Richard Anderson photo
Laramie senior quarterback Coleton Wilson passes to junior wingback Jon Sorenson last week against Scottsbluff, Neb.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
Laramie head coach Bob Knapton has been waiting for this final four-game South Conference stretch, which begins Friday night in Evanston.
Knapton figures that in the next four games, the Plainsmen need two wins to earn a spot in the playoffs. For a team that has only qualified twice for the playoffs since finishing second in the 2000 season, that would be a big boost.
“If we want to get to the playoffs, we have to start getting some wins,” Knapton said matter-of-factly. “We have four league games left and we have to start hitting them. We have to hit Evanston hard right now. They’re down, they just lost to Rock Springs, so they are a team that if we show up and play some hard ball and stay in the ballgame, we have a good chance to win the ballgame. That’s the game plan … clean up some mistakes and get our defense back to way it was playing, get the offense firing off like it was and get moving.”
Knapton thought his team was finding its niche two weeks ago when it stopped Kelly Walsh, 24-16 in Casper. But Laramie, 0-1 in league play and 1-4 overall, struggled in all facets of the game last week in a 23-0 home loss to Scottsbluff, Neb.
Last week wasn’t a tune-up game. As it turned out, the last few days were closer to a fix-it again week in practice.
While the Laramie offense had just 50 yards of total offense against Scottsbluff, the Plainsmen defense had problems containing and tackling the Bearcats, particularly halfback Tyler Geary, who had 172 yards rushing.
“We had missed tackles on special teams, we had missed on defense, anytime he cut back. We hit him a couple of times in the backfield and didn’t bring him down,“ Knapton said. “That’s frustrating because you call a defense and they are in the right spot and you are ready to shut it down, but you don’t shut it down because you don’t make a tackle. We need to finish it. You can only call so many blitzes and so many defenses to put you in the right spot; you’re there, so make the play. I think we just had a bad game and we’re going to bounce back from that. We did our hitting this week to snap them up. I think they’ll be ready to go.”
Evanston has been in somewhat of the same boat as Laramie, losing its last three games after opening with a win over 4A Star Valley. Last week, the Red Devils fell 16-10 in overtime to Rock Springs, a team that was previously winless.
In this type of game, Knapton said the team that makes the most mistakes will lose. Evanston did that against Rock Springs as well.
“Evanston started off pretty good and they fumbled; they never could finish and score, but they would fumble and have mistakes,” he said. “Rock Springs hung in there enough and blocked a punt. Rock Springs didn’t really score on them on offense and they are a team that has been down in the league in all of the offensive stats. They blocked a kick and scored, kicked a field goal to tie it up and when it came down to overtime, they scored.”
Knapton said the Plainsmen have to play well enough to hang in there and then finish Evanston off at the end.
“We have to get to playing like we did before last week,” he said.
The Red Devils are fairly strong offensively, especially with their skill positions. Quarterback Brady Ehlers has completed 32 of 63 passes for 265 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. His main target is receiver Hazen Davis, who has 15 catches for 154 yards. Running back Cody Anthos has 468 yards rushing, with five touchdowns, and has also caught two touchdown passes.
“Davis is a good receiver, so they will pass to him a lot,” Knapton said. “They load up and try to run the ball, they move the ball pretty well. We have some systems that will jump up and smack them. We’re going to start to overload and stuff and things like that. At the same, we’ve been pretty good on cover one and stuff. Hopefully, we can keep that up and put pressure on them.”
Knapton said it all boils down to what team offensively can play the best under pressure.
“That’s where we need to pick it up offensively, jump into a couple of other things and just do it,” he said.
Laramie returns home next week to host Green River, before traveling to Rock Springs and closing with Central at home.
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Plainsmen vs. Red Devils
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 -- Nathan Clark (5-8, 165, Jr.)
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: 68-378 & 3TD; Charles Swearingen: 54-255 & 1 TD; Mike Lanich: 27-40 & 1TD; Coleton Wilson: 21-(minus 77) & 1TD; Kelby Wilkison: 1-17 & 0TDs; Allen West: 1-0 & 0TDs; Luke Knapton: 34-179 & 0TDs, Phillip Callahan 15-41 & 0TDs. Totals: 221-853 & 6 TDS
Passing
Coleton Wilson: 21-50-2 189 & 1TD, Jon Sorenson 0-9-1 0. Totals: 21-59-2 189 & 1TD.
Receiving
Tyler English: 1-25 & 0TDs; Marshall Fisher 2-14 & 0TDs, Nathan Cowper 3-38 & 0TDs; Jon Sorenson 6-42 & 1TD; Luke Knapton 5-47 & 0TDs; Charles Swearingen 3-38 & 0TDs, Rylan Harding 1-13 & 0TDs. Totals: 21-189 & 1TD.
Defense
Luke Knapton 92.5 points, Kelby Wilkison 52, Allen West 51, Tyler English 46, Jon Sorenson 43, Nathan Cowper 42, Nick Armijo 39, Rylan Harding 28, Nathan Clark 25, Austin Ontiveroz 22, Charles Swearingen 20, Trent Schneider 21, Ben Farber 13, Coleton Wilson 7, Nick Yelton 5.5, Alex Zuniga 4, Bryce Kemzt 2, Dylan Kramshuster 2, Dillon Elliott 1, Phillip Callahan 1, Brody Burnett 1.
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