilhelm and totaled four sacks, three of which came on bad snaps from the Jags.

“Coach (Matt) Curts came to us after that Oak Park game and laid the hammer on us,” Grain Valley senior safety Gabe Storment said. “He held us accountable and that is what led to the success on the field.

“His biggest message was to stop being really good for nine plays and then being really bad on the 10th. We’ve got to be good 100 percent of the time.”

The defense helped keep the Eagles (4-1) afloat in the first half as it only allowed seven points to South in the first 24 minutes. After Ben Drinkwater missed a 35-yard field goal attempt on Grain Valley’s opening possession, South quarterback Ayden Wilhelm took advantage as he hit junior Cameron Sanders in the back of the end zone for an 8-yard scoring pass to go up 7-0.

The Eagles (4-1) responded on the next drive as senior running back Ty Williams had a 46-yard run that set up 10-yard TD jaunt, in which he broke two tackles on his way to pay dirt at the 3:53 mark in the first.

Late in the second half, Fuller intercepted a deep pass over the middle from Wilhelm, making an over-the-shoulder catch, which set up Grain Valley at its own 44-yard line following a personal foul penalty on the Eagles.

“I dropped back and I saw a post coming,” Fuller said. “I just made a good catch.”

A 38-yard reception by Williams from senior quarterback Sal Caldarella allowed Drinkwater the chance at a 48-yard field goal with three seconds left in the half. He made it to put his team up 10-7 going into the break.

Williams continued his breakout season in the second half.

On the Eagles’ first possession, Williams’ 14-yard run on third-and-8 and Caldarella’s 3-yard scamper on fourth-and-2 from the South 16, set up a Williams 4-yard Td run at the 4:24 mark in the third.

After forcing South to punt on its ensuing possession, he caught a swing pass from senior quarterback Sal Caldarella and broke two tackles on his way to a 60-yard TD reception to make it 24-7 with 1:02 left in the third period.

“I like being able to catch the ball, it’s fun,” Williams said. “It’s part of my versatility. If the opposing defense stops me when I am running it, the coaches can put me out there, and I can catch balls.”

Wilhelm’s TD passes of 63 and 13 to senior wide receiver Caysen Stevenson was sandwiched around a Williams 54-yard scoring run with 3:56 left that gave Grain Valley enough cushion to come away with a double-digit win.

After the game, Williams credited some of his success to the defense.

“It’s been huge,” Williams said of the defense’s improvement. “They have been taking pressure off me and the whole offense. They are out there working their butts off.”

Williams powered the offense once again as he finished with 235 rushing on 25 carries and caught four passes for 125 and totaled four TDs. The senior now has 1,102 yards and 16 TDs on the ground, averaging 220.4 yards per game.

“The offense continues to do a great job blocking and our quarterback (Sal Caldarella) continues to make the right reads,” Grain Valley head coach David Allie said. “Ty did a great job catching it and running with it.”

Caldarella, who utilized a bevy of single-read, quick throws, completed 15 of 26 passes for 179 yards and a score. He was able to do that because of South’s cornerback playing 5-plus yards off of Grain Valley’s receivers.

​“We throw to grass,” Allie said of the quick throws. “If you give us that much space, we’re going to take it. If we get five yards, that’s a great play.”

​by Michael Smith


Fatigue may have set in for the Grain Valley volleyball team.

The Eagles played their eighth game in four days as they took on Raymore-Peculiar Tuesday at home. On Monday, they played St. Michael The Archangel Catholic. Two days before that, the Eagles competed in six games during the Winnetonka Invitational Saturday.

Grain Valley was competitive with the Panthers in the first, but the second and third sets got away from the Eagles as they fell 26-28, 16-25, 17-25.

The Eagles had trouble getting past the defense of the Panthers as players like Abigail Ogren, Isabel Bowen and Addison Findley had several blocks that prevented Grain Valley from getting spike to land on the other side of the net.

The defense for Grain Valley was also not to the liking of head coach Tori Squiers, who said her team had an “off night.”

“Where we hurt a lot tonight was defensively,” Squiers said. “They got to play a lot of offense on us. It was hard to come back from that.

“It was an off night for a lot of girls. Some of our strong defensive players like Isabella West and Haylie Jennings didn’t maybe have their strongest game today. They came off a big weekend where they won the Winnetonka Tournament.”

Grain Valley trailed 23-21 late in the first set but came back to tie it at 25-all after going on a 4-2 run capped by a kill from  junior Kayla Gallagher. However, the Panthers got back-to-back kills from senior Kayla Starkey to end a 3-1 run and help her team take the first set by two points.

The Eagles took an early 5-3 lead in the second set following a kill from Gallagher, but Ray-Pec took over from there and outscored the Eagles 22-14 the rest of the way. Grain Valley struggled to connect on passes, while Ray-Pec continued to put up a big block at the net and Bowen powered the Panthers offense with five kills and an ace.

The home team also led 8-7 early in the third thanks to a kill from senior Isabella West, but Ray-Pec took the lead and slowly pulled away due to strong play at the net and unforced errors from Grain Valley.

“We have had a lot of tough competition this season,” Squiers said. “Hopefully we can turn things around after a long weekend.

“After the game we talked about chipping away and not giving up. We got ourselves in tough situations in each set and got down five to six points. We just need to be unified and connected as a team.”

Gallagher led the Eagles with 11 kills, senior Megan Davies had seven and Kyleigh Casey had five. Davies also had a team-high four blocks.

by Michael Smith


It had been a struggle for the defense of the Grain Valley football team.

Through three games, the Eagles surrendered an average of 33.3 points per game to their opponents. The Eagles also had a hard time stopping the run.

The latest example was in the Week 3 contest against Oak Park, in which the Northmen totaled 290 yards on the ground.

The Eagles made sure that didn’t happen again in Friday’s Suburban White Conference opener against Platte County. They limited the Pirates to just 113 yards rushing and 238 total, while forcing three turnovers and collecting four sacks in a 45-24 victory on the road.

“We just workshopped it and hammered into stopping the run all week long,” Grain Valley senior cornerback Braylon Harden said. “If you did something wrong, you did push ups.”

“Defense has always been a staple at Grain Valley and always will be.”

Senior Stylz Blackmon, who plays on the line on offense and defense, credited the resurgence to one thing.

“Faith,” Blackmon said. “We have the players to get it done (on defense). We just need to find that click, and I think we did tonight.”

Grain Valley (3-1, 1-0 conference) got all its turnovers in a second half in which it outscored Platte County 28-10.

Harden intercepted a tipped pass from Platte County quarterback Rocco Marriott late in the third period; senior Jace Worthington recovered a fumble on a botched handoff by Platte County and junior Aaron Barr picked off Marriott midway through the fourth period.

The Eagles did a great job at pressuring Marriott, as well. Junior linebacker Toby Inman led the Eagles with 1.5 sacks of quarterback Rocco Marriott. Seniors Jayveon Erwin and Collin Burd added one each.

“Jayveon is a kid who has been banged up a little bit,” Grain Valley head coach David Allie said. “This is the first game he’s been able to play a significant amount of reps. He’s going to be a special kid. He’s explosive.”

“Toby is one of our guys who has stepped up. He can play in the inside and outside.”

While the defense was a big reason for the win, so was senior running back Ty Williams. He continued his outstanding season as he had 339 yards rushing on 28 carries and had two catches for 63 yards with six total touchdowns.

Against Platte County, he was frequently breaking tackles and when he got into open space, he often outran the opposing defense.

“He’s a workhorse,” Allie said. “He wants the ball and we’re going to give it to him.”

Through four games, Williams has 914 yards and 14 TDs. For reference, the Eagles leading rusher last year was then quarterback Caleb Larson, who had 1,059 yards and 13 scores. Williams is on pace to pass his former teammate next week and could finish with more than 2,000 yards at season’s end.

Even with the massive amount of success he’s had so far, Williams defers the credit to his offensive.

“Shout out to my O line, they are in there day in and day out banging on each other, just to make me look better than I actually am,” Williams said.

After forcing a three-and-out on defense, Grain Valley scored on the first drive when Williams found a big hole up the middle and he ran away from the Pirate defense for a 70-yard rushing touchdown to make it 7-0.

Both teams traded empty possessions, which included an Eagle drive that resulted in a turnover on downs when Williams was stopped behind the first-down marker on a fourth-and-1 run from the Platte County 48.

The Pirates later took advantage of a pass interference penalty on the Eagles, which  gave them a first down on third-and-6. Sophomore running back Adam Gisler capped the possession with a 2-yard TD run to tie it at the 1:36 mark in the first.

With 17 seconds left in the first period, Williams broke off another big run. He fit through a small hole, kept running through a Platte County defender tugging his jersey and hit pay dirt from 32 yards out to make it 14-7.

After getting another stop, Grain Valley made it down to the Platte County red zone, but had to settle for a 19-yard field goal from senior Ben Drinkwater to go up 17-7.

On the Pirates’ ensuing drive, a 63-yard pass from Marriott to sophomore Braiden Stewart helped set up a 1-yard TD run for Gisler to cut Grain Valley’s lead to 17-14.

That score held until halftime and the Eagles (3-1, 1-0 conference) ran away with it in the final 24 minutes.

Grain Valley began the big half with Williams catching a pass from quarterback Sal Caldarella and taking it in from 61 yards out early in the third quarter to put the Eagles up 24-14.

“It was a little Texas route,” Williams said. “It was a little angle and Sal saw me. He hit me. It was all kind of a blur and I just kept running and breaking tackles.”

Williams later scored a trio of TDs on a pitch play from 13 yards out, a 1-yard plunge up the middle and an outside run to the left for 65 yards to put the exclamation point on the contest with 1:52 left.

“It’s been surreal,” Williams said of his hot start to the season. “It’s been great, it’s been fun. It wasn’t just given, it was earned. We all worked hard.”

The GVHS boys swim team went home with a first place trophy following exemplary performances last weekend in the Belton Pirate Invitational. 

by Michael Smith


It was just last week when sophomore Sydnee Wagner returned to pitch for the Grain Valley softball team.

She made her return in a tournament game against Eureka in the Ozark’s Fall Festival. She tossed two innings and picked up the win in a 16-1 victory.

Wagner was limited to 40 pitches at that time because it was her first game back after recovering from a tear in the TFCC ligament in her pitching hand.

Coming into Tuesday’s Suburban White Conference matchup against Platte County, head coach Flip Courter limited his young hurler to 60 pitches.

She made the most of those throws as she fired five scoreless innings to help the Eagles come away with a 8-0 victory at home, which was the team’s 10th consecutive victory.

“She got through five innings on 60 pitches, which I was very excited about,” Courter said. “It really helped that she was able to go deep into the game and she scattered some hits.”

Wagner added two walks and struck out one in the victory. She is still not a full strength according to Courter, but she was effective enough to notch the Eagles sixth shutout win of the season.

Platte County had some traffic on the bases against Wagner. The Pirates has the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the second and runners at first and second with two outs in the third, but the Eagles hurler got out of each jam.

“I think it was good for my defense to have my back,” Wagner said. “I was really grateful for that.”

Sidney Hemme came in to toss the last two innings and dominated. She allowed just one hit and struck out five batters.

The Eagles were fueled offensively by junior Kierstin Parker, who drove in two runs on a triple that she smashed into the right-center field gap in the second. A throw from the Platte County infield on a relay throw got away from catcher Morgan Shields and allowed Parker to score in the error.

“I had been struggling before,” said Parker, who was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs. Ever since the game against Republic, I have just been hot at the plate.

“One through nine, I think we are hitting pretty decent. The season is starting to roll for us.”
After the game, Courter awarded Parker the “Player of the Game” bat, a blue bat that he has the recipient sign at the end of a game.

“She’s scorching hot,” Courter said. “Even when she struck out, it led to good things happening. The catcher dropped the pitch to allow her reach base and after the throw from the catcher, one of our runners scored.

“Sometimes you are blessed like that. That’s the way things are going for her lately.”

Grain Valley (15-2) took a 3-0 lead into the fourth and senior Brynn Stufflebean added an insurance run when her sacrifice fly allowed Parker to score from third base to make it 4-0.
The Eagles put it away with a four-run fifth inning that was highlighted by an RBI double from Stufflebean that ricocheted off the glove of Platte County third baseman Bryli Siefert.

Salome’ Haley also had a big game for Grain Valley as she was 2-for-2 with three runs and a double.

by Michael Smith


The Grain Valley offense was on fire.

In the first two games of the season, the football team averaged 47.5 points per game. The Eagles looked like they were on their way to matching or increasing that average in Friday’s game against Oak Park.

The Eagles scored on their first five possessions and took a 31-20 lead at the 9:08 mark in the third period.

From there, the offense sputtered as Grain Valley had two punts and two turnovers in its final four possessions and the defense couldn’t stop the Northmen’s rushing attack. The visitors went on a 12-0 run and scored a touchdown with 19 seconds left to take a 32-31 nailbiter at Moody Murray Memorial field.

“This was a total team loss that we need to bounce back from,” Grain Valley head coach David Allie said. We can’t beat ourselves. That one hurt. But we will grow from it.”

The Eagles (2-1) got their final touchdown on a run-pass option that resulted in senior wide receiver Jaxon Anderson wide open for a 19-yard touchdown reception on a throw from senior quarterback Sal Caldarella.

Up to that point, the Grain Valley offense was humming. Grain Valley led 24-20 at halftime. Senior wide receiver scored on a 47-yard run on a sweep play on the team’s first drive of the game.

Senior running back Ty Williams was breaking off big runs, breaking tackles and getting behind the Oak Park defense as he scored on TD runs of 32 and 22. He totaled 128 yards on 11 carries in the first half. Drinkwater also added a 21-yard field goal early in the second period.
Then in the second half, things didn’t go as well offensively. Following a big first half for Williams, Oak Park limited him to just 37 yards on nine carries in the second half, most of those coming on one 33-yard run.

“They have a heck of a scheme,” Oak Park head coach Ken Clemens said of Grain Valley. “Allie is really smart in his play selection and manipulating a defense with his formations. He had just had us lining up wrong a lot early there.”

“It took us a little while to figure out what he was doing. We got it figured out after a while.”
Added Allie: “We lost the edge. They took away our edge and that’s where we got our big runs before. Oak Park rallied to the football.”

After the Eagles went up by 11 points, Oak Park responded with a drive that lasted almost 6 minutes and ended with a 5-yard touchdown run on an option play from senior quarterback Aiden Hinkle that allowed Oak Park to pull within 31-26.

Grain Valley had to punt on its next two drives, which included a possession in which the Eagles had the ball at the Oak Park 40. On fourth-and-1, they were going to go for the first down, but a false start penalty quashed the drive.

After the Eagles forced a punt on defense, the offense tried to run the clock out and seal the win. On third-and-11 from Grain Valley’s 40-yard line, Caldarella tried to hit Olah along the left sideline on a long pass but Oak Park junior cornerback Donovan Ross jumped the route and intercepted the ball and returned it to the Grain Valley 29 with 2:31 left.

“They stopped a route that we hit earlier for a big gain,” Allie said. “(Ross) sat on it.”

Oak Park managed to burn a lot of clock from there, and with 19 seconds left, Hinkle scored on a 2-yard option run to the left side to put his team ahead and notch the eventual game winner.

With limited time remaining, Caldarella completed a 9-yard pass to junior Aaron Barr at the Grain Valley 31 to set up a desperation heave to Olah on the next play with 10 seconds left. However, Ross intercepted the pass and effectively ended the game.

The Eagles defense struggled to stop the Oak Park run game as the Northmen totaled 290 yards on the ground. Junior running back Travon Pankey ran the ball 34 times for 173 yards and a score, Hinkle ran the ball nine times for 54 yards and three TDs and senior wide receiver Evan Braxton had 56 yards on seven carries for Oak Park (3-0).

The Northmen had a lot of their success on their pitch rich option play. It’s an option run in which Hinkle could decide to keep the ball and run it himself or pitch it to Pankey. The play was effective against the Eagles as there were multiple moments in which Hinkle held onto the ball until he had a defender in his face before pitching it to Pankey for a big gain.

“That’s part of their base scheme, they did a good job with that,” Allie said of Oak Park. “You have to play assignment football and they did a great job of holding the ball until the last minute and then pitching it.

Williams led Grain Valley with 165 yards on 20 carries and two scores; Olah added 101 total yards, which included a rushing TD; and Caldarella completed 13 of 23 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown and two interceptions.

by Michael Smith
 
The Grain Valley boys soccer team was having trouble scoring.
 
Through three games in the 2023 season, the Eagles had just three goals, all of which came in a 4-3 loss to Olathe North in the Harrisonville Tournament.
 
In two games, Grain Valley was shut out. The offensive woes seemed like they were going to continue in Tuesday’s non-conference contest with Van Horn as the team created chances but couldn’t get goals.
 
The Eagles defense kept them in it as senior goalkeeper Landon Jaynes kept the Falcons at bay with nine saves and the play of the back line made things difficult for the opposition.
 
Because of the stellar defensive play, senior forward Ethan Galvin knocked in the game-winning header in the second overtime to give Grain Valley its first win of the season as it topped Van Horn 1-0.
 
He had one in the first half in which he made a leaping grab on a header from junior Nahum Manzanares that was headed into the upper 90. The Van Horn junior also had a shot off a corner kick right in front of the goal but Jaynes made a diving stop.
 
“He has the natural tools to be a really good goalie,” Lewis said of Jaynes. “He’s 6-foot-4 and he has a long wingspan. He saves shots that players are going to go to the side netting or lower corner, but he will stretch out and parry it away.”
 
“He came up big for us tonight.”
 
So did the back line led by senior Isaiah Johnson and Cohen Hackworth, both of whom made some key defensive plays, including taking away some breakaway opportunities from Van Horn.
 
The Falcons outshot the Eagles 14-7 (8-4 on goal) but the Grain Valley defense did just enough to keep the opposition at bay.
 
“Cohen and Isaiah did fantastic,” Lewis said. “They made sure we handled (Van Horn senior Justin Vest). In the first half, we let him get loose, but we talked about it at halftime that (the Falcons) could get behind us if we are not locked in. We did a better job against that in the second half.”
 
Jaynes also praised his back line for giving him solid support.
 
“Isaiah is a lockdown player, 24-7,” Jaynes said. “Cohen backs him up, too. Our back line is solid all the way around.”
 
The Eagles had some opportunities as most came in the second half. One goal from senior forward Isaiah Johnson was waived off due to an offsides call. A direct free kick from Harris looked to be headed inside the left post and Falcons goalkeeper Levi Carter ranged over to make the save.
 
There were also a pair of open shots from the Eagles that were pushed just wide of the goal.
 
The Eagles finally broke through, however. Senior midfielder Kafir Harris sent a corner kick deep in the penalty box and a Van Horn player cleared the ball with a header.
 
The ball went right back to Harris and he lobbed a pass right in front of Galvan as the senior set off an Eagles celebration with his goal.
 
“Funny enough, he had a corner just like that earlier and he sent it to the back post.” Galvin said. “I was thinking, ‘Hey. Back post again. I went there and got it in.”
 
Galvan has taken over as a primary scoring option for the Eagles as he played in just his second game of the season. He missed the first game due to being ineligible for not participating in enough practices before the season (he missed practices because of pain from wisdom teeth being pulled) and he couldn’t make another due to a band event.
 
But so far, he’s embraced the role of being of the players Lewis counts on to score goals.
 
“Ethan is a great player for us,” said Lewis, whose team improved to 1-3 overall. “He’s always been a good scorer. He was more of a complimentary piece last year, but we are looking for him to score more goals this year.
 
“When he is on the field, we are much more dangerous on offense.”

by Michael Smith


Head football coach David Allie has a new nickname for Grain Valley senior running back Ty Williams – “The Grain Valley Express.”
 
That seemed to be a fitting nickname when he and the Eagles took on the Grandview Bulldogs Friday on the road. The senior totaled 239 yards from scrimmage which included 182 rushing and 57 receiving with three total touchdowns as he helped lead his team to a 49-28 win over Grandview Friday on the road.

Through two games, Williams has looked like one of the best running backs in the Kansas City metro area. He has 402 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
 
He went from a three-man committee at running back in 2022 to a workhorse this season. He had 15 of Grain Valley’s 21 carries from running backs on Friday and he’s handled the new role well, Allie said.
 
“Ty wants the ball and he’s very productive when he gets it,” Allie said. “He’s a great combination of size and speed. When his motor is going, it’s hard to stop him.”
 
He had some explosive plays on Friday. With Grain Valley down 14-7, He dodged two tacklers, raced along the right side, spun out of another tackle at the Grandview 2 yard line and scored on a 64-yard run to tie it with 8:53 left in the first half.
 
After the Eagles’ defense got the stop, he helped the Eagles get their first lead. Senior quarterback Sal Caldarella threw a screen pass to Williams, on a misdirected play in which the offensive line moved left. Williams caught the ball along the right side line and dashed to the end zone from 51 yards out to help his team go up 21-14 with 5:43 left in the first half.
 
“As soon as I caught that ball, I saw nothing but green grass,” Williams said. “I saw Stylz (Blackmon) leads blocking for me, I had a big ol’ smile on my face and I just ran right behind him and scored a touchdown.”
 
He third score came during a 28-0 run from Grain Valley in the second half. He made it to the end zone from 45 yards out as he broke one tackle and raced the rest of the way at the 4:27 mark in the third.
 
If Williams is the “Grain Valley Express,” then Grain Valley’s senior wide receiver Noah Olah could be nicknamed “Olah Airlines” as he often flew by Grandview defenders.
 
Williams and Olah have come up big through two games in which the Eagles combined to score 95 points.
 
“We are explosive from anywhere,” Olah said. “We can run inside and outside and we can throw deep and throw short. We run the right plays in the right situations.”
 
After the Bulldogs (1-1) went up 8-0 early in the first quarter, Olah caught a pass from senior signal caller Sal Caldarella near the left sideline of the end zone. He had a Grandview safety in front of him but he still managed to make a diving catch for a 22-yard score to narrow the gap to 8-7.
 
The senior also had two scores during Grain Valley’s 28 unanswered second-half points after going into halftime up 21-20. He got wide open and caught a laser from Caldarella for a 37-yard receiving TD and he found pay dirt following a pre snap motion, in which he took a handoff 35 yards for a score, which started the run.
 
The other score from Grain Valley during the second-half run came from senior running back Tyler Wyzard, who punched it in from 50 yards out to make it 49-20 with 4:31 remaining.
 
“Their defense is very aggressive and fast,” Allie said of Grandview. “We got the edge on them a couple of times. They were over pursuing and he ran with it well.”
 
Olah and Williams had a friendly competition to see who could score the most touchdowns. They both ended up with the same amount.
 
“We were competing, we were seeing who would score the next touchdown,” Williams said. “It was that friendly competition that helped us win.”
 
Throughout the offseason and during the regular season, they have also have been competing to see who is faster. The duo had different opinions.
 
“He’s got me in the 40, but 100 meters, I got him,” Williams said with a wide smile.
 
When asked who would win in a 40 or 100-yard dash between him and Williams, Olah smiled and said: “It’s me. For sure.”