Encampment trails Pronghorns

Following their first conference win against the defending 1A Six-Man State Champions, the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers, the Encampment Tigers hit the road to take on yet another conference foe, the No. 1 ranked Farson-Eden Pronghorns (3-0, 2-0). 

The Tigers would, ultimately, fall to Farson-Eden but not without securing at least one touchdown each quarter of the game.

“We played a really good and disciplined team in this game,” said Head Coach Kegan Willford. “I felt like we played with them for the most part, but having six turnovers in this game made a huge difference. This is something we can’t do if we are going to compete with the top teams in 1A Six-Man.”

The 1st quarter of the game saw the Tigers put 14 points on the board compared to Farson-Eden’s 22 points. Quade Jordan was the first from Encampment to score a touchdown, which was the result of a 9 yard rush. Jordan would also complete a conversion to take the 6 points to 7 points.

Koye Gilbert threw a 16 yard pass that was caught by Dalton Peterson to put the Tigers 13-14 following a touchdown, point-after-touchdown and conversion from the Pronghorns. A conversion from Peterson put the Tigers at 14-14. Following a successful 65 yard kick-off return and a point-after-touchdown from Farson-Eden, the 1st quarter ended 14-22.

In the 2nd quarter, put 14 points on the board with two touchdowns—one from a 10 yard rush and one from a 69 yard return—and a point-after-touchdown. Peterson secured a touchdown at the end of the quarter to go into half-time 20-36.

Returning from the half, the Pronghorns continued to outpace Encampment as they threw another 29 points on the board with four touchdowns, a conversion and two point-after-touchdowns. The Tigers, still putting up a fight, secured a touchdown following a 10 yard rush. The 3rd quarter ended with Encampment trailing 26-65.

The final quarter saw the Pronghorns secure only one touchdown and one point-after-touchdown for a total of 8 points. Jordan, with a 35 yard rush, gave the Tigers their single touchdown of the 4th quarter.

The final score was 32-73.

With Caysen Barkhurst off the field following an injury against the Rattlers, Jordan stepped into the spot of lead rusher with 152 yards against Farson-Eden. Peterson followed with 75 yards. Peterson was the passing leader with 90 yards and Koye Gilbert was the receiving leader with 106 yards.

Following their loss to the Pronghorns, Encampment sits at No. 3 in the 1A Six-Man Conference. The Tigers are 2-1 for the season and 1-1 for conference. While they had been scheduled to be hosted by the Natrona County High School sophomore this weekend, that game has been cancelled.

“This week, we are going to really hammer on fundamentals to try and get better for our next conference opponent, which is Meeteetse,” Willford said.

Meeteetsee is 3-0 for the season and 2-0 in conference play, sitting at No. 2 in the 1A Six-Man Conference.

The Encampment Tigers will host the Meeteetse Longhorns at 3 p.m. on October 3 in Encampment.