CHRONICLE
October 6, 2011 I The Lovell Chronicle I 7
BY DAVID PECK
The Lovell Bulldogs
have survived three "big
games" this season, beat-
ing then number-two Ly-
man on Sept. 16, 21-7, then
holding on to beat always-
tough and fifth-ranked
Mountain View Buffaloes
the following Friday on the
road, 21-19.
Friday, the Bulldogs
traveled to Greybull to
take on the third-ranked
Buffs in their third consec-
utive "big game" against
a ranked opponent, and it
was, perhaps, the Bulldogs'
strongest effort of the sea-
son as they defeated Grey-
bull 24-13.
"I told the kids after
the game that we finally
played hard for four quar-
ters," coach Doug Hazen
said. "Our mantra for the
week was 'finish.' In ev-
ery game, it" seems, we've
been up at halftime, but
we needed to finish the fi-
nal two quarters and play
a complete game."
The Bulldogs showed
their versatility against
the Buffs, rushing for 141
yards and passing for 231
for 372 yards of total of-
fense. Greybull rushed for
52 yards and passed for
122.
Hazen noted that quar-
terback Dylan Hultgren
spread the ball around to
six different receivers en
route to a performance
where he connected on 14
of 20 passes for 231 yards
and two touchdowns, eight
first downs and no inter-
ceptions.
"Right now we're pret-
ty lucky," Hazen said. "We
have kids who don't start
BY PATTI CARPENTER
The LHS volleyball team
continued fighting their way
to the top this week, adding
another two wins to their un-
defeated conference season.
On Saturday, Oct. 1, the
girls took on Thermop in
Thermopolis, winning the
first two games 26-24 and
25-19, falling to Thermop in
the third game 21-25, but
defeating them again in the
last game 25-15.
Thermopolis is hold-
ing on to second place in the
conference standings so far.
Lovell is number one and
went into this game plan-
ning to keep it that way.
"We're just ready for it to
get here," said Coach Stormy
Jameson. "We're ready for
Regionals. I think we're
peaking at the right moment.
We don't want to peak early
in the season and not get any
better. We've been getting
better all season at a steady
pace and now we're hitting
our peak at the right time."
The last time the Lady
Bulldogs took on Thermop
was at a tournament early
in the season where Ther-
mopolis prevailed. A lot has
changed since then, and the
LHS girls had no intention of
letting Thermop walk away
with a win this time.
"Our girls definitely re-
membered that they beat
us before and didn't want to
let that happen again," said
that most teams would love
to have starting for them."
The Bulldogs will need
that depth, however, as
they lost starting senior
fullback and linebacker
Steven Pickett to a bro-
ken leg in the fourth quar-
ter. While running the ball,
Pickett's leg got twisted,
breaking his tibia, as well
as a bone in his foot. He
will miss the rest of the
season.
Besides a crisp passing
attack, the Bulldogs also
ran the ball well, despite
starting halfback Dino Col-
lins being a little bit ten-
der with an ankle injury
suffered against Mountain
View.
"Dino ran hard right
away, then got nicked up,"
Hazen said. "Then Dimas
(Patina) stepped up. Our
line continued to block
well.
"Kudos to Greybull.
They have a very good de-
fensive line. Their D line
came hard. We had some
breakdowns we have to
clean up. They did some
twisting and stunting that
kind of messed us up."
EARLY DEFENSE
Defense dominated
early in the game. Lovell
took the opening kickoff
but went three and out as
Brady Shoemaker sacked
Hultgren on third down. A
nice punt return by Austin
Frazier set the Buffs up in
Lovell territory, but Lovell
senior Collin McArthur
ended the threat with an
interception at the 3-yard
line.
The Bulldogs were un-
able to drive it out, but
Jameson. "If we would have
lost this game, we would
have been tied for first with
them," explained Jameson.
"So, we knew we definitely
needed to win."
According to Jameson,
hanging on to first place go-
ing into regionals keeps the
girls in an ideal starting po-
sition in the regional start-
ing bracket.
"They defmitely wanted
to win, too. They wanted the
number one seed position as
well."
Erin Robertson had 14
kills, Jodi Walker 10, Chelsey
Ellis eight and freshman Em-
ily Reasch seven.
"Out of the best, Chelsey
(Ellis) probably had the best
hitting game that she's had
so far," said Jameson. "She
just didn't get as many kills
because they (Thermop)
were really digging them the
whole time."
The top defensive plays
came from Leanne Win-
terholler with 38 digs, Ellis
with 18, Megan McClure 12,
Shyann Wilske 14. Wilske
is the main setter for the JV
team; she is also a digger for
the varsity team.
McClure had 39 assists,
Reasch had five blocks, Ellis
had two aces and Miranda
Griffis had two aces.
"If we get the first place
seed going into Regionals it
will put us in a really good
spot to win the Regionals,"
Cody Savage boomed a
punt some 84 yards to get
the Bulldogs out of trou-
ble, and the Lovell defense
forced Greybull three and
out.
Greybull capitalized on
a Lovell fumble on a mis-
handled exchange from cen-
ter to quarterback to score
the first points of the game.
The Buffs drove 32 yards to
score. Frazier ran well at
quarterback and hit Victor
DeCabooter for a 15-yard
gain. Jesse Chestnut pow-
ered off left tackle for the
touchdown. A motion pen-
alty set the Buffs back on
the extra point, and Lovell
blocked the PAT, leaving
Greybull up 6-0 late in the
second quarter.
"That was our slowest
start of the season, the first
time we've trailed this sea-
son," Hazen said. "But we
put together a long drive
to take the lead and didn't
look back. We rattled off 24
straight points."
Lovell came back to
drive 71 yards for a touch-
down, converting a fourth-
down fake punt along the
way on a direct snap to
Pickett at midfield that
gained the necessary three
yards just barely.
"That's been in our bag
for a couple of years now,"
Hazen said. "At the time it
just felt right to me. I told
Steven and he just went out
and executed."
After the fake punt,
Mark Grant burst for 15
yards, Collins picked up
five and Grant gained
six more before Hultgren
found McKayan May for 13.
On the next play, Collins
walked into the end zone
explained Jameson. "That
will put us in the best place
for state because it will put
us in the best position at
state to do our best."
The top seeded team go-
ing into Regionals begins the
tournament by playing the
number four seed from an-
other district. The number
four seed is usually the weak-
est team at the tournament.
This gives that team a dis-
tinct advantage in the tour-
nament. If the team beats
the number four seed, they
could go on to play the num-
ber two seed. This is the eas-
iest road to the top, accord-
ing to Jameson. The same
system applies at the state
level, with the top seed from
the west playing the num-
ber four seed from the east in
their first match in the tour-
nament.
ROCKY RIVALS
On Tuesday night, the
girls faced off with local ri-
vals from Rocky Mountain
High School. The RMHS
girls came in fighting hard,
but the Bulldogs prevailed
in three games, securing
their position as the num-
ber one seed at Regionals.
Robertson led with six
kills, three aces and five
blocks. Walker had five kills.
Schuylar Davis had four
kills and one block. Griffis
had 17 digs and two kills. El-
lis, Reasch and McClure all
DAVID PECK
Lovell senior defensive tackle AJ Montanez (75) breaks through to put pressure
on Greybull quarterback Austin Frazier during Lovell's 24-13 win in Greybull
Friday night. The Bulldogs host Thermopolis Friday at 7 p.m.
untouched, Savage booted
the PAT, and Lovell led 7-6
early in the second.
Greybull picked up two
first downs on the ensuing
series but then had to punt,
and Lovell took charge of
the game with an 88-yard
drive that featured precise
passing by Hultgren includ-
ing a 19-yard dart to Sav-
age, a 13-yard completion
to McArthur and a strike
to Hunter Hinckley down'
the right sideline that the
speedy senior broke for a
33-yard touchdown. Lovell
led 14-6 with 2:23 left in
the half, and the Bulldogs
threatened again in the fi-
nal minute when Hultgren
hooked up with Hinckley
again for a 49-yard gain.
A key sack by DeCabooter
ended the threat for the
Buffs, however, and Lovell
led 14-6 at the half.
Lovell seized first con-
See 'BULLDOGS,' page 9
JOE SOVA
Maddie Baxendale and Erin Robertson block the ball as it comes over the net
in Thermopolis on Saturday, Oct. 1. Megan McClure covers behind them.
had three kills. Winterholler
served 100 percent and had
an average of 2.72 in passing
percentage.
This was the last home
game for the senior players
on the team.
"I just wanted to say that
I appreciate all of the seniors
on our team," said Jameson.
They've been great leaders
to the younger classmen and
are leaving big shoes to fill."
The girls will play their
last conference game of the
season against Riverside in
Basin at 2, 3 and 4 p.m. on
Friday.
"Last night clinched us
for first place seed at Region-
als, but we'd still like to end
with a win against Riverside
for a perfect conference sea-
son."
They will play one last
game against the non-con-
ference team in Shoshoni
on Oct. 13 at 4, 5 and 6 p.m.
The regional tournament
will take place in Riverton
this year Oct. 21 and 22. The
state tournament will be held
in Casper Oct. 27-29.
'1
I,
A $3000 reward is being offered for any
information leading to the arrest and
conviction of the person/persons responsible
for taking money belonging to
Big Horn Engraving.
Tailgate Party
All proceeds benefit the RMHS volleyball team.
Quilt raffle will be drawn at halftime of the football game.
Homecoming football game
