Amazingly enough it did work for a bit. I ended up stopping and adding a bunch of long ferns to firm it up a bit more. The grass packed together pretty quickly, but the added ferns were enough to firm it up. The tire never came off the rim once, which was a welcome surprise
Basically the grass acted as a half filled tube. It didn't damage anything as I wasn't riding full on. It was merely just to ride to the bottom of the trail which was still 20 mins. away. If you are in a situation like I was, it will work. The bead stayed on the rim the entire time, and I was able to ride it out, which was the whole point.