Richard Anderson photo
Laramie halfback Dan Estes looks for some running room early on Friday against Casper Natrona.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
It was apparent Casper Natrona was better than its 0-2 record going into Friday night‘s match with the Laramie Plainsmen at Deti Stadium.
After the Mustang’s 38-7 thrashing of the Plainsmen, and including last week‘s 24-point loss to Gillette, Laramie head coach Bob Knapton is wondering out loud if his team's efforts lately are good enough to compete with the best teams in the state.
“It’s very frustrating,” Knapton said. “We’re going to make some changes and find some kids who want to suck it up a little more, start showing up and getting after it. We have a little work to do. It was disappointing today."
The Plainsmen, 1-2, were hanging in with the Mustangs, trailing just 7-0 with about three minutes left in the first half. But three quick scores -- two to end the opening half -- put the game away. In all, the Mustangs scored on five straight possessions to pout the game away for another lop-sided win over Laramie.
Natrona, which hadn’t played in Laramie since the 2001 season, has now won three straight games against the Plainsmen, including outscoring LHS 86-14 in the last two contests.
Natrona, like Gillette last week, dominated the frontline offensively and defensively on Friday. The Mustangs finished with 374 total yards on offense to just 155 for LHS.
“We have to block people, we have to hit people, we have to catch the ball when it is thrown to you,” Knapton said. “We had our opportunities, we have to make plays happen. When you are playing a good team, it is time to step up and play ball.”
Only trailing by one touchdown, the Plainsmen had a couple of promising drives that were either stalled by penalty or downs, enabling the Mustangs to turn a close game into a rout.
The Mustangs first score came early in the game on a 4-yard run by Brownell. The drive was set up on a 44-yard pass from the team’s other QB -- Cody Parke -- to 6-foot-4 wide receiver Taylor Villegas.
The tide began to turn late in the second quarter when the Mustangs struck twice in the final three minutes. Natrona made it 14-0 on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Brownell to halfback Cole Montgomery. He score was set up[ on a 25-yard run by Parke on third and 10.
After the Plainsmen went three and out, Montgomery’s big punt return to the Laramie 9-yard line set up another quick score. Two plays later Parke scored from 4 yards out.
Playing with a great deal of momentum, the Mustangs took what little steam was left in the Plainsmen just one play into the third quarter. Parke, who finished with 192 yards passing in the game, hit Villegas on a short bump and coverage pass, and Villegas took it 80 yards to the end zone.
Although the Plainsmen would finally get on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, they had no answer the rest of the way.
Natrona closed its scoring on a 36-yard field goal by Derek Gibbins and an 11-yard touchdown pass from Parke to fullback Paul Miller.
The Plainsmen finally got on the board with 6:26 left in the game on a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jon Sorenson to receiver Rylan Harding.
Parke was 7 of 13 passing for 192 yards, while Brownell adding 33 yards passing on 2 of 4 attempts. Parke also led the way on the ground with 71 yards on 15 carries.
“Their No. 9 (Villegas) is a good receiver and they threw a ball perfect to him. They did that the last game, too, when they got down there,” Knapton said. “Our game plan was to shut the run down, and we shut the run down, but we have to be able to cover people. Obviously, if we can’t cover them man-to-man, then we have to switch up quite, zone to man, zone to man. When you blitz and put pressure on people, you start with cover zero and we have to learn to cover people."
Senior halfback Dan Estes had his best game of his short football career, as he led the Plainsmen with 53 yards on 15 carries. Sorenson, the team’s leading rusher, however, had a negative 6 yards on 10 carries. Sorenson was also 7 of 15 passing for 89 yards and the one score.
The Plainsmen will look to bounce back next Friday in Cheyenne against Central, beginning at 6 p.m.
Knapton said they have a lot of work in store next week if they want to turn things around.
“It’s time to step up and play,” Knapton said. “We’ll take a look at the film and see what we have to do, but we have to find some kids who want to get the job done. Some of them … I don’t know.”
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