LUSK – In the nearly 100 years of this rivalry, the Tigers have held the upper hand by a sizeable margin, but if the senior-heavy Lingle-Fort Laramie Doggers wanted to make a deep playoff run, the road began at Gibson Field at Fullmer Stadium last Friday night.

A quiet first series by the Tiger offense sent Dayne Lamp out to punt it away, and when LFL bobbled the ball, Lamp was there to cover it up. NCHS could not take advantage of the short field, yet the Doggers offense was also kept off the field. The Tigers ran 16 plays to LFL’s six, but the game was scoreless after one.

Lusk’s offense left another red zone chance with no points, and again the defense held up for most of the second period. The Doggers’ Brian McCoid connected with Loudon Bremer for a 17 yard touchdown and Anthony Arnusch kicked the point after with two minutes before the break.

It didn’t take long after halftime for the visitors to put NCHS in a deep hole. McCoid found Kaiden Riggs for an 81-yard score. Four minutes later, Slade Hopkins carried it in from six yards, and Arnusch’s kicks moved the score to 21-0.

Another stalled drive for Lusk gave LFL one more chance to score as the third wound down. Speedster Nolan Spears broke a few tackles and raced 64 yards to the endzone and Arnusch booted the PAT for a 28-0 lead.

The visitors kept the pedal down on the youthful Tigers as Riggs got free for a 64-yard scamper. Lamp blocked the attempt but the damage had been done in the 34-0 score. The visitors JV put a late score on the board as Brady Cook’s fastball got past a pair of Tiger defenders into Arnusch’s arms. His kick was the final count in the 41-0 final score.

“We knew they were going to be tough to beat, they have a lot of experienced talent back,” coach Chris Skeen said. “Outside of those few big plays, our defense is coming around. We just need to string a few drives together to give the defense a break.”

The Tigers return to Saratoga for the second straight season, as they face the Panthers Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.  

“It’s going to be nice to get on the road, maybe a little more time to focus and bond a bit for a few hours together,” he added. 

SCORE BY QUARTERS

LFL 0 7 21 13 - 41

NCHS 0 0 0 0 - 0

TEAM STATS

LFL: Passing 5/8, 150 yards, 3 TD; Rushing 22 attempts/251 yards, 2 TD; 8 first downs; 7 penalties/55 yards; 1 fumble/1 lost.

NCHS: Passing 2/2, 36 yards; Rushing 40 attempts/113 yards; 6 first downs; 4 penalties/25 yards.

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Passing- Kupke 2 comp/2 attempts, 36 yards. Rushing- Colton Coffman 7 attempts/52 yards; Nathan Miller 9/29; Dayne Lamp 2/16; David West 16/11; Gabe Matthews 4/7; Kupke 2/ -13. Receptions- N. Miller 1 catch/18 yards; Donovin Kraft 1/18 yards. Defensive points: Lamp 25; West 10; Coffman 8; Isaac Assman 5; Caleb Miller 4; Blake Miller 4; Ivan Kremers 2; Aiden Dickson 1; Tatum Stallman 1; Miles Ashurst 1.