Bolts Blast Plainsmen, 47-7

Thunder Basin scored the first six times they had the ball and rolled past Laramie in Gillette last Friday night. The final score was 47-7.

Laramie (1-6) lost their fifth straight game, all by double figures, but remain alive in the race for the Class 4A playoffs.

Thunder Basin (6-1) led 26-0 by the end of the first quarter. They scored a field goal on their opening drive and then got a 30-yard TD pass from Ryan Baker to Andre Felton. That was followed by a 31-yard touchdown run from Jaxon Pikula for a 17-0 lead. A safety occurred when Alex O’Dell sacked Plainsmen QB Jake Vigen in the end zone. After the free-kick, the Bolts added an 11-yard TD run from Hunter Lunberg as time ran out in the period.

Laramie scored on the first drive of the second quarter. Isaac Sell raced 42 yards on a TD run. That cut it to 26-7.

Thunder Basin added two more Baker touchdown passes. A 46-yarder to Felton and a 42-yard pass to Dylan Catlin. That made it 40-7 at halftime. After a fumble on their first drive, the Bolts added the final points on Pikula’s 73-yard run with 3:36 left in the third quarter.

The Plainsmen missed a 40-yard field goal in the fourth.

LHS head coach Clint Reed felt his team didn’t have much fight at the start of the game.

“Maybe it’s how many road games in a row (five)? Maybe this is wearing on them a little bit, and they need to get home. I do know coming in, that on film, I sit there and see a superstar that just jumps out at me. Don’t get me wrong the back (Pikula) is a fantastic back, but with the quarterback and the talent they had last year, I just thought 11 guys on the field, they were a very complete team. They very much demonstrated it from the first kick-off to the horn at end of the game.”

Laramie finished with 263 yards of total offense. Sell ran for 212 yards and the one TD. Vigen added 107 yards passing.

Thunder Basin was very balanced. They had 548 total yards of offense. The Bolts ran for 261 and passed for 287. Pikula had 207 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Baker finished with 268 yards passing and 3 TDs.

The Plainsmen finally come home for the first time in six weeks, when they host Cheyenne South on Friday at Deti Stadium. Kick-off is at 6 p.m.