Miners get a taste of East Thunderbirds

Facing a team made up of 9th graders may not seem all that daunting unless those kids go to Cheyenne, the number one ranked school in 4 A football at the moment. None of the Cheyenne East Thunderbird players looked to be freshmen since most were over six feet tall. They were a team to be reckoned with as the Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School Miner football team found out on Saturday.

It was a beautiful day for football and there was a large crowd in attendance for the home game. Unfortunately, the East Thunderbirds started scoring quickly. The Miner defense tried to hold the young team, and most of the time they did, but it wasn't long before the Cheyenne team found ways to score. At halftime, the score was 32 to 12.

The 2nd half the Miners were able to score again to get a total of 18 points, while Cheyenne 9th racked up 52 points by the end of the game.

"We played a very tough team and I think we did well," HEM head coach Zack Scott said. "When the varsity is ranked number one in 4 A, you know their freshman class has to be very good."

Scott is happy how the team is improving with each week they play.

"We are getting so much better," Scott said. "We get rattled, but then we are young. What I am proud of, is the boys know they just have to keep working to get better."

Scott said he not only sees it in the games, but also in practice.

"Today we improved," Scott said. "We fought well and today we fixed things on the fly which we were not able to do before."

Scott's 14 year old quarterback, Naythen Antencio continues to keep the coach's confidence.He completed six passes out of nine attempts for a total of 127 yards.

"He is running the offense and doing a great job at it," Scott said. "My line today worked their butts off today. Tom Wagner is a workhorse and got yards. Hayden (Antencio) got yards too."

Wagner had a total of 157 all purpose yards. H. Antencio had 114 all purpose yards and Jesse Deegan had 107 receiving yards.

Scott walks away from this game feeling like his team is full of winners.

Senior Rayce Ward caught his first touchdown ever.

"He works his butt off and he deserved to catch it," Scott said. "So many of the boys give it their all for the team."

Besides Ward, Wagner and H. Antencio scored touchdowns.

Wagner led the Miners in tackles with 18. He had two sacks as did Quinn Felton. Anthony Solaas blocked a field goal.

"I am proud of these boys. I am happy to be here and I told them I want them to be proud of each other," Scott said. "They are doing that and getting better."

The Miners face Little Snake River Valley, last year's state champions, on Saturday in Baggs on Saturday.