Laramie Plainsmen Face Road Test at Rock Springs [VIDEO]

The Laramie Plainsmen face their first road test of the season Friday night taking on the Tigers in Rock Springs.

Laramie (0-1) had their 2016 campaign end in Rock Springs with a first round loss to the Tigers in last year’s playoffs. Overall, the Plainsmen have lost their last three to Rock Springs and six of the past seven.

Both teams enter the match-up winless, after Laramie was beaten at home by No. 5 Kelly Walsh, 37-21, last week. Meanwhile, Rock Springs fell in their opener on the road at top-ranked Sheridan, 51-0.

Plainsmen head coach Clint Reed says it’s been a week where they’ve spent more focus on themselves than their opposition, but he knows it’ll be tough against the Tigers.

Neither team was very productive from an offensive stand-point in their opener. Laramie generated only 165 yards of offense, while Rock Springs was limited to 74 yards. Both teams suffered defensively, as LHS allowed 466 yards, and the Tigers surrendered 524 yards of total offense.

Rock Springs is led by fourth-year head coach David Hastings. They return some personnel from last year’s 8-3 squad that reached the class 4A semifinals before they lost to eventual state champion Sheridan. In their first action the Tigers started a freshman QB in Graedyn Buell. They’ve also switched offensive schemes to more of a spread attack with four receivers. Linebacker Adam Forbush leads the Rock Springs defense. He totaled 21 defensive points in their week 0 game. Fellow linebacker Coleman Welsh is also in the top 10 of defensive points.

The Plainsmen are led by junior Jason Upton, who totaled 205 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns in last week’s season opener. QB Nate Burman threw for 142 yards with one TD and one pick. Defensively, junior Brady Epler led the way with 21 defensive points in the first game, while senior Daylon Puckett is also in the 4A top 10 of defensive points.

Kick-off is at 7 p.m. from Tiger Stadium. KOWB (AM 1290) will have live coverage with David Settle and VerDon Hoopes calling the action. The broadcast begins at 6 p.m.