LHS football drops senior night contest to Cheyenne East

Sep. 15—The Laramie Plainsmen dropped to 0-4 on the season with a 63-13 loss against No. 1-ranked Cheyenne East.

The Thunderbirds came into Friday's game with a plus-120 point differential over their opponents. Previous games came against Campbell County, Natrona County and Thunder Basin.

On the other hand, Laramie's first points came in week three against Sheridan. The first half of the Plainsmen's schedule was loaded with top of the Class 4A conference talent in No. 6 Campbell County, No. 4 Sheridan and No. 2 defending state champion Sheridan.

East will have a showdown with Sheridan later this month on Sept. 29. Senior quarterback Cam Hayes was coming off of a 25-of-31 passing for 384 yards game with five touchdowns and a turnover against Thunder Basin.

Laramie quarterback junior Fisher Frude made his fourth career start at the position and has improved each week. Last week, he threw his first career touchdown to junior wide receiver Max Alexander for his first career touchdown catch.

"I see a team full of kids just like ours," Cheyenne East coach Chad Goff said to KOWB during the Plainsmen pregame show. "I always tell our kids to respect the team we play. Laramie is gonna do what they can to show the hard work they've put in."

Laramie's main goal coming into this game was to play clean — avoid turnovers, missed tackles and big plays. LHS head coach Paul Ronga felt the team was better than they've shown the past three games, and looked forward to putting it together.

"Their team speed is borderline college level," Ronga said in the pregame show on KOWB. "No one has been able to put a glove on them so far, so we want to try and slow them down early."

Before the game, LHS honored its 11-man senior class, consisting of Porter Trabing, Ryken Cherry, Dakota Ledford, Kyler Roberts, Cutter Trabing, Bodie Livingston, Samuel Keith, Andrew Cole, Kayden Reney, Levi Crane and Jaysen Wood. Roberts led the Plainsmen captain walk to midfield after missing the previous two seasons with injury.

"I'm grateful," Roberts said to WyoSports after the game. "God has watched over me and my injuries, so all I can say is glory to God."

Opening the game, Laramie held the Thunderbirds offense in check and forced a punt. East's Colby Olson's punt traveled 62 yards to pin Laramie inside its own 15-yard line.

Unfortunately for the Plainsmen, their opening drive started with a turnover. A 5-yard sack by East led to an LHS safety, giving the Thunderbirds two points and the ball.

Momentum stayed with East as it returned the punt after the safety 42 yards into Plainsmen territory. The two Thunderbirds returners have attempted or faked a lateral to the other on each kick return.

"I felt like Laramie did a good job and gave us some adversity, and we had to react to it," Goff said postgame. "I wouldn't say we came out with the intensity we need, but we reacted well over time."

A 15-yard touchdown rush by East's Drew Jackson put the Thunderbirds ahead 8-0. The extra point was blocked by Laramie's Will Brinniger.

"We came out tonight with the mindset that we're going to fight for our teammates, no matter what," Roberts said. "That's all I can ask for as a captain. In past years, that hasn't been a thing, but this year it's unmatched."

A series of inefficient drives by both teams led to a three scoreless possessions before a botched snap on a Laramie punt lost 28 yards and set East up with a short field. Starting at the 19-yard line, the Thunderbirds added a touchdown on a 2-yard pass to Brendan Bohlmann, giving East a 15-0 lead. This was Laramie's third snap over a punter's head this season.

East added another touchdown on a pass from Hayes to Renton Jenson to make the score 22-0. Not going down quietly, Laramie quickly flipped the field with a running back pass play to set the Plainsmen up at the East 15-yard line.

The pass came from sophomore A.J. Sidoreous and was caught by Alexander. Two plays later, Frude connected with Alexander for a 17-yard touchdown to give Laramie its first touchdown of the first half this season, narrowing the deficit to 22-6.

Opening the second quarter, East's Jackson scored his second touchdown of the game on a 4-yard rush. The score capped off a six-play, 67-yard drive.

"(Jackson) did an amazing job," Hayes said. "And that's what we expect every game. He goes out and plays hard for us. No. 2 is a great player."

The remainder of the first half belonged to the Thunderbirds. They tacked on three touchdowns, including a 27-yard catch by Jackson, a 7-yard quarterback scramble from Hayes and a 28-yard reception from Hayes to Jenson. East led 49-6 at halftime.

"We practice very fast," Hayes said afterward. "We go nonstop, no whistle, no stopping, and our scout team does a good job competing with us."

The third quarter got underway with a drive that appeared destined for a touchdown, but Hayes was intercepted by Laramie's Evan Crum for a pick-6. Crum jumped a flat route and returned it 88 yards for his first career touchdown, narrowing the lead to 49-13.

"We don't care what your last name or team name is," Roberts said. "We're going to come out and play our hardest."

The Plainsmen got the ball right back after recovering an onside kick at the East 48-yard line for a huge momentum swing. LHS also showed a second half display of heart against Sheridan last week.

"On tape, we saw that Laramie's secondary moves around a bit," Goff said. "They definitely caused some confusion for us at times tonight."

East's (4-0) defense quickly woke up and collected back-to-back sacks to force a Laramie punt. Jackson later scored his third rushing touchdown of the night and fourth overall on the game to make the score 56-13.

The third quarter concluded after a Plainsmen drive stalled. Jackson returned the punt for East across midfield to give the Thunderbirds starting field position at the LHS 35-yard line.

Hayes opened the fourth quarter with a 45-yard bomb that connected with Nick Mirich to add to the lead at 63-13.

Laramie continued to fight for respect, moving the ball deep into East territory on the following drive. Unable to score, the LHS drive eventually ended with a Thunderbirds interception, and they took over at the Plainsmen 9-yard line.

"We fought and played better than last week," Ronga said postgame. "We did the best with what we had after a few players got injured early. We had some calls that were a little excessive and I felt brought us down, so the penalties were not on our side tonight.

"We're gonna show up on Monday as if its the first day and we're fighting for a playoff spot. We need to win two to get in, and this was a stepping stone."

James Vasek, Tyler Ennist and Ledford all left the game with injury and did not return. Vasek and Ledford are expected to be ready by next week and were held out as a precaution. From this point forward, the Thunderbirds were able to run out the clock with the help of the running clock.

"That team plays with heart," Hayes said about LHS. "No matter their record or how the season has gone, they show they play with heart."

After back-to-back home games, Laramie is back on the road in the capital city next week at 6 p.m., taking on No. 5 Cheyenne Central (1-3).

"I'm always very impressed by Cheyenne Central," Ronga said. "There's gonna be more pressure on the program to try and get to the next level in these final five games."

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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.