An unlikely pick: Gretillat, Schick deliver in Rebel substate win

DENVER – Jon Dinsdale wouldn't have picked Seth Gretillat to take the shot in a penalty kick shootout.
 
But the Grundy Center/Gladbrook-Reinbeck head coach had already gone through his five hand-chosen players in a tight shootout with Denver on Monday, and he put the rest in the hands of his players.
 
When he saw who his Rebels sent out there, he put their fate in the hands of God.
 
"They send one of our youngest ones out there first as the sixth guy," Dinsdale said of sophomore Cullen Eiffler. "And then Seth who had never kicked a PK because he's known for kicking it over the goal."
 
Ye of little faith.
 
Gretillat buried the game-winner in what Dinsdale admitted was the "perfect spot" to beat Denver goalkeeper Bo McMahon, and the Rebels survived in a substate opener in Denver as 1-0 winners after a 7-6 margin in the penalty kick shootout.
 
GCGR (9-4) will play at 1A No. 12 Nevada (10-7) on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. in a 1A substate semifinal.
 
Eli Thede, Walker Thede, Mason Skovgard, Caden Kickbush, Eiffler and Bronson Wrage all scored on their PKs to set up Gretillat's game-winner.
 
Even if he would've been choosier about his penalty kick shooters, Dinsdale can't deny the grit of Gretillat, one of the 10 seniors on the team that didn't want to go home empty-handed on Monday.
 
"They put it as a mission to make it to the next round, the next round, and then on to state," Dinsdale said. "They've learned what they need to accomplish to get on that winning side … they've been through a lot these last four years, and they didn't want to be done tonight, and it was a question of how much are you willing to give? They laid it on the line."
 
Another senior, Bryce Schick, was in goal for the shootout and made two clutch saves.
 
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