Jerimi Calip said the only win he cares about for Mesa Ridge is the last one. And it was quite the victory for the Grizzlies on Friday night.

Cameron-Ozzie Tertulien led Mesa Ridge’s high-octane offense with three touchdowns as the No. 14-seeded Grizzlies cruised to a 54-22 win against No. 19 Loveland at C.A. Foster Stadium in the 4A playoff opener.

“It finally came together and you could see it all season long,” Calip said. “This is when you want it to come together.” 

As electric as the Grizzlies were in the first round, they trailed 7-0 after Loveland (5-6) scored just over two minutes. The Red Wolves drove 75 yards and Jackson Gerbhardt capped the drive with a 7-yard run with 9:51 on the clock. That strike served as an alarm for Mesa Ridge. 

“We got into a rhythm,” Calip said. “Cam was running the ball well and Leland (Frescaz) was throwing the ball well. Our receivers did their thing. This was a good night for the Grizzlies.”

Mesa Ridge (6-5) made it 14-7 after the first quarter with rushing touchdowns from Jakehlan Watts and Tertulien. But the Grizzlies’ offense began to cook in the second.

Tertulien scored his second rushing TD of the night and the Red Wolves followed with a touchdown reception to make it 20-14.

Then, Frescaz matched the Red Wolves’ touchdown with a 42-yard dime to Kobe Dooley and threw another dot, this time to Watts, who juked his way to the end zone to make it 34-14 with 3:44 left in the half. 

“We finally got our mentality right,” Tertulien said. “There were six or seven games where we made mental mistakes. But this week we came together and got our mentality right and beat a team that we needed to beat to keep our season going.” 

Loveland scooped and scored a Grizzlies’ fumble to start the third and made it 34-22 with 10:22 on the clock. But the Grizzlies’ defense silenced the Red Wolves’ offense, which averaged 40 in their past three games. The Grizzlies allowed just two offensive scores from the Red Wolves and forced three turnovers.  

“Our defense has been our backbone all year long,” Calip said. “Them showing up tonight is not surprising. They’ve rung the bell all year and we were fortunate enough that the offense was able to meet them.”

The Grizzlies continued to light up the scoreboard as Chris Hinojosa Jr. scored on a 20-yard fumble recovery, Amari McBroom scored on a 2-yard run and Tertulien got his third touchdown of the game in the second half. 

“Last game I wasn’t satisfied with the yards I got, so I said I was going to put the pedal to the metal in this one,” Tertulien said. “All those little things paid off: focus in practice, getting adequate sleep. They came together and got me those three touchdowns.”

The Grizzlies head to No. 3 Palmer Ridge next week to face the Bears, who beat Mesa Ridge 35-7 on Sept. 26.

“When we played them earlier this season we made a lot of mistakes,” Calip said. “We’re going to make sure we get our guys prepared during the week. I’m sure Palmer Ridge will be ready to play. Their coaching staff are good guys and this will be a good game for the Springs.”