The pre-game paper barrier reading “Forged in Fire” might have been the most resistance the Shoshoni Wranglers faced, aside from a handful of turnovers in blowing out a young Niobrara County (Lusk) Tigers football team 53-12 in an opening round Class 1-A 9-man football game at Shoshoni Friday afternoon.
In spite of jumping to a 27-0 lead in the second period, the Wranglers were flat, playing without the intensity that’s become their trademark this season.
To Lusk’s credit, they changed their entire offense in the week prior to the game. Lusk has never been a passing team, but they installed an effective passing game, surprising the Wranglers in the opening minutes.
Tiger quarterback Aric Eaton found early success rolling out to avoid the Shoshoni rush, then hitting running back David West in the flat on flair passes, but you can only go the well so many times.
The Wranglers led 6-0 on a Pehton Truempler four-yard run on their first drive, a seven-play 75-yard march that featured Truempler gaining 69-yards on just six carries. There were a lot more yards ahead for Truempler.
Lusk played “defense by offense” in controlling the ball on short drives before stalling out. This kept the Wrangler offense off the field for a while.
Eaton looked for West again in the flat, but Wrangler senior Cannon Campbell played them like a bass fisherman working a jitterbug. Campbell laid off West, then broke in front of the pass, intercepting it and racing 60-yards for Shoshoni’s second touchdown.
Truempler kept pounding the Tiger defense, using stiff-arm moves, swatting helmets out of the way, and running over would-be tacklers. He did this through three-quarters of play while finishing the contest with an unofficial 284 yards rushing.
Lusk sold out their defense trying to stop Truempler, and when they did, quarterback Alex Mills threw a high jump ball to 6-6 tight end Jaxson Stanley for a 12-yard score. Truempler added another score on a 25-yard run and the Wranglers were comfortably ahead 27-0 with just minutes remaining in the half when the game unraveled.
Quintan Clark recovered an onside kick by Jarvis, but the possession stalled immediately when Stanley was called for offensive pass interference after a long pass from Mills. On the next play West intercepted Mills, returning it inside the 20. West scored on a seven-yard run to cut the margin to 27-6 with 54 seconds left in the second quarter.
That’s when the turnover parade hit Bailey Field.
Truempler bowled over nearly the entire Lusk defense before fumbling near mid-field. On the next play, Jarvis intercepted Eaton. The Wranglers moved inside the 30-yard line with:07 left before Colton Coffman intercepted Mills at the 10 to end the half.
The halftime talk was spirited by Shoshoni assistant coaches, but the catalyst that set the Wranglers in high gear came from West.
After Campbell broke open around the left end, West grabbed his facemask, ripped it off Campbell’s head, and threw the helmet onto the track. The act earned him a facemask penalty and a personal foul, but he wasn’t ejected for the play. A vocal fan who berated officials for not kicking West out of the game was tossed from the game, however.
Enraged by the facemask, the Wranglers erupted for four touchdowns in just seven minutes, paced by three from Truempler and a 23-yard pass from Mills to Trey Fike.
Trumpler’s final run was a 71-yard rumble that started with him running over the first pair of Lusk tacklers, then swatting a couple more to the ground before bending the final tackler over with a stiff arm before breaking into the end zone.
Defensively, the Wranglers were dominant as well. Stanley tackled West on one play by throwing a Lusk blocker into him, then broke up an option before recovering a fumble. He finished his surge by blocking a Lamp Dayne punt.
It’ll be “Old Home Week” for the Wranglers next weekend when they host Wind River in the semi-finals.
SHO – Truempler 1-run (kick failed) 8:15
SHO – Trey Fike 23-pass from Mills (Jarvis kick) 5:44
SHO – Truempler 13-run (Jarvis kick) 3:44
SHO – Truempler 71-run (kick failed) 1:09
SHOSHONI 13 14 26 0 – 53
LUSK 0 6 0 6 – 12
First Quarter
SHO – Pehton Truempler 4-run (Dominic Jarvis kick) 6:57
SHO – Cannon Campbell 60-interception return (kick failed) 1:07
Second Quarter
SHO – Jaxon Stanley 12-pass from Alex Mills (run failed) 7:00
SHO – Campbell 25-run (Truempler run) 1:57
LUS – David West 7-run (run failed):48
Third Quarter
SHO – Truempler 1-run (kick failed) 8:15
SHO – Trey Fike 23-pass from Mills (Jarvis kick) 5:44
SHO – Truempler 13-run (Jarvis kick) 3:44
SHO – Truempler 71-run (kick failed) 1:09
Fourth Quarter
LUS – Coltan Coffman 23-pass from Jackson Smith (run failed) 3:08