Bulldogs prevail in 22-20 overtime nailbiter at Cokeville

Good teams find ways to win, and for the Lovell Bulldogs, last Friday’s long road trip to Cokeville was a true test of their mettle, a test they passed with a 22-20 overtime thriller.

Like the Bulldogs, Cokeville came into the contest 4-2 in the 2A West, with the winner of the game earning the third seed heading into the Class 2A playoffs, and while the Bulldogs jumped on top 14-0, Cokeville battled back to force the game into overtime, where a two-point conversion was the difference in the Lovell victory.

The game started with a splash play for the Bulldogs when, on the second play from the line of scrimmage, senior running back Chase Crosby broke loose for a 71-yard touchdown run. Matthew Newman’s PAT gave Lovell an early 7-0 lead.

“The line gave him a good initial hole, and he made a move on a guy, kind of made him slip, then broke through an arm tackle and was able to take it the distance after that,” coach Nicc Crosby said.

Cokeville responded with a long drive that carries deep into Lovell territory but ultimately ended in frustration for the home team as they gave the ball up on downs at the Lovell 5.

Given new life, the Bulldogs drove the ball 95 yards to score, mixing passing and running to keep the Cokeville defense off balance. And while running was strong, Coach Crosby took advantage of Cokeville running single coverage against Lovell receivers Owen Walker and Newman to execute chunk plays: a 24-yard strike from quarterback Kyson Crosby to Walker on third down, a 39-yard aerial to Walker on third and 20 and, ultimately, a 25-yard touchdown pass to Newman, putting the Bulldogs up 14-0 early in the second quarter.

“They were trying to cover Owen and Matthew both with just one defender apiece and no help, and we exploited that,” Coach Crosby said. “That got them to lighten up the box, and we were able to have some success running the ball, as well.”

On the ensuing series the Bulldogs had Cokeville third and 12 at the Panther 40, but Crosby said a blown coverage allowed a Cokeville receiver to get deep beyond the Lovell defensive backfield for a 45-yard gain to the Lovell 15, which set up a nine-yard touchdown run. Lovell’s lead was cut in half, 14-7.

Lovell finished the half with a drive that took the Bulldogs to the Cokeville 23, but a Newman 40-yard field goal was just wide, and Lovell went into halftime with the seven-point lead.

Second half

The Bulldog defense thwarted Cokeville on the first series of the third quarter when Nathan Cornia intercepted a pass that had been tipped by Joaquin Scheeler. Lovell drove to the Cokeville 18 but again stalled, and a 35-yard field goal sailed wide left.

On the ensuing series, Lovell forced a fourth and five at the Cokeville 45, but the Panthers executed a fake punt for a 10-yard gain, then drove for the tying touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

With the Panthers closely covering Walker and Newman, the Bulldogs turned to senior Owen Edwards, and on the final drive of regulation, “Eddie” caught a 22-yard pass from Kyson Crosby. With Cash Wassmer missing the game due to a late-game injury the week before, Chase Crosby was the workhorse out of the backfield and led the Bulldogs to the Cokeville 3, but on fourth and one Cokeville got the key stop, and the game went into overtime.

Overtime

Lovell had the ball first at the 10-yard line in overtime, and Kyson Crosby hit Newman on a slant for a five-yard gain on second and 10. Then on third and five the Bulldogs ran a “Sam Smith special” – the same play the former sports reporter and “voice of the Bulldogs” famously narrated against Cokeville a few years ago.

The double reverse worked as Newman took the handoff from quarterback Crosby, then handed it to Walker coming back around from the right side. He easily outran the Cokeville defense untouched into the end zone for a five-yard touchdown run.

The Bulldogs executed a hard count on the extra point, and Cokeville jumped, which allowed the Bulldogs to go for two, which Chase Crosby easily took to the end zone, putting Lovell up 22-14.

With their turn from the 10, the Panthers took four plays to score but did so on a quarterback sneak, however a false start flag on the two-point conversion set the home team back five yards, and a halfback pass fell short, giving the Bulldogs the win.

Summing up, Coach Crosby was pleased with the win against a tough, disciplined and gritty Cokeville team.

“I told our guys we’d have to play four quarters to beat them, and we needed four quarters and then some to beat them,” he said. “You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. They always scrap and claw, and that being said, if we punch in one more touchdown or kick one or more of those field goals, then we’re in the driver’s seat. So we’ve got to make sure that we’re finishing drives and scoring when we have those opportunities.

“Our defense did a much better job handling the run this week. A couple of missed assignments led to some bigger plays by them, but overall, it was a much better effort. And we were even down one of our starters, playing without Cash (Wassmer), and Nate Cornia came in and played a really good game.”

Chase Crosby finished with 128 yards rushing on 19 carries, and Newman added 41 yards on nine carries. Kyson Crosby completed 9 of 17 passes for 162 yards, and Walker caught two passes for 62 yards, Newman five for 70 yards, Edwards one for 21 yard and Chase Crosby one for 9.

Cornia led the team with 16 defensive points, and Halen Strom had 15 defensive points, Scheeler 11 and Brody Muller 9.

Newcastle

Two teams on hot streaks will meet in the first round of the Class 2A playoff Friday when the Bulldogs make the long trip to Newcastle to meet the Dogies for a 2 p.m. kickoff.

Newcastle is 6-2 overall, 6-1 in conference games, and is the second seed out of the 2A East. The Dogies are riding a five-game winning streak with victories over Tongue River, Glenrock, Moorcroft, Burns and Wheatland after starting the season 1-2 with losses to Buffalo, 34-8, and Big Horn, 60-22.

The Bulldogs have won four straight after a loss at Thermopolis.

“They’re another run heavy team and do a lot of shifts on offense, throw a lot of different formations at you, and they have a stable of runners and do a lot of direct snap runs,” Crosby said. “Their quarterback, number 12 (Teddy Troftgruben) will run, but their two biggest threats are number 44 (Dane Crabtree) and number 33 (Collin McConkey). Both of them have the potential to take it the distance. One of them returned a kickoff against Big Horn for a touchdown, and that doesn’t happen very often. Big Horn is very fast and athletic.”

If the Bulldogs prevail, they will likely travel to Mountain View for the second round of the playoffs on November 7.