SHERIDAN — Rock Springs Tiger football entered a new era under head coach Mark Lenhardt against the Sheridan Broncs on Friday night. The Tigers came up short 23-7 in their opening game of the 2019 season. If you watched the game, you’d know that the score doesn’t tell the full story.

If there was one takeaway from the first game of the season, it’s that Rock Springs has a lot of upside. The first half jitters and mistakes need to be overlooked and perspective needs to be given. Keep that in mind as we unravel a few thoughts from Friday’s game.

Overcoming Adversity

One statistic that is never reported on is a team’s ability to overcome adversity. Rock Springs had an ugly first half which included a prime scoring opportunity at the end of the half that yielded zero points. In addition there was very little production on offense and the Broncs’ running game pretty much ran the ball wherever they wanted. The cherry on top was a 17-point deficit on the road.

Rock Springs impressively started the second half with an 80-yard, 14 play drive that resulted in a touchdown reception by Favor Okere. The drive was near picture perfect and the Tigers were back within 10 points. Offensively Rock Springs found a running game in the second half and proved that they could drive the ball down the field. Third and fourth down conversions were also a huge part of the second half for the Tigers which wasn’t necessarily a strength of the team last season.

The Tigers didn’t overcome their opponent, but they overcame themselves. There’s a big difference and the improvement of the team within a single ball game is nothing short of impressive.

Defensive Pressure

According to the Sheridan broadcast, the Broncs were without three of their starting offensive linemen. But regardless, the Tigers put plenty of pressure on Sheridan’s quarterback and the defense stepped up in the second half.

Sheridan had fantastic field position all night, which is tough to combat at the high school level. But the Tigers shut down several drives despite the field advantage for Sheridan. Defensively the Tigers have improved.

Penalties and Turnovers

One complaint you can guarantee the team will address this next week is the amount of costly penalties and turnovers. Every team has them, but that hurt Rock Springs more in this game than anything the Broncs did. Several offensive drives were hindered by self induced penalties. Cleaning up those mistakes next week will obviously elevate this football team.

Seth Hymas to Favor Okere

If you’ve followed any Rock Springs football over the last few years, it was quite obvious that the offense didn’t utilize a quarterback. Lenhardt’s system requires a quarterback and developing a thrower doesn’t happen overnight.

Starting quarterback, Seth Hymas, had several deep balls to Favor Okere that were overthrown or missed. Hymas will only get better as the season goes on and likewise for Okere. That deep ball will become dangerous once the duo connects on a regular basis.

Up Next

Rock Springs comes back home for the second game of the season against Laramie. The game is set to kickoff at 6:00 p.m. Friday night at Tiger Stadium.