Tigers down Longhorns in quarterfinals

It was a brisk, but beautiful, day for football on October 27 as the No. 2 Encampment Tigers hosted the No. 3 Meeteetse Longhorns for the quarterfinal round of the 1A Six-Man Playoffs.

With the postseason now in full swing, the Tigers had no issue dominating their home field against Meeteetse, though the Longhorns came out charging for a playoff win.

“Meeteetse started out strong, like any playoff team should, but we knew we had to stick to our game plan,” said Kegan Willford, head coach of the Encampment Tigers.

Like many of their regular season matches, the Tigers drew first blood as they put points up on the scoreboard. Quade Jordan scored a touchdown after a 2 yard rush with two additional points from a point-after-touchdown (PAT) from Gunner Henrie. In the 1st quarter, the Longhorns put up 8 points of their own with a touchdown following a 4 yard rush and a PAT. Before the quarter ended, though, Kaban Pickett scored another touchdown for the Tigers following a 33 yard rush.

The 2nd quarter saw, perhaps, the most uneven scoring in the benefit of Encampment as the Tigers tore into the Longhorns. The scoring began with a touchdown from Jordan following a 34 yard rush followed by a one-point conversion, also by Jordan following a pass from Pickett. Ryon Miller also scored a touchdown, receiving a 73 yard pass from Henrie, followed by a one-point conversion from Pickett. Pickett then scored a touchdown following a 39 yard rush.

By the time the Longhorns found their footing and scored a touchdown of their own, Encampment was leading 34-8. While a touchdown from Meeteetse brought them to within 20 points of the Tigers, Tyrel Brown would score another touchdown for Encampment following a pass from Pickett. This, combined with a one-point conversion from Miller, put the Tigers ahead 41-14 as the first half came to an end.

As both teams returned to the gridiron, the Tigers kept up their onslaught of scoring against Meeteetse. Jordan scored two touchdowns in the 2nd quarter, along with a one-point conversion to put Encampment ahead by 40 points before a touchdown from the Longhorns.

In the final quarter, the Tigers kept Meeteetse scoreless. They scored a touchdown of their own, following an interception from Pickett for a 47 yard return.

The final score was 60-20.

Jordan was the rushing leader for the Tigers, rushing for 117 yards and was followed by Pickett who rushed for 107 yards. Henrie resumed his position as the passing leader for Encampment with 80 yards. Miller was the receiving leader with 73 yards.

“We had a big win against Meeteetse in the first round,” said Willford. “All playoff wins are big and I thought that the team played well overall in this game.”

After dealing a 40 point loss to the Longhorns, Encampment advances to the semifinal round where they will be hosted by the No. 1 Burlington Huskies, the only team from the North Conference remaining in the playoffs. The Huskies buried the No. 4 Farson-Eden Pronghorns in a bigger deficit than the Tigers did the Longhorns with a final score of 64-20.

“Burlington is a great team that can put up a lot of points,” said Willford. “We have to be able to put up points and get some stops on defense. It should be an exciting game.”

Encampment will face Burlington at 2 p.m. on November 3. The winner of this match will move on to face the winner of the game between No. 1 Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers and the No. 3 Dubois Rams in the 1A Six-Man Football Championships in Laramie.