|
Big Piney High School Football In a hard-hitting, tough, close game, the Big Piney Punchers beat the Glenrock Herders 16-0 in the Class 3A semifinals played in Big Piney on Friday, November 3. The Punchers avenged a loss to Glenrock last year in the semifinals. The game was much closer than the final score. Either team could have won this even matchup. Both teams were able to move the ball with their running game in the first half, but neither could sustain a drive due to mistakes and good defense. Neither team was able to take advantage of great opportunities from mistakes. In the first quarter, Big Piney blocked a punt and took the ball over on the Glenrock 8-yard line. They were stopped on the 1-yard line on 4th down with a fake field goal. In the second quarter, Glenrock forced a fumble by Parker Greenwood and marched down the field. But they were stopped on 3rd and goal at the 11-yard line by a Parker Greenwood interception. The score was 0-0 at half-time. Most of the second half was like the first, with both teams moving the ball, but neither able to sustain a drive. Late in the 3rd quarter, Glenrock was facing 3rd and 22 because of a chop block penalty. Forced to pass, the Glenrock quarterback was hit by Brady Parks and Zak Reddin as he threw. The ball was intercepted by Chris Manning giving the Punchers the ball on the 7-yard line. On 4th down from the 2 yard line, Iggy Del Carre kicked a field goal giving Big Piney a 3-0 lead. As well as the defenses were playing, this looked like it could be the final score. The game remained 3-0 until 6 minutes left in the game when the Herders were forced to gamble. They were stopped on 4th down turning the ball over to the Punchers on the Glenrock 27-yard line. Two plays later, Brett Moffat ran 27 yards around the right side with a great block from Mike Forrester to score a touchdown. The extra point was blocked leaving Big Piney with a 9-0 lead and 5:19 remaining in the game. Forced to throw the ball in a hurry-up offense, the Glenrock quarterback was harassed by the Puncher defensive line, especially by Zak Reddin. Zak had at least three big pressures in the final 5 minutes. A Reddin sack forced a fumble, recovered by the Punchers, stopping a drive with 3:27 remaining in the game. On the next Glenrock series, Zak again pressured the quarterback, who was intercepted by Seth Linn who ran it back 30 yards for a touchdown, with 15 seconds left in the game. Big Piney made big plays when they needed them and pressured Glenrock late to break open the game. The game was broadcast live on KPIN 101.1 FM radio with Ward Wise and Coach Gene Andrews announcing. Due to technical difficulties with the phone lines in the Puncher Field press booth, Wise Connections saved the day when Ward rigged up the broadcasting through his Verizon cell phone. The KPIN audio feed of the game was picked up by KAOX 107.3 in Kemmerer and KKTY 1470 AM in Douglas. The Punchers travel to Dayton, Wyoming, next weekend for the State Championship against undefeated Tongue River who beat Lyman 42-36 in the other semifinal game also played on Friday. Coach Joel Eskelsen's Comments: “Dream it, Want it, Do it” was a theme made following our close loss to Mt. View. At that time, the Punchers had lost 3 close games to our conference foes and despite those losses, the whole team felt we could make it to the title game. With that, the Punchers set their sights and now have achieved at least a shot at the state championship. Going into the play-offs as a 4th place in the conference was a task the Red took on. Glenrock running was a concern for the Punchers as we entered this second week of the play-off. Hats off to Coaches Roufs, Lehr, and Ruff for instructing and utilizing various defensive schemes to stop their attack. All members of the defensive unit played well and hard and limited Glenrock to less than 3 yds per run. Crucial 4th down stops put the Punchers into positions to score and control the ball and the clock as it ticked away. The defense forced 4 Herder turnovers and scored 10 of its 16 points off those turnovers. Linn ended with 30 defensive tackle points but was helped with Greenwood, Parks, and Manning each getting 20 points. The Punchers seemed to pick up the intensity the second half with great hits and team tackling. Offensively, the Punchers continued to struggle in the scoring column although they found themselves in position to score quite a few times. The quick Glenrock linebackers gave us problems all day. In the end, however, the Puncher “O” prevailed with the 16-0 win. Moffat led the rushing with 57 yds in 13 carries. Linn and Greenwood had identical stats with 21 yds in 10 carries each. Jay Van Wagoner needs to be commended for his kicking duties as his kick-off and punts kept Glenrock with long field to try to sustain a drive, something they could not do the entire day. The Herders only produced one scoring threat late in the 2nd and that was ended with a Greenwood intercept. Score by Quarter:
Scoring:
Stats:
STATE FINALS – at Tongue River (10-0) on Saturday at 1:00! Related Links: |
 Mike Forrester (41) caught a pass from Brett Moffat (15) and took it to the 5 yard line. |
 Kicker Iggy Del Carre (42) came up one yard short of a touchdown on a fake field goal in the 1st quarter. |
 Trevor Wilson (61) and Brady Parks (53) stuff a Glenrock run in the 1st quarter. |
 Mike Forrester (41) braces for a tackle, while Trevor Wilson (61) comes to help. |
 Mike Forrester (41) makes a shoe top tackle with support from John Colton (73) |
