In what has become a disturbing trend for the NCHS football team in the current three game losing streak, the Tigers did not come out ready to play and let a good team take an early lead. After losses to Upton-Sundance and Big Horn, Lusk was tested with a third team ranked in Wyopreps top four. Pine Bluffs may be as good as last year’s state champion team and put up two touchdowns in a span of barely two minutes during the first quarter. Haize Fornstrom ran the first in from three yards away and then hit up Ishmael DePaulette for 57 yards. Andrew Fornstrom kicked the PATs for a 14-0 first quarter lead.

Haize got away from the Tiger defense just a minute into the second with a 50 yard scamper for six, and Andrew nailed the kick for the 21-0 lead. NCHS had a chance to score after James Stone came out of a scrum with the ball near midfield. The Tigers marched deep into Hornets territory but again came up empty on the scoreboard and the lead remained 21 points.

Lusk finally got in the endzone after Damien Molzahn covered up a Hornet fumble on the 44 yard line. On a fourth and one from the one Kyle Anderson buried his shoulders and plowed in for the touchdown, and Drake Lamp cut the lead to 21-8 with his two-point run. The joy was short-lived as PB broke a couple of big plays and Haize scored from three yards away. Andrew made it 28-8 as the fourth period approached.

While the Tigers played much better in the final frame, it was too much to overcome. Freshman Drake Lamp recorded Lusk’s first 100 yard rushing game of the season with 125 yards on 34 carries. PB scored one last time as Haize connected with DePaulette again for a 25 yard touchdown. Andrew finished the scoring in the 35-8 final score that drops NCHS to 1-3 in conference play and 2-3 overall.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

PB

14 7 7 7 35

NCHS

0 0 8 0 8

TEAM STATS

PB: Passing- 5/15, 136 yds. Rushing- 35 atts/210 yds. Receiving- 5 catches/136 yds. 11 first downs. 2 fumbles/2 lost. 3 penalties/30 yds. 

NCHS: Passing- 2/6, 60 yds. Rushing- 59 atts/189 yds. Receiving- 2 catches/60 yds. 10 first downs. 2 fumbles/1 lost. 2 penalties/20 yds.

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Passing Anderson 2/6, 60 yds. Rushing- Lamp 34/125; Stone 12/30; Anderson 6/21; Molzahn 5/14. Receiving- Ryan Gilkey 1 catch/44 yds; Ryan Bruegger 1/16. Defensive points- Molzahn 26; Cole Mellott 19; Garrett Wurdeman 17; Stone 12; Jake Heil 9; Gilkey 7; Anderson 7; Teagan Tschacher 7; Traylin Bruegger 4; Jacob Miller 3; R. Bruegger 2; Jasper Caldera 2; Lamp 1.

The Tigers need to get off their backs and return to the win column if the playoffs are to be reached. This week Lusk hosts 2A Kemmerer in a non-conference encounter. Why a game with a school 400 miles from across the state you might ask? When the schedule makers were putting the finishing touches on this season, the Tigers and Rangers just happened to have the same week open. New Kemmerer Head Coach Bart Jernigan entered the season trying to stop a 37 game losing streak (which they did in week one against Saratoga), so why not travel to face a rebuilding team in the Tigers.

Kickoff is an EARLY 4 p.m. Friday afternoon as the Class of 2018 celebrates Senior Night for their final game on Gibson Field at Fullmer Stadium.