The Dubois Rams scored on the first play of a drive four consecutive times in a 71-18 blowout of visiting North 6-man conference Meeteetse Saturday afternoon at home.
The win moves the second-ranked Rams to 4-1 on the season with a game next Saturday hosting the Natrona County sophomores.
Paced by six touchdowns from junior running back Wyatt Trembly the Rams were in control from the opening drive when Trembly scored on a 17-yard run. Nick Navas added the conversion kick for a brief 8-0 lead just two minutes into the game.
Meeteetse junior running back Joe Pina countered on a one-yard plunge capping a Longhorn drive to cut the margin to 8-6.
There are many ways to limit the score against a stronger opponent and Meeteetse employed them well in the opening period. The Longhorns waited until the last second to snap the ball on each possession of their first scoring drive then used an onside kick to limit the Dubois speed advantage on returns.
They weren’t able to limit Trembly, however. After Pina crossed the goal line with 1:44 left in the opening period Trembly broke open on a 43-yard scamper just 12 seconds later.
A shootout erupted briefly with Pina breaking a 63-yard run to cut the Rams’ lead to 16-12, but it had the effect of kicking a hornet’s nest for the Longhorns.
Trembly scored on a 31-yard run up the middle of a very slick field.
Rain poured down on the “High Country” Friday night and Saturday morning saturating the field. Dubois staff spread sand on open areas of the grass between the 25-yard lines filling in holes but creating a very slick surface in the process.
Trembly, a state placer in the high hurdles both his freshman and sophomore year has great speed, but he ran deliberately in the middle of the field with a wide stance before breaking tackles and finding open areas for his breakaway runs.
The opening period ended with Dubois leading 24-12.
The four-play, four touchdown sequence began with a 20-yard Trembly run just 28 seconds into the second period.
Meeteetse stalled on their next three possession. On the second series quarterback, Ryan Wells found Clayton Rux for a 26-yard scoring pass at 7:30. The Longhorns punted the ball away three minutes later after picking up a first down and Wells connected on another long scoring pass, this one to Trembly for a 60-yard scoring strike.
The Rams recovered an onside kick on the next series, setting up a 40-yard run by Jonah Oard on their final first-down scoring play.
With the slick conditions, Dubois kicked the ball deep only once, kicking the ball out of bounds or short. The Longhorns did the same, avoiding kicking the ball deep.
Meeteetse punted, and Dubois stalled for the only time in the game leaving just seconds on the clock when Pina broke another long run, this one for 55-yards with 19 seconds remaining in the half.
The Dubois offense scrambled to run two plays without using a timeout and it paid off with Wells connecting on his third touchdown pass of the half on a 30-yard fly pattern to Kaden Chamley. Chamley crossed the goal line after the clock hit double-zeros and Dubois led 58-18 at the half.
The running clock ensued at 7:40 when Trembly broke open on a 27-yard run after running over half of the Longhorn defense in the process.
The Rams scored a final time on a Kaleb Gleim 17-yard run with 4:30 left in the game.
Meeteetse will likely be back in Dubois in four weeks for the opening round of the 6-man playoffs. The Rams will probably finish second in the South Conference and the Longhorns should be able to hold the third-place seed, setting up an opening-round rematch at Dubois.
DUBOIS 24 34 6 7 – 71
MEETEETSE 12 6 0 0 – 18
First Quarter
DUB – Wyatt Trembly 17-run (Nick Navas kick) 7:37
MEET – Joe PIna 1-run (kick failed) 1:44
DUB – Trembly 43-run (Navas kick) 1:32
MEET – Pina 63-run (kick failed) 1:13
DUB – Trembly 31-run (Navas kick):20
Second Quarter
DUB – Trembly 20-run (Navas Kick) 9:32
DUB – Clayton RUX 26-pass from Ryan Wells (kick failed) 7:30
DUB – Trembly 60-pass from Wells (kick failed) 4:06
DUB – Jonah Oard 40-run (kick failed) 3:58
MEET – Pina 55-run (kick failed) :19
DUB – Kaden Chamley 30-pass from Wells (Navas kick):00
Third Quarter
DUB – Trembly 27-run (kick failed) 7:20
Fourth Quarter
DUB – Kaleb Gleim 17-run (Gleim run) 4:25