Bulldogs drop defensive battle to defending champs

Points were hard to come by when the Lovell Bulldogs hosted the defending state champion Mountain View Buffaloes Friday night at Robertson Stadium.

Celebrating Patriot Day and the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Bulldogs burst onto the field with numerous American and armed forces flags flying. Once put into place, the American flags plus a giant American flag hung on the west end of the field continued to fly due to a stiff wind that blew during the game.

Each team was able to move the ball at times, but only one team reached the end zone as Mountain View came away with a 6-0 win.

Mountain View came at the Lovell defense with a powerful running attack, rushing for 259 yard, unofficially, but the Buffaloes could only reach pay dirt once on a five-yard run by senior Joseph Larson late in the first quarter. A two-point conversion pass failed on an interception, and Mountain View led 6-0 with 3:54 to play in the first quarter.

That would be it for scoring in the game.

“Defensively, outside of a couple stretches where we were a little bit out of position and didn’t tackle as well as we need to, we played pretty solid on that side of the ball,” head coach Nicc Crosby said. “A couple of turnovers in the end zone defensively were key to helping keep them from scoring very many points, but I thought we did a good job with the line of scrimmage.

“Mountain View’s really dominated the line of scrimmage in their other games. I think we had a couple good adjustments on defense that allowed us to play fast and made Mountain View go to some of their secondary options on offense.”

Crosby also liked what he saw with special teams play.

“Special teams was a point of emphasis, and it was much improved this week from a punt and kick coverage perspective,” he said. “The wind kind of played havoc on setting up some of our returns, but I think it’s just a matter of time before we catch one right and get a big return from a punt or a kickoff.”

Mountain View threatened to score on the first series of the game, driving 43 yards into Lovell territory until sophomore Mac Morgan intercepted a Brendon Walker pass at the goal line.

Lovell went three and out, leading to the Mountain View touchdown that capped a 48-yard drive.

The rest of the first half series ended in two punts and a blocked field goal for Lovell and two punts and a turnover on downs for the visitors.

The Bulldogs’ best chance to score in the first half came on the final series when they drove 40 yards to the Mountain View 15. Quarterback Kyson Crosby hit Morgan for a 14-yard gain on third and seven, and Morgan ran for 14 yards on three carries, followed by a six-yard Crosby keeper.

A first-and-10 pass from the Mountain View 18 was batted down, and Morgan gained three on second down. Crosby then fired the ball to Kannon Owens in the end zone, but the pass was broken up. Coach Crosby elected to kick about a 32-yard field goal, but Kyson Crosby’s kick was blocked.

Second half chances

Mountain View got the best of the second half yardage but fumbled at the goal line to end the second series of the half. Morgan pounced on the ball for Lovell.

Lovell drove the ball 35 yards in the fourth quarter before giving the ball up on downs at the Mountain View 9. The Buffaloes then drove 77 yards to the Lovell 17 before turning the ball over to the Bulldogs.

Still trailing by only a touchdown, the Bulldogs mounted their best drive of the game, marching 55 yards to the Mountain View 31. Crosby connected with Owens for eight and Nate Cornia for 14 on fourth and 12. After a spike, Crosby rolled out and hit speedster Hunter Krei for a 17-yard gain to the Lovell 43.

Crosby hit Wilson Hendershot for 13 and Owens for 13 more, the sophomore getting out of bounds at the Mountain View 31 to stop the clock with 39 seconds left. On the next play, however, Mountain View sophomore Wyatt Buckley intercepted Crosby at the 14, ending the final Lovell threat.

Mountain View out-gained Lovell 259-40, and Lovell outgained the Buffaloes 132-65 through the air as Crosby completed 10 of 32 passes, Walker six of 12. Krei caught three passes for 30 yards, Owens two for 38, Cornia two for 22, Joaquin Scheeler one for 15, Morgan one for 14 and Hendershot one for 13.

“We were just a little out of sync,” Crosby said. “The wind definitely played a role in some of the things we were wanting to do. We had some plays drawn up with guys running open down the field, and it’s just a lot more challenging putting the ball in the right spot when you’re battling the wind. So yeah, we’re looking to get a few more chunk plays, and then we weren’t able to keep our drives going and get in the end zone. We’ve just got to be more consistent moving the ball, taking advantage of good field position when we have it and getting the ball in the end zone.

“Kyson struggled hitting some open guys with the wind, and then some open guys struggled catching the ball. We were just out of sync all night here or there. And despite all that, we have an opportunity at the end. That drive looked good until it didn’t.”

Morgan led the Bulldogs with 23.5 defensive points, and Cornia added 22, Grant Hill 18.5 and Porter Blau and Scheeler 18 apiece.

Despite the final score, the game was a positive for the school and community, Crosby said, noting, “The community, the cheerleaders, the booster club just all banded together and created a great atmosphere. We were hoping to give some reasons to light off a few more fireworks, darn it.”

Road trip

Now 1-1 on the season, the Bulldogs will travel to Pinedale Friday for a 6 p.m. kickoff against the 2-0 Wranglers.

Pinedale edged Glenrock 15-14 in week one, then clobbered Worland 47-21 last week.

Crosby said the Wranglers employ a run-oriented triple option offense featuring stellar running back Logan Emery.

“They like to run the ball and grind it out,” Crosby said. “They’ve got a really good runner, number four (Emery). He torched us last year. They ran all over on us last year. We were able to still pull out the win. It stinks because we’re going down there again -- two years in a row.

“They get the ball to him as much as they can and then get a few other guys involved here and there. He’s a heck of a runner, really strong and powerful, and he can break away and take it the distance.”

The Bulldogs will return home on Friday, Sept. 25, hosting Thermopolis for homecoming.