Bulldogs drop heartbreaker for Homecoming

The Lovell Bulldogs were frustratingly close to winning their first conference game for Homecoming Friday, only to fall by just four points, 13-9, to the Thermopolis Bobcats at Robertson Stadium.

The loss leaves the Bulldogs 1-3 overall, 0-3 in the 2A West, as they head to Lyman Friday for a 3 p.m. kickoff.

“I just am sick for the kids,” head coach Nicc Crosby said. “The defense really stepped up to shut those guys out in the second half, which was quite an achievement. There was some bending, but we didn’t break in the second half. We gave ourselves opportunities to score and take the lead on them two times inside the 10 in the second half, but to come away without a touchdown is pretty tough.

“I’m just really proud of how they responded. We obviously got worked pretty well by Pinedale the week before with a similar offense, and to show the resilience to bounce back and play a lot more physically, tackle a lot better and compete on both sides of the ball was a tribute to their character and will to win.”

Early offense

The Bulldogs were strong early on offense, taking the opening kickoff and driving 72 yards to score in eight plays. Quarterback Kyson Crosby hit running back Joaquin Scheeler in the left flat for a five-yard gain to get the drive started, then found sophomore Kannon Owens deep over the middle for a 40-yard gain to the Thermop 21.

Three plays netted just one yard, but on fourth and nine, Crosby hit Scheeler for a screen pass to the Bobcat 6, giving the Bulldogs a fresh set of downs. Mac Morgan slashed for five yards, then scored on a one-yard run over right guard. Rylan Oaks kicked the PAT, and Lovell led 7-0 with 7:21 left in the first quarter.

“They played a lot of man coverage without any free safety help, so we wanted to put their defenders in conflict and take advantage of matchups,” Crosby said. “They’ve been pretty stout against the run, and so we weren’t sure what we’d be able to get between the tackles. But we were able to run the ball effectively at times using different people carrying the ball. I thought the run blocking was good. Porter (Blau) did a good job at fullback, and Joaquin ran downhill when he carried the ball. There were a couple of gadget plays we put in this week specifically against these guys that the team executed well. Just the only thing that was missing was one more touchdown and a Homecoming victory.”

Unfortunately, Lovell’s early 7 would remain on the left side of the scoreboard for the rest of the contest. Lovell went three and out on the next two series, then gave the ball up on downs on the final four drives of the game, including drives of 73 and 70 yards.

Thermopolis, meanwhile, responded to the Lovell touchdown by driving 58 yards to the Lovell 22, only to fumble, with Jett Hessenthaler recovering for the Bulldogs. After a Lovell punt, however, the visitors tied the score on a 56-yard scoring drive, aided by a pair of rare penalties – a sideline interference penalty on a Lovell coach and an illegal participation flag on Morgan for continuing to play after his helmet came off, the latter penalty negating a fumble recovered by the Bulldogs.

Five plays later, Bobcat quarterback Cannon Boren punched it in from a yard out, and Thermop tied the score 7-7 with 9:09 left in the second quarter.

After another Lovell punt, Thermopolis drove 50 yards to score again on an 11-yard run by Jacoby Elder. The PAT kick was wide, but the visitors led 13-7 with 2:01 left in the first half.

An illegal block in the back penalty on the ensuing kickoff set the Bulldogs back to the 9-yard line, but they drove out of the shadow of their own end zone before giving the ball up on downs, leaving Thermopolis with only 17 seconds with which to operate, leaving the score 13-7 at halftime.

The Lovell drive did give fans some excitement on the final drive of the half when a screen pass to Scheeler ended up in the arms of offensive guard Hessenthaler, who carried the “reception” to the Bobcat 25, but a lineman is an illegal receiver, and the play was called back.

Second half frustration

Both teams moved the ball in the second half but could not reach the end zone. Thermopolis missed a 38-yard field goal on the first drive of the half, and Lovell drove the ball 73 yards to the Bobcat 7 before stalling and giving the ball up on downs as three plays went for zero yards.

“We didn’t execute quite well enough,” Crosby said. “They’d been losing contain when Kyson carried out his fakes, and we thought we could boot him out, but they happened to stay home then, and we just didn’t execute quite well enough. They made some plays.”

Thermop drove to the Lovell 26 before giving the ball up on downs, and the Bulldogs put together another long drive, this time covering 70 yards. Crosby hit tight end Nathan Cornia for a nine-yard gain to get the drive rolling, then executed a fake punt to perfection, hitting Morgan for eight yards on fourth and six.

Crosby connected with Owens for 17 yards to the Thermop 34, then overcame a sack, a dropped pass and a short gain by connecting with Owens again for 23 yards on fourth and 12. The Bulldogs were knocking on the door at the Bobcat 8 after a five-yard run by Scheeler, but the Bulldogs were whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, setting them back 15 yards.

On fourth and 19 at the 22, Crosby found Owens over the middle. The tall sophomore skyed for the catch and came down for an 18-yard gain leaning forward with the ball, but referees ruled he fell one yard short of the first down. The Lovell defense forced Thermop three and out, but on fourth and seven, the Bobcats took an intentional safety, giving the Bulldogs 2 points but the Bobcats a free kick, which they executed to the Lovell 30. Cornia returned the kick 13 yards to the 43, and a facemask penalty moved the ball to the Bobcat 42 with 1:03 left on the clock.

Crosby hit Morgan for six, but a delay of game penalty cost the Bulldogs five yards, and the ensuing three passes fell incomplete, giving Thermopolis the four-point victory.

“We’re just a couple of plays away from being two and one in conference,” Crosby said. “Zero and three is just a really tough pill to swallow.

“We’ve been moving the ball lately, just haven’t been putting the ball in the end zone. That’s been tough. It’s nice to move the ball, but they don’t give you points for doing that. You’ve got to get it in the end zone.”

Quarterback Crosby hit 15 of 28 passes for 168 yards, and Morgan had five receptions for 17 yards, Owens five for 121 yards, Scheeler two for 19, Cornia one for 9, Porter Blau one for 3 and Gage Fink one for minus 1. Scheeler carried the ball nine times for 46 yards, Morgan eight for 35 yards, Crosby eight for 17 yards.

Travis Asay finished with 14 defensive points, Blau 11, Scheeler 10.5, Cornia 10 and Owens and Grant Hill 9 points each.

Lyman

The Bulldogs will take the long trip to Uinta County Friday to meet the Lyman Eagles at 3 p.m. Lyman is 2-2 on the season, 1-1 in conference play. The Eagles have defeated Soda Springs, Idaho, 29-14 and Kemmerer 34-16 and have fallen to Cokeville 27-6 and Aspen, Colorado, 27-24.

“They’re improved,” Crosby said. “Some of those younger players from the last couple of years are stepping into some heavier roles. Number 23 (Cal France) is a real solid player for them at running back and linebacker. They’ll throw a couple different quarterbacks at you and a couple different running backs, with a lot of direct snap and run, have the back lead for the quarterback or the quarterback lead for the back – doing what they can to get an extra blocker.

They’re pretty run heavy, kind of throw only when they need to. That’s their M.O., at least.”

Lyman uses a 3-5 defense, Crosby said.

They defend the pass a lot better than they have in the last few years and actually have had quite a few interceptions this year,” he said. “There are a couple of reasons for that. They’ve played Soda Springs, who threw the ball a bunch. Kemmer threw the ball a bunch. They played an Aspen, Colorado, team that threw the ball a bunch. They’ve got a lot of practice defending the pass.”