Richard Anderson photo
Senior Coleton Wilson (letterman's jacket) and junior Jon Sorenson listen as the Plainsmen close practice on Thursday. Sorenson will start at quarterback Friday against Sheridan for the injured Wilson.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
Jon Sorenson has been a big part of the Laramie Plainsmen offense this season; now he's going to be running it.
Sorenson, for likely just one game, will move over from his normal wingback position to quarterback Friday against the Sheridan Broncs in the annual Homecoming contest, which kicks off at Deti Stadium at 7 p.m.
Sorenson will fill in for senior Coleton Wilson, who had a slight separation of his right shoulder against Cheyenne East last week. Wilson said he suffered the injury in the first quarter, but played the entire game. He’s likely to be out just for this game.
For Sorenson, it’s kind of a return to a familiar position, as he played quarterback from seventh grade through his freshman season. He switched to running back last year.
“It will be nice to be out there playing (quarterback) again, but I’m a little nervous,” Sorenson said before practice on Thursday “I think I have enough handle of the offense to where we can put ourselves in position to win.”
While the Plainsmen will go from more of a pure a thrower to a runner at the position, head coach Bob Knapton said they won’t change things offensively in that sense.
“We’ll still do all of the same plays,” Knapton said. “Jon has a different touch on the ball that Coley does. Jon tries to zip it a little more to make up for his passing style being different. The kids will have to get used to that this week because a different ball is coming at them. But there is not much we can do about that.”
Sorenson leads the team in rushing with 163 yards. He’ll likely add to that total if things go as planned.
“We’re trying to work things in where I can run the ball. We’ll get out on some roll outs where, if I don’t see anything open, I can just run the ball,” Sorenson said. “I think nothing has really changed in the offense; we’re going to throw, we’re going to pass … try to kick some butt.”
A catcher and infielder in baseball, Sorenson has a strong arm … maybe a little strong for the touch he needs at this time. Yet, he said he is working on that.
“I just have to learn to get some more touch on the ball, get some more arc on my deep routes,” he said. “Other than that, I think I have the throwing down. A little rust came off this week; I think I am ready to go.”
Despite the changes offensively and defensively (Wilson was a stating free safety as well), the Plainsmen, 0-2, are looking to get off to a better start against the Broncs than they did in their last two games. Laramie started slow against Steamboat Springs, Colo., trailing 21-6 at halftime before losing 21-14, and even slower at East last week, trailing 13-0 early before losing 19-6.
“Our big emphasis is finishing and getting off to a good start," Sorenson said. “We’re going to try to start out on offense and minimize their time of possession in the first half, so maybe we will get a good score right off the bat and energize our defense.”
Defensively, the Plainsmen have struggled early against good quarterbacks who have picked them apart. Laramie recovered in most cases with better pressure, but could never quite make up for the slow start.
Knapton said they have simplified things defensively.
“Obviously, we have been having trouble recognizing where trips receivers are,” Knapton said. “We went back over that again. That comes from that Zero Week and not having an extra week to go over a lot of these kind of things. I was kind of assuming that many of them knew that and I don’t think a lot of them knew that. In the last couple of weeks, we have been giving people free passes right down the middle, just because we weren’t in the coverage that we should have been in.”
The Plainsmen will face a Sheridan team that is officially 0-1 on the season, losing to Miles City, Mont., 14-10 last week. Under head coach Don Julian, the Broncs spread the field offensively, something the Plainsmen have seen in their previous two games.
Quarterback Austin Woodward was 16 of 31 passing last week for 131 yards and one interception. Woodward also led the team in rushing with 62 yards.
“They are a pretty good team. They have a good quarterback and they spread it out like crazy. They’ll try to run him or they’ll try to throw it,” Knapton said. “They had a little trouble in their first game, but they probably played a team that started a week earlier like every body else. I think they will come out here and play a tough game. We’re going to work on things that we need to improve on and keep banging along.”
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Plainsmen vs. Broncs
LHS starting lineup
Offense
QB -- Jon Sorenson (6-0, 195, Jr.)
FB -- Charles Swearingen (6-0, 215, Jr.)
WB -- Luke Knapton (6-2, 180, Jr.)
TE -- Marshall Fisher (6-2, 205, Jr.)
LT -- James Van Kirk (6-1, 230, Sr.)
LG -- Allan Saunders (5-11, 215, Jr.)
C -- Ben Farber (6-1, 245, Jr.)
RG -- Allen West (6-3, 225, Sr.)
RT -- Nick Yelton (6-3, 245, Sr.)
TE -- Tyler English (6-2, 195, Jr.)
WB -- Phillip Callahan (5-10, 165, Jr.)
PK -- Alex Zuniga (5-8, 155, Sr.)
Defense
Tackle -- Trent Schneider (6-3, 210, Sr.)
Nose guard -- Ben Farber (6-1, 245, Jr.)
Tackle -- Nick Armijo (6-0, 205, Sr.)
DE -- Charles Swearingen (6-0, 215, Jr.)
WLB -- Austin Ontiveroz (6-0, 195, So.)
BLB -- Tyler English (6-2, 195, Jr.)
MLB -- Luke Knapton (6-2, 180, Jr.)
FC -- Nathan Cowper (6-2, 175, Jr.)
BC -- Kelby Wilkison (5-11, 165, Jr.)
FS -- Jon Sorenson (6-0, 195, Jr.)
SS -- Nathan Clark (5-8, 165, Jr.)
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Plainsmen Statistics
(Counting Steamboat Springs game)
Rushing
Jon Sorenson: 32-163 & 1TD; Charles Swearingen: 21-90 & 1 TD; Mike Lanich: 22-33 & 0TDs; Coleton Wilson: 13-(minus 66) & 1TD; Kelby Wilkison: 1-17 & 0TDs; Allen West: 1-0 & 0TDs; Luke Knapton: 2-11 & 0TDs: Totals: 92-248 & 3 TDS
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Passing
Coleton Wilson: 11-25-0 129 & 0TDs. Totals: 11-25-0 129 & 0TDs,
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Receiving
Tyler English: 1-25 & 0TDs; Marshall Fisher 1-14 & 0TDs, Nathan Cowper 2-31 & 0TDs; Jon Sorenson 4-23 & 0TDs; Luke Knapton 2-21 & 0TDs; Charles Swearingen 1-15 & 0TDs. Totals: 11-129 & 0TDs
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Defense
Luke Knapton 44.5 points, Kelby Wilkison 22, Tyler English 19, Nathan Cowper 19, Allen West 17, Jon Sorenson 16, Austin Ontiveroz 15, Nick Armijo 14, Charles Swearingen 10, Coleton Wilson 7, Rylan Harding 6, Alex Zuniga 4, Trent Schneider 3, Ben Farber 3, Bryce Kemtz 2, Nathan Clark 2, Nick Yelton 1.5
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