LHS football drops road game to Campbell County
Sep. 2—LARAMIE — The Laramie High football team was on the road for the second consecutive week to start the season, dropping game two 45-0 to Campbell County in Gillette.
The Plainsmen defense got off to a slow start with Campbell County opening the game with a four-play, 66-yard drive in less than two minutes. The drive saw gains of 10, 41 and 14 yards before a quarterback sneak by Mason Drube put the Camels up by a touchdown.
Laramie's first offensive drive wasn't anymore successful, as the Plainsmen went three-and-out to start the game. Junior Fisher Frude nearly connected with junior wide receiver Max Alexander on a deep pass that got over the head of the defensive back, but the pass wasn't hurled in.
Campbell County's offense continued moving the ball on its next drive. Drube connected with senior Aidan Dorr on a pass deep down the left sideline for the Camels' second touchdown of the night for a 14-0 lead.
After Laramie's second offensive drive stalled, the Camels went up 21-0 with a 44-yard passing touchdown from Drube to junior Adam Gibson. Drube's third touchdown of the night put Campbell County up three scores earlier in the game.
On the Plainsmen's next drive, Alexander took over at quarterback, and Frude stayed in the game at wide receiver. The drive saw the Plainsmen move the ball to midfield, picking up their only first down of the first quarter.
Drube found sophomore Seth Peterson on an run-pass option up the seam for a 55-yard touchdown reception to start the second quarter. The score put Drube at four touchdowns in the first two quarters, including three passing scores and one rushing.
LHS started its next drive with Frude back at quarterback, and he connected deep down the right sideline to Alexander for a 24-yard gain. The momentum stopped there, as Frude's next pass was tipped and intercepted by junior Danny Carsrud at midfield.
The offensive onslaught by Campbell County continued late into the second quarter, with an 8-yard rush by junior Trenton Rosenau putting the Camels up 35-0.
The Plainsmen were unable to score before halftime, despite avoiding a three-and-out on their final drive of the half. Things were made worse when Laramie's starting center, junior Jamison Bade, left the game with a right leg injury.
Frude was intercepted on the final play of the half by junior Michael Biggs, a turnover that was Frude's second of the half.
"It begins and ends with the offensive line," LHS coach Paul Ronga told KOWB Radio after the game. "We lost our starting center, who is a huge component of our team. We had a sophomore out there who has never played (Class) 4A varsity football before.
"Laramie continues to be hit with adversity, and we will continue to try and do what we can with the adversity and intangibles that continue to haunt us."
In the first half, Laramie's offense tallied just 98 yards on 22 plays, compared to Campbell County's 24 plays for 300 yards.
"If you cannot successfully run the ball and get positive yards, then the ball will never get passed the chains," Ronga said. "And Laramie continues to find ourselves in that situation."
The Plainsmen got the ball to open the second half, but their first play of the third quarter was an interception by junior Patrick Lynch, who returned it to LHS' 30-yard line.
"The remedy this week was that we added two different people — an H-back and a tight end — to give us seven blockers at the point of attack," Ronga said. "But when your opponent is someone like Campbell County, who just comes in waves, it's difficult for us."
The Camels added another touchdown on a pass from Drube to junior Garrett Herther. Campbell County was also able to pick up a bad snap on the extra point and ran the ball in for a two-point conversion to go up 43-0.
A bad snap to the punter on Laramie's next drive went out of the back of the endzone for a safety to give Campbell County a 45-0 lead. It was the Plainsmen's second consecutive game with a safety caused by a bad snap through the back of the end zone on a punt.
"Our offensive line are good people," Ronga said. "They try very hard, and theyre very young. They're very inexperienced, and so we will continue to work with them."
The safety activated a running clock for the rest of the game. The Camels' next drive lasted into the final minute of the third quarter before a botched handoff on a reverse resulted in a turnover by LHS junior Dealyn Robinson.
LHS wasn't able to get anything going on its next drive, and the series ended in a turnover on downs. Neither team mustered much offense the rest of the way, ending the game with a final score of 45-0.
"Anyone that isn't able to see that Campbell County is a good team just doesn't know football," Ronga said. "I totally believe in this team, their size and speed."
The Plainsmen (0-2) will return to the field for their home-opener at 6 p.m. Friday against Sheridan.
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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.
