Thunderbirds Prove Too Much for Plainsmen

It was the Tevis Bartlett show in Laramie at Deti Stadium Friday night. The junior quarterback for the 3rd-ranked Cheyenne East Thunderbirds accounted for 272 yards of total offense and scored 4 TD's, as East beat the Plainsmen 37-13 in Laramie's Homecoming game.

Laramie head coach Chuck Syverson said, "He's (Bartlett) a physical kid. If you look at it, he's more of a running back that throws the ball, in terms of his physique. He's a good player. He's strong, good speed and just does a really good job."

Bartlett finished with 172 yards rushing and 100 yards passing. His 1-yard t-d run midway through the first quarter gave the T-Birds the lead for good. Laramie had scored on the game's opening possession, when Kyle Russell made a career-long 40-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.

East (6-1) answered less than 3 minutes later for a 7-3 edge. They extended to a 13-3 advantage when Clinton Jaure returned a punt 92-yards for a score.

The Plainsmen came right back with Russell's second field goal. This time he connected from 27-yards and cut the deficit to 13-6 early in the second quarter.

Bartlett would add touchdown runs of 5-yards and 16-yards for a 27-6 lead for the T-Birds. LHS responded with a big play to get back in the game. Drew Burman hooked up with Gavin Worden on a 78-yard catch and run that took the ball down to the East 2-yard line. Two plays later, Burman punched it in from a yard out with 42 seconds left in the first half. That made the score 27-13 T-Birds at half.

The second half was dominated by East. They controlled the clock and shut down Laramie's offense. The T-Birds tacked on a 26-yard Triston Parker field goal and a 3-yard t-d on the ground by Bartlett. That closed out the scoring, and East won their fourth straight over the Plainsmen, 37-13.

Syverson said, "I thought our passing game was pretty effective tonight. We did a pretty good job on pass protection. Our big plays came in the passing game."

Cheyenne East finished with 473 yards of total offense, which included 373 yards rushing. They piled up 23 first downs and finished with nearly 8 minutes more in time of possession. Senior running back Shane Brooks added 135 yards on the ground.

Laramie (2-5) was limited to 217 total yards. Burman threw for 251 yards, but 240 of those came in the first half. He was intercepted twice. The Plainsmen were held to a -34 yards on the ground by the East defense. Only one LHS player ended up with positive rushing yards. In fact, Laramie had negative yards offensively in the second half.

Syverson added, "I was a little disappointed in our running game. We had a couple of special things worked up against their defense. I thought if we could have done a little bit better job up front, in the middle, that if we hit the edge we'd be in good shape. We really struggled up front, and you're going to have those games sometimes. We knew they were going to be a very formidable front to go against."

It won't get any easier for Laramie, as they head to Gillette next Friday night to take on the top-ranked and undefeated Camels. Kick-off is at 7 p.m.

Plainsmen football coverage continues on KOWB (AM 1290), online and on your mobile device. David Settle and VerDon Hoopes will call the game. The broadcast will start at 5:30 p.m.