Richard Anderson photo
Green River quarterback Drew Martinez makes a move on a Laramie defender Friday night at Deti Stadium.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
A late second-quarter gift turned the momentum and it was more than enough for the Green River Wolves, as they rolled to a 33-0 win over the Laramie Plainsmen Friday night at Deti Stadium.
A bad snap on a punt by the Plainsmen late in the second quarter gave the Wolves the ball on the Laramie 9-yard line and Green River scored as time ran out for a 12-0 lead. The talented and No. 2 Wolves then took advantage of a few more Laramie mistakes and put the game away early in the third quarter.
With the win, Green River is now 3-0 in South Conference play and 5-1 overall, while the Plainsmen fell to 0-3 and 1-6.
Despite the lop-sided defeat on the scoreboard, the Plainsmen stayed with the Wolves at times, but again was not able to finish drives offensively or make key tackles on defense that led to big plays.
And when a team is struggling like the Plainsmen are, bad breaks seem to follow them around. Laramie looked as if it might keep the Wolves out of the end zone late in the second quarter, as Green River was called for a false start penalty on the 1-yard line with just three seconds left. But the play was called dead before the false start because of an equipment problem, nullifying the penalty. The Wolves got one more chance and capitalized on a 1-yard plunge by fullback Cooper Palmer.
Instead of trailing by just a 6-0 score at halftime, the Plainsmen were down 12-0.
“From what I know, I thought they threw a flag, but it was an equipment problem and the guy blew the whistle before they could run the actual play,” Laramie head coach Bob Knapton said. “It stopped the clock and they had to fix whatever was going on. It was very bad timing for us, but what can you say? They’re out of time outs and had just three seconds left, but he had something dragging on the ground. It was more of a safety thing.
“That was a tough break for us and we can sit here and blame that, but I wanted to keep my kids focused and playing hard," Knapton added. “I thought they came out and played a great game for us. Our biggest thing was to come out and be ready to play ball with no personal fouls, which we did, and that kept us in the ballgame.”
The Plainsmen had over 100 yards of penalties in each of the previous two games, but had just one penalty for 15 yards on Friday night.
“I think our kids played really tough and hard, and they have to learn to play that way,” Knapton said. “We have to learn to come out and play good, clean football, and we have to start now. The next step is that we have to make your own breaks. It’s a tough game, but you can’t let something like that happen. We just can’t give them some of those breaks like that.”
Green River’s athleticism and talent took over in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns and the Wolves added one more score in the fourth.
The Plainsmen had 14 first downs in the game, to 12 for the Wolves. Green River did have a 371-168 advantage in total yards, striking big with 278 yards coming on just six plays -- 118 yards on three passes and 98 yards on three runs.
The Plainsmen also had another bad snap on a punt deep in their own territory in the second half and didn’t wrap up a few times defensively, including a big 48-yard punt return by Andrew Meredith that led to the first score of the game, a 10-yard run by Colter Rood.
“Some of those younger guys have to make plays on special teams," Knapton said. "We have guys playing offense and defense and we’ll run them to death if they are on the punt and kickoff teams too. Our kids are going to have to learn to step up and make some plays for us.”
The Wolves made plenty of big plays, especially quarterback Drew Martinez, and that also led to scores. He had several nice open-field moves that led to big runs, scoring on a 40-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. Martinez, who also had a 37-yard run earlier in the drive, finished with 124 yards rushing on just seven carries. He was also 6 of 10 passing for 139 yards.
“He’s a shifty guy, he’s a heck of a quarterback; he is quick,” Knapton said. “But we should have made some better tackles.”
Green River’s two touchdowns in the third quarter came on a 63-yard fumble recovery by Mitch Roberts and a 21-yard run by Palmer..
Offensively, Laramie moved the ball from the 30 to the 30 fairly well in the game, but stalled on downs.
Laramie ran the ball for 132 yards on 48 carries and quarterback Coleton Wilson was just 3 of 15 passing for 16 yards.
“We tried some different stuff, but they have some great athletes,” Knapton said. “They have some D-backs that can turn and run with our guys. Sometimes you have to match them athlete-to-athlete. I thought we had a good scheme and I thought we stuck to it and played good, hard ball, and that is what I wanted to see. In the last two games, if we play like that we will be in good shape.”
Laramie will be on the road next Friday at Rock Springs and then close the regular season on Oct. 24 at home against Cheyenne Central.
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WOLVES 33, PLAINSMEN 0
Green River 6 6 14 7 -- 33
Laramie 0 0 0 0 -- 0
First Quarter
GR-- Colter Rood 10 run (kicked block)
Second Quarter
GR -- Cooper Palmer 1 run (pass failed)
Third Quarter
GR -- Mitch Roberts 63 fumble recovery (Colter Rood kick)
GR -- Cooper Palmer 21 run (Colter Rood kick)
Fourth Quarter
GR -- Drew Martinez 40 run (Colter Rood kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Green River -- Colter Rood 9-21 & 1TD, Mike James 6-21, Cooper Palmer 12-61 & 2TDs, Drew Martinez 7-124 & 1TD, Stevie Jones 1-4, Cody Smart 1-(minus 4), Luis Flores 1-(minus 2), Andrew Meredith 1-7. Totals: 38-232 & 4TDs. Laramie -- Jon Sorenson 18-26, Charles Swearingen 9-44, Luke Knapton 6-15, Coleton Wilson 7-26, Mike Lanich 3-24, Phillip Callahan 1-2, Kelby Wilkison 1-6. Totals -- 46-152.
Passing
Green River -- Drew Martinez 6-10-1 139. Totals -- 6-10-1 139. Laramie -- Coleton Wilson 3-15-0 16. Totals: 3-15-0 16.
Receiving
Green River -- Coltor Rood 1-33, Mike James 3-76, Cooper Palmer 1-(minus 2), Cody Smart 2-38, Mitch Roberts 1-32. Totals -- 6-139. Laramie -- Luke Knapton 1-17, Nathan Cowper 1-2, Marshall Fisher 1-(minus 3). Totals -- 3-16.
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