Plainsmen look to rebound against Natrona

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Two weeks into the season, just where do the Laramie Plainsmen stand?

In week one, the Plainsmen dominated a Rock Springs team at home that has given up 87 points in two games.

In week two, defending state champion Gillette had little trouble against Laramie in Gillette.

The Plainsmen return home Friday night to face a Casper Natrona team that is much better than its 0-2 record. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Deti Stadium.

As much as the Laramie coaching staff preached to not take things for granted after the season-opening 35-14 win over Rock Springs, Plainsmen head coach Bob Knapton saw a glimpse of that against Gillette in the next week. The result was a 31-7 defeat to the second-ranked Camels.

“They came out and beat Rock Springs and they thought, ‘Oh, this is great, we’re good now,’” Knapton said. “We told them that they have to get better than they were last week because people start scouting you, people will try to stop what you are doing right. That whole mix is going to be tough and we have to get through it. Our goal is to get to the playoffs and we have the potential to do that this year.”

As talented as the Camels are, Knapton said his team made it easier to get beat last Friday night.

“Even though you are playing a very good team in Gillette, you have to come out and make them beat you,” he said. “You can’t make it easy for them to beat you, and that is what we did. We made it pretty easy to score on us.”

So what do the Plainsmen have to do to be competitive against a good Natrona team?

For Knapton, it is all about being ready to play, executing like they know and firing off the ball and giving 100 percent.

“That’s what I want to impress on our kids. If you do that, then we’re going to be a tough team to beat,” Knapton said. “That’s what you want to be. You want to be tough to beat because then you will find out that other teams will start making mistakes. Either you are going to be in the ball game or you are not going to be in the ball game.”

After opening the season with a tough 19-17 loss to Central, Natrona was surprised at home by Evanston 27-14 last Friday.

Yet, the Mustangs are ranked first overall in the state offensively, averaging 411 yards a game. Natrona, however, has lost the ball nine times in two games, including seven in the defeat to the Red Devils.

Cole Montgomery is second in the state in rushing, averaging 136 yards a game, while quarterback Cody. Parke is fourth in the state in passing, completing 24 of 45 attempts for 388 yards, with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

“Natrona is a tough team,” Knapton said. “They have been putting up good numbers on offense rushing the ball; they do a good job of executing and running hard. The turnover ratio is killing the. They are negative five in two games. You’re talking about throwing picks, dropping the ball and stuff like that. They’ll move it down and all of the sudden they will fumble or throw a pick. I’m sure they are trying to clean that up and when they do, they’ll be a tough team.”

After putting up 326 yards against Rock Springs, the Plainsmen were held to 186 yards against the Camels. As a team, the Plainsmen are ranked sixth in the state in rushing (158 yards per game) and sixth in passing (98 ypg), but ninth in overall offense at 256 yards a game.

Individually for the Plainsmen, quarterback Jon Sorenson is 10th in the state in rushing, averaging 80 yards a game and sixth in passing, completing 12 of 25 passes for 196 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Defensively, the Plainsmen are second overall, giving up 277 yards per game. Senior linebacker Luke Knapton is third in the state, averaging 21.0 defensive points a game.

With 2-0 Central slated for next week, the Plainsmen are in a three-game stretch that can only help them down the road in their efforts to improve and qualify for the state playoffs.

“You’re talking about some of the top teams in the state, year-in and year-out, that you have three games in-a-row,” Knapton said. ‘We have to get through them and play as tough as we can and hopefully knock off one or two of them. We just have to just keep playing and keep fighting. We’re too good to start going down, we want to go in the other direction. If we can go out and play tough ball and play with Plainsmen pride and walk off the field with our head up, that’s what is going to get us through, that is what is going to get us more wins.”