Tigers fall in clash of six-man titans

In the 2000 film “Remember the Titans,” Coach Boone—played by Denzel Washington—reminds his team of their namesake, telling them “The titans were greater even than the gods. They ruled their universe with absolute power” referring to their home field. On Saturday afternoon, it was a clash of the 1A six-man titans in Baggs as the two undefeated teams in the conference faced off on the gridiron. The Encampment Tigers, who had dispatched conference and non-conference foes alike this season, were on a season-long winning streak as they were hosted by the Little Snake River Valley (LSRV) Rattlers. The Rattlers had a streak of their own of 26 consecutive wins.

Like any game, there is a winner and a loser. Unlike any game, one team would have their winning streak broken. Ultimately, it would be the Tigers who would see a mark added to the losses column.

“This is a game that you use as a ‘measuring stick’ to see where your team compares to the number one ranked team in the state,” said Kegan Willford, head coach of the Tigers. “Snake RIver came out and executed well.”

Encampment didn’t go down without a fight, despite the 30 point deficit against the Rattlers. In the 1st quarter, though the Tigers were scoreless they would also keep LSRV to just a single touchdown. The 2nd quarter was a little different. Though Encampment was still scoreless, the Rattlers would put up 14 points with two conversions and a point-after-touchdown (PAT) to put the score 0-20 in their favor going into half-time.

It would be until the 3rd quarter that the Tigers managed to put some points on the scoreboard with a conversion following a 9-yard pass from Kaban Pickett to Quade Jordan. LSRV would also put up some points with a conversation of their own following an 11-yard pass.

While it may have seemed like Encampment was going to gain some traction and sink their claws into the Rattlers in the second half, the 4th quarter went overwhelmingly in favor of LSRV.

The Tigers were able to score another six points with a conversion following a 16-yard pass from Gunner Henrie to Pickett. Unfortunately, it would be their only score while the Rattlers put up another 14 points with a touchdown, a conversion and a PAT.

“You can see why they have won 27 games in a row,” said Willford. “We had numerous opportunities in the game, but couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities. Against good teams, you can’t make a ton of mistakes and we made too many in this game.”

Encampment fell to the Rattlers 12-42.

The showdown against the Rattlers leaves just two games left for Encampment before the first round of playoffs. With only one loss this season, against a seemingly unbeatable team, Willford is feeling positive about the remainder of the season.

“It did really stand out to me that our team battled until the end of the game and never gave up,” said Willford. “That tells me a lot about our team moving forward.”

Pickett was the rushing leader against the Rattlers with 21 yards and was the passing leader with 85 yards. Henrie, who has been the team’s passing leader this season, passed for 83 yards against LSRV. Tyrel Brown was the receiving leader with 46 yards, followed by Jordan with 37 yards.

The Encampment Tigers are 5-1 for the season and 3-1 in conference play after this weekend.

Their next two games will be against two Natrona County teams. On October 13th they will host the new kids on the block, Casper Christian, at 1 p.m. in Encampment. On October 20th, they will be hosted by the Midwest Oilers at 6 p.m. in Midwest.