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September 2, 2010 I The Lovell Chronicle I 9
Bulldogs travel to Wright for regular season opener
BY DAVID PECK
If Friday's "week zero"
game at Thermopolis was a
tune-up for the Lovell Bull-
dog football team, the team
was certainly missing on
a few cylinders in the first
half before playing a much
smoother second half in a
27-7 loss to the defending
state champion Bobcats.
Lovell trailed the home
team 27-0 at halftime, then
outscored the Bobcats 7-0
in the second half as soph-
omore backup quarterback
Dylan Hultgren hit Hunt-
er Hinckley on a 30-yard
touchdown pass.
"It was a great play,"
coach Doug Hazen said.
"They called pass interfer-
ence but Hunter still caught
the ball and scored."
Hazen said Thermopo-
lis was "well-drilled" and
called quarterback Mitch
Syverson a "phenomenal
player" who was a real dif-
ference-maker. In the sec-
ond half the Bobcats used
basically the same line and
played other members of
the first unit but with a
backup quarterback at the
helm, Lovell dominated on
defense, Hazen said.
The Bulldogs will
open the regular season
at Wright Friday at 7 p.m.
Lovell beat the Panthers at
home 21-3 in last season's
home- and season-opener,
but Wright went on to have
a solid season, making the
playoffs and playing Kem-
merer tough in the first
round before falling 27-9.
"We don't want to start
the season 0-1, we want to
start 1-0," Hazen said. "As
disappointed as I was Fri-
day, we didn't game plan
for Thermop. With Wright
we'll game plan for what
we think they'll want to
run. Our coaches will do
film prep and we'll attack
offensively a certain way
and defensively a certain
way."
Offensively, Hazen
said, the Panthers run a
double wing but unlike
Kemmerer, Glenrock and
others, they will split re-
ceivers wide and throw.
"They'll run option,
Frl., Sept. 24 Mountain View Lovell 7:00
erio=; 0t Qraybu, (,om!u)........
Fri., Oct. 08 Wyoming Indian Ethete 6:00
Fi; Kemmerer
Frl., Oct. 22 Big Piney Lovell 7:00
Sat,, Oct. 30 1st Round Playoff TBA TBA
Sat., Nov. 06 Semi-Finals Football Playoffs TBA TBA
Sat., Nov. 13 State Football Championships TBA TBA
reshmen/JV
Sat., Aug. 28 Greybull (JV) Greybull 10:00
Lovell 5:00
Sat Sept. 18 h (-t0) 1i ......
Set., Sept. 25 Big Horn (JV) Lovell 1:00
Tues., Oct. 19 Wodand (FR) Lave, 5:00
counter, toss and throw it a
fair amount," he said.
BULLDOG OUTLOOK
Hazen said it would be
nice to be able to run the
ball effectively on every
down, but he said the Bull-
dogs are at their best when
the offense is balanced.
Taking over at quarterback
this season is big (6-4/6-5)
Koty Johnson, a senior who
moved back to Lovell dur-
ing last year's school year
and did not play football for
the Bulldogs.
"He has a decent arm,"
Hazen said. "We knew
there would be a little bit of
an adjustment, but Friday's
game was a good start for
him. He made some mis-
takes, but they are fixable
mistakes."
Backing up Johnson
and running the junior var-
sity offense will be sopho-
more Dylan Hultgren.
"He's really coming
along," Hazen said. "We're
excited about Dylan. He'll
be a solid backup this year
and we're hoping for big
things next year."
Johnson will have a
host of big, physical targets
to throw to this season in
sophomore Cody Savage,
senior Tyrel Harrison and
senior Kaleb Leithead, plus
senior tight end Joey Croft.
Also catching a few passes
will be senior Kenny Grant.
Harrison could spell Croft
at tight end, Hazen said,
along with Mark Grant.
Starting in the back-
field will be senior halfback
Billy Davila and junior full-
back Steven Pickett, last
year's quarterback. Also
working into the mix will
be junior Dimas Patina and
sophomore Dino Collins.
Offensive linemen will
include senior Darren Bal-
lard, juniors Garrett An-
gell, Mark Grant, A.J. Mon-
tanez, Eli Moody and Tony
Rodriguez and sophomore
Tanner Rohrer.
"They will all see play-
Jo Sow
Lovell quarterback Koty Johnson scrambles away from a Thermopolis rusher
during Friday night's "week zero" game in Thermopolis. The Bulldogs open the
season Friday at Wright. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
ing time," Hazen said.
"We're still feeling our
way with a couple of play-
ers to find the best spot for
them."
Craig Lundberg will be
the team's offensive coordi-
nator, Hazen said, though
he will help plan for games.
Hazen will be the defensive
coordinator.
Linemen in Hazen's
4-4 defense will be Ballard,
Montanez, Moody, Angell,
Rodriguez and Savage.
Outside linebackers will be
Croft and Mark Grant, with
Pickett and Davila on the
inside. Cornerbacks will be
Leithead and Patina, and
Harrison will be the safety.
"Other guys will work
in," Hazen said. "Nothing
is totally set yet."
Savage will be the
punter, and Ritch McCol-
lam and Savage are han-
dling kickoff and field goal
duties.
"It will be interesting to
see how the kids respond,"
Hazen said. "As coaches,
we had high expectations
and we're frustrated. Our
goal is to get better every
week, and we certainly
have a chance to do that
this week."
Craig Winterholler and
Brandon Jolley are the JV
coaches. Winterholler is
also working with backs,
receivers and the second-
ary, Jolley with the offen-
sive and defensive lines.
The JVs opened their
season at Greybull Satur-
day morning and fell 12-
0. Hazen said Greybull
took an early 6-0 lead and
Lovell blocked the PAT.
The score remained 6-0 for
most of the game as both
defenses played well, he
said, and Greybull added a
late touchdown (two-point
conversion failed) for the
final score. Turnovers hurt
the Lovell cause on offense,
he said.
5 p.m. in Byron
Grizzlies open at home Friday against Normative Services
BY DAVID PECK
The preseason practic-
es and a jamboree are over,
and now the Rocky Moun-
tain Grizzlies can focus on
the regular season as they
open the 2010 football cam-
paign Friday, hosting Nor-
mative Services at 5 p.m. in
Byron.
Early-season home
games will be played in By-
ron while the new field in
Cowley is being finished.
The Grizzlies participat-
ed in a multi-team jamboree
in Sheridan Saturday and
scrimmaged against Norma-
tive Services, Tongue River,
Glenrock and Big Horn.
"We looked good at
times on both sides of the
line, but we weren't as crisp
as we want to be," coach
David Hayes said. "We did
run the ball on offense with
success at times. Caleb Es-
tes (junior linebacker) flew
around and made some good
plays on defense, and Luke
Leonhardt (senior DB/WR)
flew around on both sides of
the ball.
"Guy Jones (senior) had
a good performance at quar-
terback and safety, and I
thought our line on both
sides of the ball showed im-
provement. We got some
good playing time for some
of our younger players with
two top players hurt - Lo-
gan Friedly (junior RB/LB)
and Kaleb Hoyt (senior line-
man)."
Hayes said the two were
hurt in practice last week,
and while Friedly (ankle)
should be back this week,
Hoyt (shoulder) might be
out another week."
Looking at the Rocky
Mountain offense, Hayes
said the Grizzlies will work
hard to establish the run,
but he said senior Guy
Jones is a versatile weapon
who can both run with the
ball and pass it. "He's good
in play action," Hayes said.
Backing up Jones will
be senior Thomas Trout-
man, who will start at wide
receiver or tight end, and
the junior varsity quarter-
back is junior Brandon Alt-
man, Hayes said.
Running backs include
Friedly and fellow senior
Kyle Peterson, along with
sophomore Bryce Ward and
junior Derik Romero, who
will also play flanker. Leon-
hardt is a top receiver, and
other targets are tight ends
Jessee Wilson and Trout-
man and wide receivers Wil-
son Flowers and Altman.
The offensive line in-
cludes tackles Brandon Asay
and Estes, guards Hoyt and
Braden Grant and center
Russell Roberts. Rotating
in will be Logan Bisby, Jake
Jones and Wilson.
"We're coming along,"
Hayes said. '%Ve showed
signs of decent timing in
Sheridan. We're coming to-
gether and are fairly bal-
anced."
Hayes is the offensive
coordinator and also coach-
es the backs and lineback-
ers. Justin Moss is the de-
fensive coordinator and
coaches the backs on both
sides of the ball.
Moss's aggressive 4-3
defense will include line-
men Asay, Hoyt, Roberts,
Wilson, Grant and Bisby,
linebackers Friedly, Estes,
Leonhardt, Peterson and
Ward, cornerbacks Rome-
ro, Flowers and Jake Jones
and safeties Guy Jones and
Troutman.
Hayes said junior Eli-
jah Jasso will play on the of-
fensive and defensive lines
when he returns from an in-
jury.
"We will blitz a lot with
our linebackers and stunt
with our line," Hayes said
of the defensive philosophy.
"We'll be very aggressive
and play a zone coverage,
with some man."
Assistant coaches are
Joe Davis (line and special
teams) and Steve Coleman
(defensive backs, receivers
and special teams).
OPENER FRIDAY
The Grizz host Nor-
mative Services Friday
at 5 p.m. in Byron. Rocky
crushed NSI 35-0 in Sheri-
dan to start last season.
"We match up well with
them," Hayes said. "We feel
if we do what we know we
can do we'll be all right. We
want to establish the run-
ning game and play good
defense."
.... : T: LOCATION
FrL, Sept. 03 Normative Services Byron 5:00
Frl., Sept 17 Riverside Byron 7:00
mA
Fri., Oct. 01 Cokeville Cokeville 2:00
Fd ShnL Shoshonl :
Fd., OCt. 15 Burlington TBA 2:00
Saratoga 3i30
Sat., Oct. 30 ........... Quarter Finals TBA TBA
TBA T
SaL Nov: 13 ....... championships TBA TBA
Byron
Burtgton
Lovell golfers compete well with the 'big boys' at Lander
BY DAVID PECK
The Lovell High School golf
team continued to show improve-
ment in scores and consistency as
the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs
competed at the Lander Invita-
tional Thursday and Friday, Aug.
26-27.
Teams attending the large
tournament included Cody, Evan-
ston, Green River, Jackson, host
Lander, Lovell, Lyman, Pinedale,
Powell, Star Valley, Thermopolis
and Worland. Coach Ben Fowler
said there were 120 golfers in the
field.
Evanston won both the boys
and girls varsity divisions, and
the Lovell boys placed ninth in the
12-team field with a score of 757,
defeating Thermopolis, Worland
and Lyman and finishing just 19
strokes behind Star Valley.
"That's fantastic for a young
squad," Fowler said.
Junior Cody King shaved
12 strokes off his score at Pow-
ell a week earlier by shooting 47-
45=92 Thursday and improving to
38-42=80 on Friday for a two-day
score of 172.
"Cody was only six or eight
strokes out of the top 10," Fowl-
er said. "This is the second tour-
nament where on the second day
he really shined. He's come a long
way stepping into the shoes we
want him to fill. We'll see how he
does this week at Wright when
we'll see a lot of 2A kids."
Lovell was the only Class 2A
team competing in Lander.
"He's come a long way. We
just need to get him over the first-
day jitters," the coach said.
Senior Jared Minchow shot
45-49=94 on Thursday, then fad-
ed to 55-48=103 on Friday for a
score of 197.
"Jared feels like his second
shot going to the green is not
where he wants it to be," Fowl-
er said. "We'll work on that this
week. It's a mind over matter
thing with Jared."
Freshman Brandon Wolving-
ton golfed in the number-three po-
sition for the Bulldogs at Lander
and shot 50-51=101/49-46=95 for
a score of 196.
"That's excellent for a fresh-
man. We expect great things, and
Brandon is doing a terrific job,"
Fowler said.
Senior Jeff Lewis was also in
the pack at 43-51=94/52-53=105
for a final score of 199.
"There are little things Jeff
needs to work on," Fowler noted.
"It's the small things that are cost-
ing him extra strokes. Wright will
be a great opportunity for our kids
to finish in the top 10."
Freshman Chase Tippetts
shot 49-50=99/46-54=100 for a
score of 199.
"Our freshmen are shooting
very good as far as I'm concerned,"
Fowler said. "Chase is right where
we want him to be. In two-day
tournaments with a full 18, fa-
tigue begins to set in on the back
nine, but he's doing terrific."
Two junior varsity golfers
competed in Lander. Sophomore
Kaleb Hitz shot 55-61=116/52-
58=110 for a score of 226. Junior
Jesse Bassett shot 61-60=121/63-
57=120 for a score of 241.
"Kaleb is getting lots of play-
ing time," Fowler said. "He'll be
in a playoff with Jesse this week
for the fifth spot on the team at
Wright with Brandon going on a
family vacation this week.
"For Jesse, this was the first
time he has ever played golf in a
tournament, his first outing. A lot
of it is just getting out and getting
after it. He did a great job and
gave it his best effort."
GIRLS RESULTS
Senior Mason Fowler shot 60-
51=111/45-54=99 for a score of
210, six strokes out of the top 10.
"The first day caught her,"
Coach Fowler said. "She got to see
a lot of 3A-4A golfers. It's mental.
It's a matter of playing the course
and not the kids. She's excited
about getting to Wright this week-
end to see where she's at (in 2A)."
Jordan Frost shot 59-
60=119/60-59=119 for a 238 score.
"She was very consistent,"
Fowler said. "The more playing
time she gets, the better off she'll
be. She's played more golf in the
last two weeks than she's seen
in her whole high school career.
There are a lot of little things she's
working on to improve.
The Bulldogs will compete at
the Wright Invitational this Fri-
day and Saturday with action be-
ginning at 10 a.m. Friday and at
9 a.m. Saturday. Fowler said it
is a varsity tournament only and
Lovell will take five boys and two
girls.
