LHS football comes up short in slugfest against Rock Springs

Oct. 14—Laramie High and Rock Springs put together a slugfest at Deti Stadium on Friday night, with the Plainsmen falling 21-14 in their final home game to drop to 0-8 on the season.

"Playing the top four teams (in Class 4A) makes it hard to get a true sense of yourself," LHS head coach Paul Ronga said after the game. "About midseason, I realized what we needed to do offensively to be successful, and what you saw tonight was the progression of that."

The Plainsmen got the better of the Tigers for most of the first half, scoring the game's first points midway through the second quarter. Junior quarterback Fisher Frude scored the first rushing touchdown of his career on a 7-yard keeper to put LHS up 7-0.

The Plainsmen had the most success they've had all season offensively against the Tigers, averaging 5.9 yards per play.

"Fisher is set up for a good senior campaign," Ronga said. "He's progressed a lot, and his generalship on the field stands out. He's seeing lanes and throwing the ball better than ever."

The biggest play in the first half was a 48-yard completion from Frude to Max Alexander. Four of Frude's first five completions went to the junior wide receiver.

The Tigers' offense changed pace near the end of the half, airing the ball out on their way to tying the game with a minute to play in the second quarter. Rock Springs quarterback Michael Faigl had completions of 16, 29 and 23 yards on the team's final drive of the half.

The Tigers continued an explosive barrage into the second half, scoring on back-to-back drives to go up 21-7. Faigl completed his second touchdown pass of the night on an 80-yard catch-and-run to Goodness Okerke, followed by a 5-yard rushing touchdown from Brycen Coombs.

Throughout the night, Laramie's offense was able to string together time-consuming drives to shorten the game. On LHS' final drive of the night, Frude and Alexander connected for the team's second touchdown on a 5-yard pass to bring the game to its final score of 21-14.

"Tonight, we trusted all of our receivers and running backs and offensive line, and I think using them was the difference in our offense tonight," Alexander said.

The success from Laramie's offense against Rock Springs primarily came from a double-wing formation that allowed junior Evan Crum and sophomore Diego Herrera to see opportunities on offense.

LHS senior Sam Keith, who has missed the season with a heart condition, spoke to the team after the game. Keith was in line to be a senior captain for the Plainsmen this fall before being sidelined with the medical condition.

"He told the team that, even though we're 0-8, that it doesn't feel like they're 0-8," Ronga said. "He mentioned the schedule put the team in a tough situation, but he was proud of them."

LHS will finish out the regular season on the road next weekend. Cheyenne South (0-8) will host the Plainsmen at 6 p.m. Friday in Cheyenne.

"The support our fans gave us at home all season has been great," Alexander said. "We hear them, and we're really thankful for that."

Rock Springs 21, Laramie 14

Laramie...... 0 7 0 7 — 14

Rock Springs...... 0 7 7 7 — 21

SCORING SUMMARY

Second Quarter

LHS: Frude 7-yard rush (Frude Kick), 6:12.

RS: Faigl 23-yard pass to Cahill (Rubich kick), 1:06.

Third Quarter

RS: Faigl 80-yard pass to Okere (Rubich kick), 8:30.

Fourth Quarter

RS: Coombs 5-yard rush (Rubich kick), 11:37.

LHS: Frude 5-yard pass to Alexander (Frude kick), 0:47.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

LHS: Roberts 8-29, Frude 10-46-1, Ledford 5-10, Crum 3-16, Herrera 2-2. RS: Coombs 5-14-1, Faigl 5-6, Thornhill 2-16, Okere 6-11

Passing

LHS: Frude 16-29-180 1, Sirdoreus 0-1-0 0, Alexander 1-1-7. RS: Faigl 8-14-221 2.

Receiving

LHS: Alexander 9-147-1, Sirdoreous 2-25-0, Ennist 2-5-0, Herrera 1-12, Crum 1-7, Ledford 1-13. RS: Anderson 1-29-0, Okere 2-96-1, Coombs 2-83-0, Cahill 2-31-1.

Austin Edmonds covers Laramie High, University of Wyoming and community athletics for WyoSports. He can be reached at aedmonds@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @_austinedmonds.