Rattlers remain undefeated

The Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers played the Farson-Eden Pronghorns, in a tough game last Saturday in damp chilly weather at Farson where LSRV came out on top of the Pronghorns 29-12.

Head Coach Jack Cobb said it took a little time for the Rattlers to prevail.

"It was rainy, wet, windy and chilly; all those factors that can make a game difficult to get your rhythm," Cobb said. "Farson is a good team. They are solid and have senior leadership, and they have some size."

Cobb said the Rattlers tried to pass the ball early and the ball got out of the hand of the receiver which led to an interception.

"This made us a little conservative on our play calling and Farson committed five guys to stop the run," Cobb said. "It was a battle. Both teams drove the ball down the field off and on, but nobody really scored much that first half."

The Rattlers found themselves in the uncomfortable position of being down 7-12 going into half-time. The only other time the Rattlers were not ahead at half-time this season was when they faced Meeteetse, where LSRV were behind a point.

Cobb acknowledges there were some turnovers in the first half that put the Rattlers behind.

"Those things happen to a team on a cold wet day," Cobb said. "I told the boys at the half, just become football players and don't worry about the little things far as if you are doing your plays right. I told them, just get your blocks and do the simple things and just become a football player. That is what they did the 2nd half."

He said the Rattlers made the plays when they had to that opened the game up.

Cobb gives credit to the Pronghorns for taking away aspect of the Rattlers game plan.

"I went to a pretty basic game plan when I realized that we were having trouble hanging onto the ball due to the weather," Cobb said. "I told the boys that we had to get back to the basic fundamentals of blocking and hanging onto the ball."

Cobb said the second half, the Rattler defense was very stout and kept the Pronghorns scoreless the latter part of the game.

"They got into the 20 yard line four or five times and we held them every time," Cobb said. "Everyone knows it takes defense to win games and every coach that is getting into the part of the season that is playoffs wants their team's defense really picking up. Fortunately for us, that has been our consistent point."

Seth Maxson and Kannadis Peroulis both had very strong defensive days. Maxson had 38 defensive points and Peroulis had 27 defensive points out of the team's 124 defensive points. Peroulis rushed for 169 yards, while Maxson rushed for 105 yards and had one touchdown. Zander Risner rushed for a touchdown.

Zane Matheson threw two touchdowns, one to Risner and the other to Wyatt Adams. The four touchdowns and 5 conversion points gave the Rattlers 29 points.

"The offense is getting more balanced, which is what I wanted to happen at the beginning of the season," Cobb said. "It was especially challenging with the weather, so I was proud of the boys."

Cobb was also proud how the team came back after half-time.

"They were down at half-time and they came back as football players should and their efforts were good enough to win," Cobb said. "That is always an accomplishment that a coach is proud of."

The Rattlers are now in the playoffs and will face a Kaycee team which just came off a win against Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicince Bow (HEM). The Buckaroos are No. 4 in the East.

"Kaycee is a good team and, this year, any team in the playoffs could go all the way to the championships," Cobb said. "We will have to be ready to play and if we survive that one, we will have to handle teams that are championship level. Whoever wins this year certainly will have earned it."

Cobb said this year was the most challenging of any year he has coached.

"This is the toughest year in West from top to bottom," Cobb said. "Burlington is a good team and you can't take anything away from them, and they didn't get a conference win. That is an indicator how tough the West was this year."

Cobb told his team when the game ended, that this season has been one of accomplishment.

"I told them to go 7-0 and be conference champs this year as loaded as the West was this season was quite the accomplishment," Cobb said. "They need to be proud of that, but now the real test begins."

The Rattlers will host the Buckaroos at 2 p.m. p.m. October 29.