Bulldogs clobber Thermop, now focus on Big Horn

The Lovell Bulldogs punched their ticket to the Class 2A playoffs Friday night with a strong 40-13 win over the Thermopolis Bobcats on senior night at Robertson Stadium.
The win boosts the bulldogs to 6-2 on the season and sets up a first-round playoff game at Big Horn Friday evening.
Friday’s game was a close battle in the first half as the Bobcats were able to sustain a pair of drives thanks to the running of quarterback Armani Dukes and running back Zane Stam. On the first series of the game, for instance, Stam gashed the Lovell defense for a 65-yard run deep into the red zone, with Blake Wilson making the touchdown-saving tackle. Two plays later, however, Dukes took the ball on a sweep around left end and cut up for a three-yard touchdown run. The PAT kick put the visiting Bobcats up 7-0.
“We knew Thermopolis was skilled and had some size up front,” Lovell coach Nicc Crosby said. “I feel like we were well prepared for what they were going to do offensively. For whatever reason, in the first half we were extremely undisciplined in doing our assignments and really let them gain a lot of yards, chew up a lot of clock and have quite a bit of success.
“As far as adjustments go, our only adjustment was the boys decided to fight a little bit more and do their responsibilities on defense. We were fortunate we were able to get things straightened out in the second half, but we can’t show up and play a lackluster half of football and think we’re going to be able to turn everything around and win playoff games in the second half. It would have been different if they had done some things we weren’t expecting.”
The Bulldogs responded to the Thermop touchdown with a long drive and touchdown of their own, going 72 yards in seven plays. Quarterback Davin Crosby completed passes of six ( to Braxton Felkins), 13 (to Adnan Khan) and five (Wilson) yards, followed by a 39-yard touchdown pass to Khan, who found himself wide open down the right sideline. The try for two failed, but Lovell was back in it trailing 7-6.
Crosby was red hot throwing the ball in the first half, starting the game 7 for 7 through the air.
“His receivers helped him out with some awesome catches,” Coach Crosby said. “We felt like they were giving us some matchups that we liked. They were really overplaying some of our heavy sets. We caught Adnan wide open and were able to exploit their aggressiveness there.
“They had everybody within eight yards of the line of scrimmage. Adnan’s just too fast to play us that tight. Before that first touchdown reception, I said, ‘Oh, Adnan’s going to be wide open here.’ It was pretty easy to see they weren’t respecting or ready for that.”
After a Jared Mangus interception gave Lovell a short field at the Bobcat 18, three runs by Mangus set up a touchdown pass from Crosby to Owen Walker, who worked to the corner of the end zone and caught a rollout pass from Crosby. Crosby then hit Walker for the two-point conversion, and Lovell led 14-7 with 3:35 to play in the first quarter.
Thermopolis responded with a 72-yard drive, capped by a Dukes four-yard run. The PAT failed, leaving Lovell up 14-13 midway through the second quarter.
The Bulldogs mounted a 70-yard drive to score again as Crosby found Khan for 19 yards down the right sideline and Wilson for 16 and 26 yards, setting up a one-yard quarterback keeper by Crosby.
Lovell led 21-13 with 1:12 left in the first half and had one more chance after Mangus recorded his second interception of the first half on a halfback pass but couldn’t reach the end zone.
Second half
Lovell had the ball first in the second half and quickly took full command of the game. Crosby hit Khan on a flea-flicker for a 57-yard gain to the Bobcat 14, with a facemask penalty tacked on. Mangus gained five yards to the Thermop two, and Crosby scored on a two-yard keeper. Lovell led 28-13.
Thermopolis attempted to respond and drove to the Lovell 32, but on fourth and three, Stam was racked for a one-yard gain, and Lovell got the ball back. The Bulldogs drove 69 yards to put the game out of reach.
Crosby dashed 17 yards on a keeper, then hit Walker on a screen pass for nine. The Bulldogs continued to work the ball down the field and eventually scored on an 18-yard touchdown pass to Walker in a crowd on fourth and 15. Lovell led 34-13 after the PAT sailed wide.
“Adnan had a couple of amazing catches (during the game), and Owen (Walker) did, too, in the end zone,” Coach Crosby said. “Those were two of the better touchdown receptions you’re going to see. Blake made some big catches for us, as well.”
Lovell added a final touchdown late in the game on a two-yard run by Mangus. The PAT missed, and Lovell had a 40-13 lead, which turned out to be the final score.
Crosby finished the game 15 of 24 for 222 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions. Khan caught seven passes for 142 yards, Wilson three for 47 yards, Walker three for 31, Felkins one for six and Mangus one for minus four. Thermop completed one pass for zero yards.
Mangus led Lovell with 57 yards rushing on 15 yards, and Crosby added 36 yards on eight carries, Felkins 17 yards on three carries. Stam led Thermopolis with 138 yards on 21 carries.
Coach Crosby said his quarterback and receivers are working well together, and the rollout passes help Davin Crosby buy time for patterns to develop.
“Davin has become a pretty good scrambler and does a good job extending plays,” Coach Crosby said. “His footwork has improved a bunch, and I really have to complement our receivers, too. We’ve drilled and talked about going to space. I feel they did a good job knowing where there were some holes when Davin was scrambling, and there were some guys to throw to.
“There’s really good chemistry. Our pass protection overall has really been pretty good. It’s just when those initial reads aren’t there and we’ve got to buy some more time for someone to get open. It’s been good to see that develop over the years.
“There are a lot of designed rollouts. They put pressure on the defense. It’s nice as a quarterback to be able to survey the field and when the defense has to worry about you running or you can pass it right there. It’s nice to put extra stress on the defense.”
Big Horn … again
The Bulldogs will open the Class 2A playoffs Friday at Big Horn. The Bulldogs handed Big Horn their only loss so far on week one, a double-overtime thriller, 33-27, in Lovell. Big Horn has run the table since then to forge a 7-1 record, while Lovell is a strong 6-2.
Big Horn has defeated Upton-Sundance 45-7, Glenrock 53-14, Torrington 32-27, Wheatland 35-14, Newcastle 55-16, Tongue River 14-7 and Burns 62-16.
“Defensively, we have to find a way to manufacture a couple turnovers,” Crosby said. “The first time we played ‘em we had two turnovers and they had none. That really made it an uphill battle for us.
“I think defensively, as well, it’s just that discipline and tackling continue to be a concern. I think if we can improve on those we’ll give our offense a chance to score enough points to come out with a win.”
Like all teams, Crosby said, Big Horn has added a few wrinkles since week one, but overall, he said, the Bulldogs are familiar with the “bread and butter plays” that the Rams employ most of the time on offense.
“We know who their threats area and they’ve got a lot of them,” he said. “This time of year you’ve got a lot more to worry about and plan for than when you play in week one, but the good news is that we’re familiar with their base plays. We just can’t let the other stuff they’ve added catch us off guard.”
Crosby said the Rams run primarily a spread offense but had added more heavy sets, adding, “They’re definitely bigger up front than they have been in years past. They’ve done a better job of establishing the running game. Last year really the only running game they had was some quarterback scrambles and a few designed quarterback runs.”
In the first Lovell-Big Horn game, junior quarterback Avon Barney passed for 187 yards and rushed for 127 yards for the Rams. Crosby passed for 183 yards and ran for 73. Mangus rushed for 149 yards.
Last season, Lovell edged Big Horn 14-7 in week one but fell to the Rams 8-7 in the 2A championship game.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday. The winner will play the winner of the Lyman-Tongue River game on Friday, Nov. 3.