Cheyenne East rolls past Laramie
Sep. 18—LARAMIE — After a trio of one-score games to open the season, Cheyenne East left nothing to chance Friday night at Laramie's Deti Stadium.
Riding a five-touchdown first half from senior quarterback Gavin Goff, East carried a 49-0 lead over the Plainsmen into the break. The Thunderbirds emptied their bench for the final two quarters, as Laramie started to find production on both sides of the ball, but they still held on comfortably for a 49-8 victory.
With an array of new contributors in the mix following last year's Class 4A championship run, East coach Chad Goff was particularly pleased with the way his offense and defense played as cohesive units.
"Just the execution," coach Goff said of what impressed him most during the first half. "We told them going into games like this that you have to execute and do everything right all the time. That's one thing we've been working on constantly in practice."
"We have a lot of new guys, so sometimes we're 10 guys and not 11. It's always one guy, so we're trying to get rid of the one guy and make it 11 guys all the time. I felt like in the first half there was a lot of good 11-man execution."
The No. 4-ranked T-Birds (3-1) wasted no time jumping out in front, with Gavin scoring on an eight-yard run with 7:07 left in the first quarter to mark the first of seven consecutive East touchdown drives to start the game.
Senior running back Cade Pugh — who finished the day with 141 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries — scored on a 15-yard scamper less than four minutes later, with junior receiver Garet Schlabs hauling in a 12-yard touchdown catch to stretch the lead to 21 in the final minute of the first quarter. Schlabs had five catches for 50 yards and three touchdowns, and also pulled down an interception late in the second quarter to end Laramie's first trip into T-Birds territory.
Schlabs caught a touchdown pass on his team's first possession of the second quarter, and added another with 50 seconds left in the half. Pugh also scored twice in the second quarter, finding the end zone on a 15-yard run and a 10-yard pass from Gavin.
Gavin completed 11 of 17 passes for 100 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for 118 yards and a score on 11 carries. Like the bulk of East's starters, he did not see the field in the second half.
"It's fun," Schlabs said. "These last few weeks we were close to making connections — me, Gavin and all the receivers — and we didn't capitalize. (Friday) that was our big thing, capitalizing on those plays. That's what we did, and we came out on top."
After a brutal first half, Laramie (0-4) found success on both sides of the ball in the final two quarters.
The Plainsmen got their first defensive stop of the game in the opening drive of the second half. When it was their turn on offense, they delivered their most productive drive of the season.
Laramie marched 54 yards on seven plays, with sophomore quarterback Ben Malone giving the Plainsmen their first touchdown of the season on a three-yard run with 3:51 left in the third quarter. Malone, who completed 12 of 22 passes for 85 yards, proceeded to find senior receiver Jackson Devine for a successful two-point conversion.
"It felt really good to get the first touchdown of the season, but we have to focus on bigger and better things," Malone said. "We have to get better for the next week and we have to build on tonight."
Junior running back Pablo Zepeda led Laramie with 48 yards from scrimmage, while Devine was the team's leading receiver with five catches for 38 yards. Defensively, the Plainsmen shut out East in the second half, providing a sense of optimism despite their ugly start.
They'll look to build off this performance next Friday, as they head on the road to face Kelly Walsh.
"When you go into the locker room down 49-0, it's extremely difficult," Laramie coach Paul Ronga said. "It can't be any more difficult than that. I looked each player in the eye and asked them for one thing: just come out in the second half and play football. Let's just play football. Let's block, let's tackle and give our fans that have supported us something to think about.
"We did come out and we won the second half. I was proud of our performance, but the first half was eye-opening."
After having close calls in their first three games, the T-Birds — who are in a four-way tie for second place with Rock Springs, Natrona County and Thunder Basin — received a boost in confidence from their blowout victory.
They'll need it next Friday, with a home game looming against undefeated Sheridan.
"It's huge for our confidence," Schlabs said. "You just have to stay 1-0 and stay focused, because we have a huge battle next week."
EAST 49, LARAMIE 8
Cheyenne East........ 21 28 0 0 — 49
Laramie................. 0 0 8 0 — 8
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
CE: Goff 8 run (Larue kick), 7:07
CE: Pugh 15 run (Larue kick), 3:41
CE: Schlabs 12 pass from Goff (Larue kick), :36
Second Quarter
CE: Schlabs 3 pass from Goff (Larue kick), 9:26
CE: Pugh 15 run (Larue kick), 4:35
CE: Pugh 10 pass from Goff (Larue kick), 1:42
CE: Schlabs 11 pass from Goff (Larue kick), :50
Third Quarter
L: Malone 11 run (Devine pass from Malone), 3:51
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Cheyenne East: Pugh 16-141, Goff 11-118, Hayes 3-24, Jensen 3-22, Jackson 1-17, Riley 8-10, Mirich 2-5, Schlabs 1-(minus-8). Laramie: Zepeda 8-26, Malone 10-21, Devine 1-2
Passing
Cheyenne East: Goff 11-17-0 100. Laramie: Malone 12-22-1 85.
Receiving
Cheyenne East: Schlabs 5-50, Pafford 3-39, Pugh 3-11. Laramie: Devine 5-38, Zepeda 4-22, Calderon 2-19, Perkins 1-6
Josh Criswell covers the University of Wyoming for WyoSports. He can be reached at jcriswell@wyosports.net or 307-755-3325. Follow him on Twitter at @criswell_sports.
