Bulldogs suffer semifinal loss at Big Horn

Disappointment was once again etched on the faces of the Lovell Bulldogs Friday night in the wake of being eliminated in the playoffs in Big Horn for the second straight season.

Last year it was in the opening round. This year it was a semifinal game, with the winner advancing to the state championship game in Laramie, though many in attendance would affirm that this was the true championship game with Mountain View falling to Cokeville earlier in the day.

The Bulldogs came into the game riding a seven-game winning streak. They led at halftime by four, led by 11 in the third quarter and led heading into the fourth quarter.

The Bulldogs outgained Big Horn on the ground and through the air.

And yet the scoreboard showed the score at the end of the game: Big Horn 35, Lovell 25. Two turnovers, penalties in key moments and a 94-yard kickoff return made the difference.

“I couldn’t be more proud of their effort Friday night. They gave it all they had,” head coach Nicc Crosby said. “A couple of times we had to hold kids back from going into the game, kids who, in my mind, weren’t healthy enough to go in.

“We executed our offensive game plan a good portion of the game and took advantage of Big Horn’s aggressiveness. Defensively, I was very pleased with how we neutralized their running game for the most part. We did a good job there, and most of the passes they completed were in pretty small windows, and we tackled them right away.”

In the end, it just wasn’t quite enough.

“Credit Big Horn. They’re a good team and well coached,” Crosby said. “They just played a little more consistently than we did on the field. When we’re at our best we’re just as good as them if not better. We just failed to execute at a few critical moments, and that ended up being the difference in the game.”

Strong first half

A fired-up Lovell defense forced the hometown Rams to go three and out on the first series of the game as linebacker Braxton Felkins made a diving hit for no gain and fellow senior ‘backer Davin Crosby ripped a receiver for a loss on third down.

A fumble on a Big Horn blitz ended the first Lovell possession, but the defense stiffened after the Rams used the short field to reach the Lovell 3-yard line.

The Bulldogs then put together a masterful 97-yard touchdown drive that included strong running by fullback Felkins, halfback Chase Crosby and quarterback Davin Crosby, a 15-yard pass to senior Jarrett Allen and a dynamite dash up the middle by Davin Crosby for 10 yards on third and 10 at the 11. Three plays later, Davin
Crosby scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak.”

“We used quick, off-tackle runs,” Coach Crosby said. “They blitz a lot off the edge, and we felt we could pin and pull – pin down their interior linemen and kick out pressure coming off the edge. We also ran several screens against their blitzes that were quite effective for us.”

On the extra point, a bad snap from center was scooped up by holder Matthew Newman, who evaded tacklers and found Felkins in the end zone for a two-point conversion pass. Lovell led 8-0 with 5:44 left in the first half.

“We worked on it that morning,” Crosby said of the “fire” call. “It was pretty awesome to turn that into two points.”

The Bulldogs were living right. But then disaster struck. On the ensuing kickoff, Big Horn speedster Cruz Hernandez received the kick at the 6-yard line, fought off a tackle by Newman and burst down the right sideline for a 94-yard kickoff return to pay dirt. With the PAT, Lovell’s lead was cut to one, 8-7, with 5:26 on the clock.

Not to be outdone, the Bulldogs struck back quickly. After a short kickoff return and a two-yard gain on first down, Davin Crosby found a streaking Newman deep over the middle and laid the ball perfectly into Newman’s hands. The junior’s legs did the rest as he took the reception to the house for an 87-yard touchdown pass.

“We had noticed on our rollouts that a particular corner would be a little bit lazy,” Coach Crosby said. “We had intensions of taking that shot, and Davin and I decided to do it. The ball went 55 yards in the air and hit Matthew in stride.”

With Mikkel Klepp’s extra point, the Bulldogs led 15-7 at the 4:27 mark, the two explosive teams having scored three touchdowns in 59 seconds.

Big Horn responded with an 11-play, 74-yard scoring drive led by senior quarterback Avon Barney, who completed five of six passes, leading to a six-yard touchdown burst by Hernandez. Lovell led 15-14 with 47 seconds left in the half.

Coach Crosby turned to his hurry-up offense after the kickoff, as Davin Crosby connected with Felkins on a 16-yard swing pass, and three plays later Big Horn was hit with a roughing-the-passer penalty. Given new life at the Big Horn 40, quarterback Crosby then hit Owen Walker for eight and 15, with the tall junior diving out of bounds at the Ram 17 to stop the clock with 0.7 on the clock. In came Klepp, and the senior exchange student calmly booted a 34-yard field goal as time expired.

Lovell led 18-14 at intermission after a strong first half.

“We did a great job managing the clock there and giving ourselves some points before halftime. That was really critical for us,” Crosby said.

Second half frustration

Knowing the game was far from over, the Bulldogs needed to start the second half with a strong drive, and they did just that, moving the ball 80 yards in eight plays as Coach Crosby exploited the edges for gains to the outside by Newman (six yards), Felkins (21) and Chase Crosby (13). Davin Crosby powered for 11 yards on a keeper to the Big Horn 19, and on the next play, Newman burst around left end for a 19-yard touchdown run. With Klepp’s PAT, Lovell led 25-14 with 7:25 left in the third quarter.

Though they didn’t know it at the time, it would be Lovell’s final touchdown of the game.

“We really wanted to hold that (jet sweep to the outside) for the second half,” Crosby noted. “It treated us really well the first two drives of the second half. We blocked it up well and hit the edges. We also ran a couple of counters off of it.”

The homestanding Rams began their comeback with a 63-yard drive as Barney used the short passing game and his own legs to advance the football with rushes of 16, nine and eight to set up a seven-yard touchdown pass to top receiver Kolby Butler. Hernandez scored the two-point conversion, and Lovell’s lead was cut to three, 25-22, with 4:32 left in the third quarter.

Hoping to regain the momentum, the Bulldogs launched a drive from their own 34 as Davin Crosby hit Walker for 12, then found Felkins out of the backfield for a 46-yard gain to the Big Horn nine. But then disaster struck. The Bulldogs were hit with an illegal substitution penalty (12 men on the field) and two holding penalties, though the second penalty was declined to force fourth and goal at the 25. Crosby tried to hit Walker, but under extreme duress, his pass to Walker was high, and Big Horn took over early in the fourth quarter.

Crosby noted that Big Horn sent as many as six or seven players with the Rams’ blitz package.

Big Horn drove 80 yards to take the lead as Barney hit Bridger Doke for 19 yards and Dawson VanDyken for 42. Barney then rolled left and found Doke in a crowd for a 17-yard scoring pass. Walker blocked the PAT, but Big Horn led 28-25 with plenty of time (10:19) for Lovell to take the lead.

The Bulldogs drove to midfield, but on second and 10, Davin Crosby’s pass down the left sideline was intercepted in a quarterback-receiver miscommunication and returned 30 yards to the Lovell 35. A personal foul penalty moved the ball back to the Big Horn 46, but the Rams drove 54 yards to seal the win as Barney broke several tackles on a 15-yard run that set up a five-yard touchdown run by Hernandez.

Big Horn led by the final score of 35-25, and as Big Horn piled on the blitz package, the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs, and two victory kneel-downs later, Big Horn had punched their ticket to the state championship game as tears streamed down the faces of devastated Lovell players and their families, who gathered with their sons in commiseration.

Davin Crosby completed 13 of 21 passes for 245 yards. Walker caught five passes for 44 yards, Felkins four passes for 74 yards, Newman three for 112 and Allen one for 15.

Barney completed an amazing 15 of 19 passes for 194 yards as Butler caught seven aerials for 67 yards, Doke four for 63 yards, VanDyken two for 61 and Hernandez two for 3.

The Bulldogs rushed for 174 yards Friday as Chase Crosby gained 62 yards on 10 carries, Davin Crosby 45 yards on 12 carries, Felkins 39 yards on eight carries and Newman 28 yards on five carries.

Big Horn rushed for 126 yards led by Barney, who carried the rock 17 times for 83 yards. The Bulldogs held Hernandez to 37 yards rushing on 14 carries.

The Bulldogs finished the season with a 7-3 record, and Friday’s game was the final contest for seniors Parker Steenbakkers, Taggart Shumway, Klepp, Felkins, Davin Crosby, Karson Mollett, Talon Burton, Allen, Kasey Jordan and manager Alivia Nuttall.

Crosby said his message to the team after the game was how proud he was of them not just during that game but throughout the season.

“Most of the seniors have given four years of top effort and were committed to improving,” he said. “They were growing closer as a team. Individually, there was a play here and a play there we wish could have been done differently, but everyone out there gave it their all during the game and leading up to the game. I’ll always be proud of that.

“Our fans never cease to amaze me with how supportive they are. We had great numbers, and I would love to have gotten a win for them and our seniors.”