Richard Anderson photo
Jon Sorenson, 26, looks for some running room with the help from fullback Charles Swearingen last week against Sheridan.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
The get-to-know-the-new-program-probationary-period is about over for the Laramie High School football team.
The Plainsmen, 0-3 (counting the Steamboat Springs, Colo., game) are at about the point of the season where they need to step up and quit making young mistakes. They’ll get their chance Friday night in Casper against Casper Kelly Walsh (7 p.m.).
If improvements aren’t shown in critical areas soon, first-year head coach Bob Knapton said some changes will have to be made.
“We’ve taken a look at some of these players for three games, and if some of them haven’t been producing, they know that. The hammer is coming down and it is time to get going," Knapton said. “The first couple of weeks were like, ‘OK, you don’t know the system very well, but now you know it.’ We see mistakes being made and you should know what you are doing by now.”
Against Steamboat and Cheyenne East, Laramie showed signs of improvement in the second half that left the coaching staff somewhat upbeat. But last week in the 32-3 loss to Sheridan, the Plainsmen were without starting quarterback Coleton Wilson and they struggled with consistency after a little quicker start.
“We took the ball right off the bat and moved it all the way down the field; we hadn’t been able to do that in a while and now we have done that,” Knapton said. “Now, we have to finish our mistakes. We go down there and we have kids getting tired, kids not doing their blocking assignments. A lot of that is discipline, so we’ve worked a lot on that this week to get them down there. Once we get down there, we’re going to finish up and get a score. We want to be able to see this week that we can put it all together, drive down the field and put in the end zone and score.”
The Plainsmen also need to execute on defense. Last week Laramie stopped Sheridan on a drive early to force a field goal attempt (which was missed), but ran into the kicker. A couple of plays later, the Broncs got in the end zone and they took control of the momentum and the game.
“Once again, we’re making mental mistakes and stupid mistakes that are keeping (the other team) in the ballgame. We have to shut them down and take the ball over,” Knapton said. “We’re trying to make the kids realize that you are creating your own problems by having dumb penalties and mistakes that keeps drives alive or shuts your drive down.”
This will be a big game for the Plainsmen, who take on an 0-2 KW team that has also struggled, although the Trojans nearly came back to get East last week before falling 33-32.
“They came alive,“ Knapton said of the Trojans. “They had a lot of big from that veer option and that is something we’re concerned with. We have to stop that. When they were coming back, they still ran the ball. Even when they were behind, they didn’t go to a shotgun or spread; they stuck to their game plan. They opened up some holes and came back on East.”
This will basically be the first game for Laramie against a team that doesn’t generally spread the field out. Laramie has struggled against the pass, giving up an average of 174 yards passing per game, which is last in the state.
“We’ve been doing pretty good against the run; hopefully we can shut that down a little more and force them into doing something that maybe they don’t like to do, pass more or get into formations they are not used to getting in ,” Knapton said. “We’re going to load up and we’re going to try to play some smash mouth with them and try to stop them.”
Joe Munsell leads KW in rushing with 181 yards and a 6.2 per carry average. Quarterback Lucas Nolan has 150 yards on the ground. Although KW doesn’t throw the football much, Nolan has been pretty accurate, hitting 11 of 16 passes for 101 yards.
The Plainsmen also look to get back to the air a bit on Friday with the return of Wilson, who missed last week with a shoulder injury. Wilson is close to 100 percent.
“That makes us do a lot of things more,” Knapton said. “We can get out there and hit the flats, throw more; do some of the things we have been working on so they can’t just bunch up on us. Last week they (Sheridan) had a good defense, they ran a 62, but they were giving us the flats and we have to have our people in there to take that away from them.”
Junior Jon Sorenson, who admirably filled in for Wilson last week at quarterback, will go back to his normal wingback position.
Laramie’s success Friday night will all depend on “playing tough” without making mistakes, Knapton said.
“It seems like when the pressure starts getting on us, we start making mistakes,” he said. “We have to clean that up. We have to get the personnel in there, so either you don’t make mistakes, you don’t let it get to you and you stay focused.”
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Plainsmen vs. Trojans
LHS starting lineup
Offense
QB -- Coleton Wilson (6-2, 205, Sr.)
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 -- Jon Sorenson (6-0, 195, 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.)
SS -- Jon Sorenson (6-0, 195, Jr.)
FS -- Rylan Harding (5-11, 175, Jr.)
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Plainsmen Statistics
(Counting Steamboat Springs game)
Rushing
Jon Sorenson: 43-235 & 1TD; Charles Swearingen: 32-152 & 1 TD; Mike Lanich: 25-33 & 0TDs; Coleton Wilson: 13-(minus 66) & 1TD; Kelby Wilkison: 1-17 & 0TDs; Allen West: 1-0 & 0TDs; Luke Knapton: 16-107 & 0TDs: Totals: 144-517 & 3 TDS
Passing
Coleton Wilson: 11-25-0 129 & 0TDs, Jon Sorenson 0-9-0 0. Totals: 11-34-0 129 & 0TDs,
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
Defense
Luke Knapton 57.5 points, Kelby Wilkison 37, Tyler English 29, Nathan Cowper 28, Allen West 29, Jon Sorenson 21, Austin Ontiveroz 30, Nick Armijo 33, Charles Swearingen 10, Coleton Wilson 7, Rylan Harding 9, Alex Zuniga 4, Trent Schneider 9, Ben Farber 8, Bryce Kemtz 2, Nathan Clark 9, Nick Yelton 5.5, Dillon Elliott 1.
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