Laramie Quarterback Club honors LHS fall senior athletes

Richard Anderson photo
Laramie head football coach Bob Knapton, right, presents Coleton Wilson with the Dewey McConnell Award as the outstanding LHS football senior.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The six Laramie High School fall head coaches gathered to honor their seniors Wednesday night in the annual Laramie Quarterback Club Fall Seniors Banquet at the Laramie Country Club.

It was an up and down fall sports season for Laramie High School, but it was all good as far as the six head coaches were concerned. Senior leadership is the name of the game and LHS had plenty of that this fall.

Seniors were honored in football, volleyball, girls’ swimming and boys’ and girls’ cross country, tennis and golf.

The annual Dewey McConnell Award was also presented to quarterback Coleton Wilson for the outstanding LHS senior football player.

“When I first got here last spring, he was at every camp, he came to every weight-lifting day that we had open; everything we had going on, he was there,” LHS coach Bob Knapton said. “He did a great job as a leader for us. I just think he is a heck of a kid. I hope what some of these seniors have done this year rubs off to our junior class.”

When talking about Wilson, Knapton also spoke many of the same attributes about his nine seniors who stuck it out for the season. The Plainsmen struggled with just one win, but Knapton said his seniors were inspirational.

“The season didn’t go as well as we wanted it to go, but these seniors put in a lot of hard work and gutted it out. I appreciate everything they did.”

Four of those seniors were in attendance -- Wilson, Nick Armijo. Nick Yelton and Alex Zuniga.

Veteran Laramie swim coach Tom Hudson began the night by talking about his three seniors for the Lady Plainsmen, who struggled with experience and finished eighth at the state meet. Only one senior was in attendance -- Margo Hammann.

“I was proud of the way the girls competed all year long,” Hudson said.

Laramie tennis coach Carlos Mellizo said his seniors were key to the team’s success during the season. Both Laramie teams finished in sixth place at the state meet. Those seniors at the banquet were Kiley Dodson, Jessica Swierczek, Mason Orcutt, Ryne Ibarra and Dan Nachtigal.

“We had a really successful season in my mind and saw improvements from both the boys and girls,” Mellizo said.

LHS golf coach Kurk Aegerter just finished his 16th season at the helm and talked about how much he enjoyed this year’s team, led by some outstanding seniors. The Plainsmen finished fifth at the state tournament, with the Lady Plainsmen in seventh place.

Senior golfers at the banquet were Maigen Rettinger, Hannah Nerone and Eric Parrish.

“Golf is a different beast, I always say. I’m very blessed to have that job …. 16 years,” Aegerter said. “It’s so enjoyable, something we would pay to do.”

First-year Lady Plainsmen volleyball coach Trisha Witkop said her five seniors taught her as much as she could teach them. The Lady Plainsmen finished 14-18 on the season.

“These girls were incredibly patient and helpful this season,” Witkop said. “I thought this year was going to be tough bringing in a new technique and coaching staff. But these girls adapted and came in with an open mind.

Lady Plainsmen seniors in attendance were Brea Curry, Melissa Dozier, Kaylynn Jaycox, Becca Halsey and Maddie Francis.

Cross country coach Greg Schabron, praised his seniors for helping him in his first year at the helm. The Laramie boys won the regional meet for the first time in 14 years and placed a strong third at the state meet. The Lady Plainsmen were eighth at the state meet.

Senior harriers at the banquet were Jacob Heath and Angela Peterson.

“They just happen to be our team captains. They did a great job,” Schabron said.

Indians use big plays to stop Plainsmen

Richard Anderson photo
Laramie junior Jon Sorenson runs away from the Central defenders on a 45-yard gain Friday night at Deti Stadium.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

One big play led to another, then to another, then to another, then to another …

It was the story of the Laramie Plainsmen’s season and night, as Cheyenne Central overcame a 6-0 deficit to thump the Plainsmen 42-6 Friday night at Deti Stadium.

The big plays obviously didn’t go Laramie’s way, as it ended its season 1-8 overall, including 0-5 in South Conference action. Cheyenne Central, 3-2 and 3-5, will move on to next week’s state quarterfinals.

For much of the first half, the Plainsmen appeared to be at least on their way to a competitive game. In fact, Laramie controlled the ball for much of the first and second quarters, but still went into the locker room down 21-6 at halftime.

A matter of two plays resulted in a potential 14-point swing in the game.

Trailing 7-6, Laramie was on its away to a possible score when junior wingback Jon Sorenson took a screen pass and rambled 27 yards to the Central 10-yard line. But Sorenson was hit from behind and fumbled, with Central recovering on the 8-yard line.

One play later, the Indians struck pay dirt when running back Brad Ramsey took the hand-off on a draw play and scored from 92 yards. Instead of trailing, the Indians were up 14-6.

“When you are in a game like this and the plays are there, you have to make them and you have to keep the momentum,” first-year Laramie head coach Bob Knapton said. “Our kids know it is the last ballgame, and if they don’t keep the momentum, you can see it starting to slide down.

“We run a fake punt and get the first down and then throw an interception. If we finish that off and score, the kids are up and the kids are fired up and playing hard. We run a screen down to the 10 and we fumble it. You have to finish these things off.”

Later in the second quarter, Central gave the Plainsmen two golden opportunities to do something, as Josh Borm fumbled two straight punt returns, with Laramie recovering. But the Plainsmen couldn’t move the football and gave Central the ball back with 1:45 left on the clock.

The Indians took advantage, as quarterback Conner Long drove his team 72 yards on just five plays, hitting Kyle Grott on a 16-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone with no time left on the clock.

That seemed to zap the life out of the Plainsmen and Central took that 21-6 lead and added three scores in the second half for the easy win.

The Plainsmen got on the scoreboard first on a 4-yard touchdown run by junior fullback Charles Swearingen, capping a 10-play, 81-yard drive. The score was set up by a 45-yard run by Sorenson.

Central came right back for the lead, thanks to long kickoff return by Michael Davis to the Plainsmen 13-yard line. Long scored three plays later on a 1-yard sneak.

The Indians used a little trickery early in the third quarter, when Ramsey took the pitch and then tossed a 31-yard touchdown pass to Grott, giving Central 28-7 lead. The Indians closed the scoring on a 23-yard run by Ramsey with 4:23 left in the third and a 5-yard touchdown pass from Long to tight end Trevor Mordhorst one play into the fourth quarter.

The Plainsmen actually ran 22 more plays from scrimmage (64-42), but the Indians out-gained Laramie in total yardage, 452-305. Ramsey had 131 yards rushing on just six carries and Long was 14 of 23 passing for 263 yards. Grott caught five passes for 136 yards.

Sorenson had his second straight 100-yard plus rushing game, with 103 yards on 20 carries. He had 187 yard last week against Rock Springs. Coleton Wilson completed 7 of 20 passes for 111 yards. He had two passes intercepted.

Despite a tough season, Knapton said it is just a matter of working hard and trying to improve going into next season. Laramie had just nine seniors play in Friday’s game and will try to build on some positives.

One of the positives Friday night was no personal foul penalties, a problem for the team at times this season.

"We finished on a good note that way,” Knapton said. “We talked to them about that. You will come out, you will come out if you start playing that way. We finished up playing good, clean ball, but the momentum is a big thing with high school kids.

“We have a lot of work to do and we’re going to get after them. That’s what we talked about on the field afterwards … getting everybody to camps, getting everybody lifting -- not just half the team. If you are going to play, you better show up to practice.”
---
INDIANS 42, PLAINSMEN 6
Central 0 21 14 7 — 42
Laramie 6 0 0 0 — 6
First Quarter
LHS -- Charles Swearingen 4 run (kick failed)
Second Quarter
CC -- Conner Long 1 run (Brad Ramsey kick)
CC -- Brad Ramsey 92 run (Brad Ramsey kick)
CC -- Kyle Grott 16 pass from Conner Long (Brad Ramsey kick)
Third Quarter
CC -- Kyle Grott 31 pass from Brad Ramsey (Brad Ramsey kick)
CC -- Brad Ramsey 23 run (Brad Ramsey kick)
Fourth Quarter
CC -- Trevor Mordhorst 5 pass from Conner Long (Brad Ramsey kick)
—
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Cheyenne Central — Brad Ramsey 6-131 & 2TDs, Conner Long 5-26 & 1TD, Michael Davis 4-36, Thad Lain 2-(minus 3), Austin Breckenridge 2-(minus). Totals: 19-189. Laramie — Jon Sorenson 20-103, Charles Swearingen 8-26 & 1TD, Luke Knapton 7-37, Coleton Wilson 5-14, Nathan Cowper 2-4, Phillip Callahan 2-10. Totals: 44-194.
PASSING
Cheyenne Central — Conner Long 13-23-2 & 2TD, Brad Ramsey 1--1-0 31 & 1TD. Totals: 14-24-2 263 & 3TDs. Laramie — Coleton Wilson 7-20-2 111. Totals: 7-20-2 111.
RECEIVING
Cheyenne Central — Kyle Grott 5-136 & 2TDs, Trevor Mordhorst 5-87 & 1TD, Kevin Cox 2-17, Josh Borm 1-7, Austin Breckenridge 1-16. Totals: 14-263. Laramie — Jon Sorenson 2-41, Tyler English 2-40, Luke Knapton 1-28, Kelby Wilkison 1-7, Jacob Weise 1-5. Totals: 7-111.

Plainsmen look to finish strong

Richard Anderson photo
Laramie coach Bob Knapton talks to senior Allen West during a time out in a recent home game.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

The game doesn’t have the meaning like they had hoped it would, but the Laramie Plainsmen have plenty to play for Friday night in their season finale against Cheyenne Central.

Laramie had hoped to be playing for a state playoffs berth against the Indians, but will instead play for a little momentum for next season and pride. Kickoff at Deti Stadium is set for 7 p.m.

Laramie needed to beat Rock Springs last week and then topple Central on Friday to have a shot at the playoffs. The Plainsmen, however, dropped a disheartening 35-28 overtime loss to the Tigers in a game that LHS led 28-7 a minute into the fourth quarter.

Laramie, 0-4 in South Conference play and 1-7 overall, struggled with a couple of questionable calls, its emotion and then stopping the Tigers at the end last week.

Laramie head coach Bob Knapton said it was a good opportunity missed to get into the playoffs and also a tough way to learn.

“It was a good lesson for us because our kids need to know that no matter what happens, you have to be focused on what our goal is and our goal was to win that game,” Knapton said. “You have to play hard and try not to commit as many fouls as you can. We had the opportunity to win. We had to move the ball and we had to run the clock; we had to run it out. But you can’t get frustrated to just cave things in. That’s what we’ve been working on.”

Laramie had 14 penalties for 133 yards, including several personal foul and unsportsmanlike calls.

“It’s been a roller coaster," Knapton said. “We’ve had some games where we come out and only have one penalty for 15 yards. That’s great, playing tough. Next game some guys start yipping and yapping and the penalties start building up. They have to learn how to discipline themselves or somebody is going to discipline them for them.”

With that, a few Plainsmen will either sit out the game or parts of it against Central.

“Are they good enough to be in the playoffs? Yes,“ Knapton said. “But what kept them from it? Some people had their own demises with running their mouth and getting penalties and it kept that team closer and closer and allowed them to score.”

The Indians will move on to the playoffs at 2-2, but have struggled at times for a 2-5 overall mark. Last week the Indians dropped a 37-29 decision to top-rated Sheridan in a game they rallied late to make close.

Central’s strength is on offense, as the Indians sport the No. 2 rusher in the state in Brad Ramsey (133.9 ypg) and the No. 2 passer in Conner Long (86-of-136, 1,052 yards, nine touchdowns).

“They can generate yards with the passes and they work to spread you out,” Knapton said. “They have a good receiver they can throw the ball and they can run the ball. It will be a good challenge for our defense to play them tough.”

Defensively, Central has struggled, giving up an average of 28.4 points and 384 yards per game.

“On the flip side of it, a lot of people have scored a lot of points on them also,” Knapton said. “That’s what we’re looking at. If we want to keep the ball away from them, we have to score a lot of points and do ball control.”

The game will be the final football contest for nine Plainsmen seniors -- Alex Zuniga, Coleton Wilson, James VanKirk, Trent Schneider, Aaron Chism, Allen West, Nick Armijo, Jacob Weise and Nick Yelton.

Knapton said it will also be a game the underclassmen can pick up a little momentum for next season.

“Hopefully, we can go out, play tough and work on some things that we want to work on, especially for some of the kids who are going to be around next year, and for the seniors who are playing to finish strong and play with some pride,” Knapton said.
---
Plainsmen Statistics
(Counting Steamboat Springs game)
Rushing
Jon Sorenson: 108-646 & 6TDs; Charles Swearingen: 89-462 & 3TDs; Mike Lanich: 34-73 & 1TD; Coleton Wilson: 41-65 & 2TDs; Kelby Wilkison: 2-26 & 0TDs; Nathan Cowper: 3-6; Allen West: 1-0 & 0TDs; Luke Knapton: 45-247 & 1TD, Phillip Callahan 17-47 & 0TDs, Derek Shaneman 1-2, Nate Clark 1-(minus 5). Totals: 317-1,479 & 13 TDS
Passing
Coleton Wilson: 27-71-4 269 & 1TD, Jon Sorenson 0-9-1 0. Totals: 27-80-5 269 & 1TD.
Receiving
Tyler English: 1-25 & 0TDs; Marshall Fisher 3-33 & 0TDs, Nathan Cowper 5-49 & 0TDs; Jon Sorenson 6-42 & 1TD; Luke Knapton 6-56 & 0TDs; Charles Swearingen 4-40 & 0TDs, Rylan Harding 2-28 & 0TDs. Totals: 27-269 & 1TD.
Defense
Luke Knapton 153.5 points, Tyler English 85, Nathan Cowper 78, Allen West 73, Jon Sorenson 71, Kelby Wilkison 67, Nick Armijo 55, Nathan Clark 43, Rylan Harding 38, Trent Schneider 37, Austin Ontiveroz 25, Ben Farber 23, Charles Swearingen 22, Dylan Kramshuster 14, Coleton Wilson 14, Nick Yelton 11.5, Devin Garcia 5.5, Wes Dalles 6.5, Alex Zuniga 4, Bryce Kemzt 2, Tyler Cowdel 2, Dillon Elliott 1, Phillip Callahan 3, Brody Burnett 1.

Tigers rally past Plainsmen

By Wyoming Sports.org

ROCK SPRINGS -- The Laramie Plainsmen did just about everything right for the first three quarters plus a little change.

Then they lost their cool and the game.

The Plainsmen built a 28-7 lead over Rock Springs a minute into the fourth quarter, but saw the Tigers take advantage of several Laramie penalties and rally back to a 35-28 victory in overtime Friday night in a critical South Conference game.

It was a critical and devastating loss for the Plainsmen, who were eliminated from state playoff possibilities. Laramie, 0-4 in league play and 1-6 overall, had to win Friday night and next week against Central to have a shot at the playoffs.

The Plainsmen shot themselves in the foot in the final minutes against a Rock Springs team (2-2, 3-4) that did little offensively until the final quarter. Laramie had 14 penalties for 133 yards in the game, with several personal foul or unsportsmanlike penalties. Starting center and defensive end Ben Farber was ejected for Laramie in the fourth quarter and wingback Jon Sorenson was also sat down by the LHS coaches in crunch time. Sorenson had run for 187 yards and three scores before being disciplined.

Laramie coach Bob Knapton was not happy with how his team reacted to some questionable calls, but also said his team didn’t get too many breaks.

“It was just terrible,” Knapton said on the KOWB postgame show. “We have to learn that we are not going to get a lot of calls and we certainly didn’t get any calls tonight. But when that happens, they are just going to have to ignore it.”

The Plainsmen also didn’t quite get the final break in overtime when junior wingback Luke Knapton was stopped apparently inches short of the goal line on fourth down after a 5-yard pass from senior quarterback Coleton Wilson.

Bob Knapton argued that his son broke the goal line plane. The Plainsmen also lost the football midway in the fourth quarter when Rock Springs recovered an onside kick that appeared to be touched last by a Laramie player before the ball went out of bounds.

Knapton said the Rock Springs coaches told him after the game that it was a bad call.
Add it up and it was a tough night at the end for the Plainsmen, who also struggled defensively in the final quarter against an otherwise anemic Rock Springs offense.

Things were certainly favorable for the Plainsmen early, as Laramie scored twice in the second quarter on a 1-yard run and 5-yard run by Sorenson. Laramie led 21-0 on a 2-yard run by junior fullback Charles Swearingen in the third quarter and then 28-7 on a 63-yard touchdown run by Sorenson one minute into the fourth quarter.

But the Tigers came back behind the running of Luke Aust and Neil Novak. Aust, who had a 26-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, brought Rock Springs back on a 14-yard score to make it 28-14 and Novak, after the onside kick and a couple of Laramie penalties, made it 28-21 just one minute later on a 2-yard touchdown run.

With five minutes left in the game, the Tigers tied the game after a 46-yard pass interception return by Caleb Tygum. The Tigers scored 21 points in just over three minutes.

The game went into overtime and Laramie elected to play defense. The Plainsmen didn’t play much defense as it turned out, as Aust scored on a 10-yard run on the first play.

The Plainsmen couldn’t match the scored and the Tigers celebrated the win and likely a berth into the state playoffs.

Laramie will close the season Friday night at home against Cheyenne Central.
---
TIGERS 35, PLAINSMEN 28 (ot)
Laramie 0 14 7 7 0 — 28
Rock Springs 0 0 7 21 7 — 35
Second Quarter
LHS -- Jon Sorenson 1 run (Alex Zuniga kick))
LHS -- Jon Sorenson 5 run (Alex Zuniga kick))
Third Quarter
LHS -- Charles Swearingen 2 run (Alex Zuniga kick))
RS -- Luke Aust 26 run (Alec Lever kick)
Fourth Quarter
LHS -- Jon Sorenson 63 run (Alex Zuniga kick))
RS -- Luke Aust 14 run (Alec Lever kick)
RS -- Neil Novak 2 run (Alec Lever kick)
RS -- Caleb Tygum 46 interception return (Alec Lever kick)
Overtime
RS -- Luke Aust 10 run (Alec Lever kick)
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Laramie — Jon Sorenson 14-187 & 3TD, Charles Swearingen 18-80, Luke Knapton 13-39, Coleton Wilson 3-7, Nathan Cowper 3-6. Totals: 51-319. Rock Springs — Neil Novak 20-110 & TD, Luke Aust 7-68 & 3TD, Wesley Padilla 8-37, Darin Radke 1-12. Totals: 36-227.
Passing
Laramie — Coleton Wilson 9-3-1 36. Totals: 9-3-1 36. Rock Springs — Wesley Padilla 15-6-0 21, Neil Novak 1-0-1 0. Totals: 16-6-1 21.
Receiving
Laramie — Marshall Fisher 1-19, Charles Swearingen 1-12, Luke Knapton 1-5. Totals: 3-36. Rock Springs — Cory Petek 2-12, Darin Radke 1-6, Neil Novak 2-0, Austin Prevedel 1-3. Totals: 6-21.

Plainsmen in must-win game at Rock Springs

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

It’s officially do or die time for the Laramie Plainsmen in their quest to make the state playoffs.
A win over Rock Springs Friday night and Cheyenne Central next week could put the Plainsmen in the playoffs. One more loss, especially against the Tigers, will keep them out.

“It would be a slim or none chance of getting in, we need to win this week,” Laramie coach Bob Knapton said.

Kickoff in Rock Springs is slated for 7 p.m.

The likely target to get into the playoffs will be two wins. At 0-3 in South Conference play, Laramie cannot afford another loss. They‘ll go up against a Rock Springs team that is 1-2.

“They are going to look at this game to they and win it so they can seal themselves in to," Knapton said. “There might be some teams with two wins and one of them might not make them in.”

The Plainsmen, meanwhile, have had a yo-yo type of season offensively and defensively. When the Laramie offense performs well, the defense doesn‘t. When the defense is respectable, the offense struggles.

The Plainsmen have been hut out two times in their last three games -- 23-0 by Scottsbluff, Neb. And 33-0 last week by No. 2 Green River. When Laramie moved the ball and scored well two weeks ago against Evanston, it gave up 51 points.

“We need to go out there and play ball. Kind of like we did against Green River, but we need to get some offense generated,” Knapton said. “We need to get going, we need some people to step up and start making some plays.”

In the loss to Green River, gave up a fumble recovery for a touchdown and a bad snap on a punt that eventually led to a touchdown. Other than those mistakes, it was probably the cleanest game they had played in a while. Those turnovers, however, hurt, and that can’t happen against the tigers on Friday, Knapton said.

“We can’t be fumbling, we can’t have bad snaps,” he said. “We can’t give them anything that would get the momentum to go the other way. We have to get the momentum going our way. We have to stop them, shut them down and score some points. It’s time.”

Rock Springs is 2-4 overall, with wins over Evanston (16-10) and Jackson (30-16) two weeks ago.

“They can step up and stop people,” Knapton said. “Defensively, they are pretty tough. Offensively, they have been struggling. It’s time for us to step up and make our own breaks instead of just playing well enough until we make some mistakes and we fall behind. We have to get in our minds, have a good attitude and have no penalties.”

The Tigers are 11th (last) in the state in total offense, averaging 173 yards game. Laramie is ninth at 231 yards a game.

Quarterback Wesley Padilla leads the tigers in both rushing and passing, with 212 yards rushing and 40 of 88 passing for 398 yards, two touchdowns and nine interceptions.

A quick start is always essential for the Plainsmen.

“Whoever gets on top first and gets going, that’s going to help momentum-wise,” Knapton said

No. 2 Wolves roll past Plainsmen

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.
---
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.

Big challenge for Plainsmen

Richard Anderson photo
The Laramie Plainsmen will host No. 2 Green River Friday night at Deti Stadium.

By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org

Despite a couple of tough weeks, the Laramie High School football team still has plenty to play for this season. Friday night‘s foe, though, won’t likely feel sorry for the Plainsmen.

The Plainsmen, 1-5 on the season and 0-2 in South Conference action, need a couple of wins to have a shot at the state playoffs this season and will look for a breakthrough against No. 2 Green River Friday night at 7 p.m. at Deti Stadium.

Despite some long odds on paper, Laramie head coach Bob Knapton said they might as well start that late-season push this weekend.

“This is a great opportunity for our team,” Knapton said. “You play a good team and people are going to look at that good team. There are a lot of people scouting that team. They have a lot of players who may go play somewhere. You want to do a good job? Do a good job against a good team and you’ll get noticed.”

While it would be a big win over Green River, Laramie’s next two opponents are also fighting for the playoffs as well. Knapton said his players need to realize that although this is going to be a tough game, the season is not over, as they close against Rock Springs and Cheyenne Central.

“The way it works out, the other two teams that need to get in the playoffs are the two teams we have left to play,” he said. “When you look at Rock Springs and Central, they’re not guaranteed in either. If they want in, they have to beat us. If we want in, we have to beat them. We have some games left that, if we pull it all together, we can make things happen.”

For the Plainsmen to have success Friday night and for the rest of the season, they need to put both sides of the football together at once. At times this season, the Laramie defense has been fairly solid while the offense has struggled. Last week, the Laramie offense piled up nearly 400 yards on offense and scored three touchdown, but the defense couldn’t stop Evanston’s rushing attack, led by Cory Anthos (271 yards of total offense) in the 51-23 loss.

“If you’re going to score, you still have to stop people. That’s our big thing,” Knapton said. “We finally got to the point where we can put some more things to get outside, we can do a few more things with our offense to kind of keep them from bunching up on us. But it is like a flip-flop. One week our offense doesn’t do much and our defense was keeping us in games. Now, all of the sudden, our defense is letting people run all over us. We have to get to the point where both of them come together.”

To say the Wolves will be a challenge for the Laramie defense might be an understatement. Green River comes into the game averaging 38 points per contest and has had 17 players run the football this season, averaging a state-high 345 yards per game.

“We have people not filling (holes), not making tackles, not doing the stuff that they are supposed to be doing,” Knapton said. “We’ve worked a lot on that. We’re trying to find people; we’re rotating some guys around. You better be able to come up from the outside and be able to read it, come up and make a tackle. This will be a good week to see if that is starting to pay off, because they have a lot of good running backs and they attack the outside pretty good. They have a lot of misdirection, they have some good linemen. We want to see how we stack up.”

The Wolves have five players running for at least 100 yards this season, led by Colter Rood’s 447 yards on 46 carries and Mike James with 421 yards on 44 rushes. Quarterback Drew Martinez has run the ball 34 times for 385 yards, followed by Derek Cutler with 199 yards and Cooper Palmer with 123 yards.

“Their second-string running backs are just as good,” Knapton said. “They have five or six running backs who can run the ball, who have good speed. We’re going to read our keys right, so we know where the ball is going. We’ll see how it works out.”

Martinez is also 24 of 39 passing for 495 yards and four touchdowns for the Wolves (4-1 on the season, 2-0 in league play). Green River’s only loss was at Gillette, 14-13 on Sept. 20. Last week, the Wolves crushed Kelly Walsh 57-27.

“I think when they lost that game to Gillette, it woke them up a bit,” Knapton said. “I think they are trying to prove a point. They beat Kelly Walsh pretty bad. They were up on them pretty good and they were doing quite a few things to make sure they were scoring more points. I don’t think you’re going to see a lot of mercy from them. If they can score 60 points, they’ll score 60 points. If they can score 70, they’ll score 70.”

Another area of concern for the Plainsmen has been with penalties. Last week, Laramie was flagged 16 times for 163 yards.

“We’re going to have to have our kids ready to play ball and we’re going to eliminate some of our penalties,” Knapton said. “It’s like I told the kids; if you can’t eliminate some of your penalties, you’re not going to be out there. They better straighten up and play football the way it is supposed to be played, not getting frustrated and mad and getting personal fouls. Our biggest goal is that we make sure we go out there and play football and eliminate penalties.”

Health-wise, junior starting wingback Jon Sorenson has been hobbled by a knee injury and could be limited against the Wolves. The Plainsmen have also been hit with some sickness this week as well.
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Plainsmen vs. Wolves
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 -- Ben Farber (6-1, 245, Jr.)
Nose guard -- Wes Dalles (6-0, 175, So.)
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: 76-433 & 3TD; Charles Swearingen: 62-338 & 2TDs; Mike Lanich: 31-49 & 1TD; Coleton Wilson: 31-32 & 2TDs; Kelby Wilkison: 1-17 & 0TDs; Allen West: 1-0 & 0TDs; Luke Knapton: 45-247 & 1TD, Phillip Callahan 17-47 & 0TDs, Derek Shaneman 1-2, Nate Clark 1-(minus 5). Totals: 266-1,160 & 9 TDS
Passing
Coleton Wilson: 24-62-3 233 & 1TD, Jon Sorenson 0-9-1 0. Totals: 24-71-4 233 & 1TD.
Receiving
Tyler English: 1-25 & 0TDs; Marshall Fisher 2-14 & 0TDs, Nathan Cowper 5-49 & 0TDs; Jon Sorenson 6-42 & 1TD; Luke Knapton 5-47 & 0TDs; Charles Swearingen 3-28 & 0TDs, Rylan Harding 2-28 & 0TDs. Totals: 24-233 & 1TD.
Defense
Luke Knapton 116.5 points, Allen West 56, Tyler English 55, Kelby Wilkison 54, Nathan Cowper 50, Jon Sorenson 48,, Nick Armijo 48, Nathan Clark 29, Rylan Harding 28,, Austin Ontiveroz 24, Charles Swearingen 22, Trent Schneider 21, Ben Farber 18 , Dylan Kramshuster 9, Coleton Wilson 7, Devin Garcia 5.5, Nick Yelton 5.5, Wes Dalles 4.5, Alex Zuniga 4, Bryce Kemzt 2, Tyler Cowdel 2, Dillon Elliott 1, Phillip Callahan 3, Brody Burnett 1.