(Shoshoni, WY) – “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” but this wasn’t Charles Dickens classic “A Tale of Two Cities” but rather an afternoon football game at Shoshoni that was easily the tale of two halves.
The Wranglers looked smooth and on cruise control in the first half, building a 21-6 lead over the visiting Greybull Buffs, but that all unraveled in the second half with the Buffs scoring 20 unanswered points for a 26-21 win.
The game was the first West 1-A tilt for both teams and leaves the Buffs at 1-0 along with Wind River and the Wranglers 0-1. Shoshoni is 2-2 on the season with both wins coming over Class 4-A sophomore teams.
The Wranglers opened the game driving 65 yards on 11 plays, with nine of those on the ground. Braxton Mills completed two of three passes and Carson Kisling capped the drive on a one-yard plunge five minutes into the game.
Greybull picked up a first down, then stalled, forcing a punt. The snap was high and the punter was tackled behind the line of gain giving Shoshoni excellent field position at the Greybull 45.
A Mills pass was batted off his receivers’ hands and a Greybull defender scooped it in on the sidelines near midfield.
Lucas Bolzer powered through almost the entire Shoshoni defense on the ensuing drive for a 49-yard touchdown run. The conversion failed and the Wranglers led 7-6.
The second period went to Shoshoni senior Quinton Clark on a pair of long touchdowns. The first came on a flanker reverse with Clark racing 55 yards down the west sideline for the score and a 14-6 Shoshoni lead.
The Buffs were unable to move the ball and punted to the Shoshoni 17 as the clock ticked toward halftime.
Mills found Clark in the flat on an inside route out of the spread with the two other receivers crashing down to clear a path. Clark turned it up field, dodged a tackler then cut back against the grain on an 87-yard pass and catch.
Shoshoni led 21-6 at the half.
Greybull dominated the entire second half, beginning with their first play from scrimmage. The Buffs returned the ball to their 40 where running back Wyatt Didrickson ran over three would be Wrangler tacklers en route to a 60-yard touchdown run just 31 seconds into the third period.
Caden Kisling fumbled on Shoshoni’s first play after the ensuing kickoff and the Buffs scored again after six bruising runs by Bolzer and Didrickson. Bolzer rumbled up the middle on a five-yard scoring run, then added a conversion on the same play to cut the margin to just a single point, 21-20.
With the Wranglers keying on the two big backs, Greybull quarterback Caden Hunt pulled off an outstanding ball fake, bootlegging the ball around the end on a 24-yard scoring scamper that put the Buffs ahead for good 26-21.
The remainder of the game saw both teams gamble on fourth down plays, converting just one each and turning the ball over on downs near midfield.
For Shoshoni Landon Kasper had a good defensive game, and Carlos Marrufo was devastating at linebacker Marrufo tips the scales around 120 pounds but played twice his size in stuffing the 200 pound running backs that Greybull sent at him and sacking hunt twice.
Mills was tossed into the air and slammed on the tackle by a pair of Greybull defenders with six minutes left to play.
He left for a series with Morgan Neal coming in to replace him. Neal attempted a toss sweep lateral to Kisling that missed and Greybull recovered the ball with 5:39 remaining in the game.
The Buffs ran out the clock to win the game, including a crucial fourth-and-six passing play from Hunt to Bennett Sanford that sealed the win.
The Wranglers played the second half without junior receiver and defensive back Oakley Hicks who injured his shoulder.
Anatomy of a stiff arm – h/t Randy Tucker
Shoshoni travels to Pavillion next Friday to play Wind River at 6 pm in their annual inter-county donnybrook.
Greybull hosts 1-0 West Conference foe Big Piney. The Punchers scored a 17-6 win over Rocky Mountain in their league opener Friday afternoon.
SHOSHONI 14 7 0 0 – 21
GREYBULL 6 0 20 0 – 26
First Period
SHO – Carson Kisling 1-run (Kolbe Brink kick) 7:00
GRE – Lucas Bolzer 49-run (run failed) 1:58
Second Quarter
SHO – Quinton Clark 55-run (Brink kick) 8:45
SHO – Clark 83-pass from Braxton Mills (Brink kick) 2:57
Third Quarter
GRE Wyatt Didrickson 60-run (pass failed) 11:29
GRE – Bolzer 5-run (Bolzer run) 8:24
GRE – Caden Hunt 24-run (pass failed) 1:16