(Jackson, WY) – Lander traveled to Jackson Hole High School last weekend for its week one 3A West matchup and came home with a 20-14 loss to the Broncs.
The game got away from the Tigers before they ran a play. Jackson took the opening kickoff 99 yards to the end zone. Lander answered on the next drive, marching down the field and finishing it with a pitch left to running back Afton Cox for the score. The Broncs came right back with another touchdown drive to close out the first quarter 14-7.
Wyatt Sorels and Myles Bath listen in on the huddle before the third quarter Friday night in Jackson. h/t Carl Cote The Jackson Student section goes wild in the 4th quarter Friday as they play Lander. h/t Carl Cote After cramping up, Finn McFadden eats mustard as he gets stretched Friday in Jackson. h/t Carl Cote Lachlan Gebhardt forces Jackson’s runner out of bounds. h/t Carl Cote Afton Cox looks for a hole in the defense as he runs out of the backfield Friday night. h/t Carl Cote 
The Lander Tigers huddle between plays Friday night in Jackson. h/t Carl Cote Head coach John Rounds coaches from the sideline Friday in Jackson. h/t Carl Cote A flag is thrown in the backfield as Garrett Romer gets rid of the ball for the Tigers. h/t Carl Cote Finn McFadden gets up to make an interception late in the 4th quarte for the Tigers. h/t Carl Cote
Then the scoreboard sat still. Neither team put up a point in the second or third quarters, and both showed the kind of rust you expect from a first game in September. Penalties, dropped passes, drives that stalled before they got going.
Lander finally got back level in the fourth on a touchdown run from Finn McFadden, but Jackson answered on the next possession, taking the ball down the field for the score that put them ahead for good. The extra point sailed wide, leaving it 20-14. Lander could not move the ball on the possession that followed, and the Broncs hung on.
The weather, at least, was perfect. Seventy degrees and sunny at kickoff, with the sun dropping behind the mountains right after halftime and both teams playing out the rest of the game in the cool.
Head coach John Rounds spent halftime on the mistakes, unhappy to be down a touchdown when so much of the damage was self-inflicted. Costly penalties kept showing up at bad moments. Cut those in half, hang onto a few of the passes that hit hands, and this one likely looks different in the final minute.
Caleb Andrews runs the ball in the open field for the Tigers Friday in Jackson. h/t Carl Cote Finn McFadden evades a tackle going left for the Tigers. h/t Carl Cote Finn McFadden tracks Jackson’s ball carrier Friday night in jackson. h/t Carl Cote Assistant coach Jason Cox watched the action from the sideline in Jackson Friday. h/t Carl Cote
Cox carried 17 times for 100 yards and a touchdown. McFadden added 15 yards and a score on three carries, and also led the Tigers in receiving with seven catches for 45 yards. Lander finished with 130 yards on 27 rushes.
Through the air, Romer went 12 of 25 for 94 yards. Harris completed his only attempt for 16 yards, and McFadden completed his for six. Lander was 14 of 27 for 116 yards as a team, 246 yards of total offense.
Other receivers: Andrews caught three for 29, Cox one for 18, Fixter one for 11, Espinosa one for eight and Gebhart one for five.
On defense, Cox was everywhere. He finished with a team-high nine tackles, 2.5 of them for loss, plus a sack. McFadden had seven tackles, 1.5 for loss, a pass breakup and one of Lander’s two interceptions. Andrews picked off the other.
Espinosa added eight tackles. Romer and Fioler had seven apiece, Weaver had five and Harris finished with four to go with 1.5 tackles for loss. Sorrels forced a fumble and had a tackle for loss and a sack of his own. The Tigers finished with 6.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks as a group.
Lander returns home Friday, hosting Evanston at 6 p.m. for its first home game of the season.