Bulldogs eliminated from playoffs with tough loss to Cokeville Friday at home

For the first time since 2018, the Lovell Bulldogs will miss the Class 2A football playoffs.

That year, the Bulldogs finished 1-8 and did not qualify for postseason play. And when the school district hired Nicc Crosby to return home from Star Valley, the Bulldogs soared, reaching the state championship game twice and the semifinals twice, making the playoffs every year – until this season.

After graduating 10 players from last year’s 6-4 team, the Bulldogs found themselves in a rebuilding mode, and close losses to Mountain View earlier this season put the Bulldogs in a precarious position as they hosted the Cokeville Panthers Friday afternoon at Robertson Stadium.

The second ranked Panthers came to town 5-1 overall counting a zero-week game, 4-0 in the 2A West, and they gave no quarter to the home team, beating the Bulldogs 30-8.

“That’s one of the better, if not the best, overall Cokeville team that I’ve coached against,” Crosby said, “and we just happened to run into them in a year when we’re struggling to move the ball very much or score many points and try to keep their offense off the field.

“So, yeah, that makes it a pretty big challenge. But give them credit. I thought we were in position to make some plays and get the momentum on our side. I felt like there were a couple of drives where they had some issues going on in the backfield – a fumbled snap or exchange --and we just could never take advantage of those and get them off the field. And we didn’t move the ball on offense, so it was a recipe for disaster.”

Cokeville’s relentless ground game allowed the Panthers to dominate time of possession and keep the ball out of the hands of the Lovell offense. Cokeville took the opening kickoff and took nearly six minutes off the clock with 11 running plays on a drive that culminated with a three-yard touchdown run by Flint Linford. With the PAT Cokeville led 7-0 with 6:13 left in the first quarter.

Lovell responded with a 22-yard drive to midfield, earning two first downs on a 10-yard pass from Kyson Crosby to Mac Morgan, an eight-yard run by Joaquin Scheeler and a four-yard keeper by Crosby. But then the drive stalled, and Scheeler punted to the Cokeville four-yard line.

No matter. The Panthers methodically drove 96 yards on 17 plays and scored on a four-yard run by superb senior quarterback Kashton Walker. Cokeville led 14-0 with just 3:49 left in the first half and held the same lead at halftime with a potential touchdown pass on the final play of the half tipped away by Crosby.

Cokeville picked off a Crosby pass off the hands of a receiver on the first play of the third quarter, and the Panthers scored in six plays after starting at the Lovell 26. Linford took a pitch around right end for the score, and Cokeville led 21-0.

 Lovell gave the ball to Cokeville on downs on the ensuing series when Scheeler was blasted on fourth and one, and Cokeville did the same when Walker was stopped at the Lovell 2-yard line on fourth down.

Backed up against their own goal line, but Bulldogs attempted a running play to dig out of the hole, but Scheeler was hit in the backfield for a safety, putting Cokeville up 23-0.

Following Lovell’s free kick, Cokeville drove 82 yards to put the game out of reach as Walker found Daxton Pope for a 13-yard touchdown pass. Cokeville led 30-0 early in the fourth quarter.

Lovell did break through with an 80-yard touchdown pass from Crosby to sophomore end Kannon Owens late in the game, followed by a two-point conversion pass to Porter Blau. After a successful onside kick, the Bulldogs threatened again before time ran out, reaching the Cokeville 13-yard line in the final seconds.

“It was nice to move the ball there a little bit at the end of the game and hopefully give us some momentum heading into this week,” Crosby said.

Cokeville rushed for 352 yards on 56 carries, picking up 16 first downs in the process. Walker led the way with 166 yards on 15 carries.

“He’s tough, very talented, and they execute really well,” Crosby said of Walker. “They fly around the field, just a really good team.”

Linford ran for 131 yards on 24 carries, and Walker completed three of seven passes for 47 yards.

Lovell rushed for just 14 yards on 17 carries, and Crosby completed 10 of 24 passes for 162 yards. Owens caught three passes for 96 yards, Morgan three for 18, Gage Fink two for 28, Scheeler one for 11 and Nate Cornia one for six.

Scheeler led the Bulldogs with 23 defensive points. Travis Asay added 14 defensive points, Crosby 13, Tazz McArthur and Grant Hill 11 points each, Blau 10 and Cornia 9.

On the road

Now 2-4, the Bulldogs travel to Kemmerer today (Thursday) for a 5 p.m. kickoff against the Rangers for their final conference game of the season. Kemmerer is 2-3 overall, 1-3 in the 2A West after edging Pinedale 29-28 Friday.

Crosby said the Rangers are much improved this year and noted that their offense is “starting to click.” He said the Rangers run a traditional offense with a lot of pro and slot formations.

“Their quarterback (Sam Thatcher) is in the gun (shotgun formation) a lot, and they run a lot of pin and pull plays where they’ll pin down the end, pull and look to kick out and run off tackle quite a bit. Number 8 (Noah Parks) is a really good running back. They (Thatcher and Parks) account for almost all of their offense.”

The Bulldogs will play on Thursday again next week when they host the Casper Natrona junior varsity at 6 p.m. on October 22.