GILLETTE — A short memory will be needed for the Rock Springs Tigers as they move on after a 49-14 loss to the Thunder Basin Bolts on Friday night in Gillette.
The Bolts scored explosively and quickly in the first quarter, earning a 28-0 advantage over Rock Springs and never looked back. The Tigers found some points throughout the game, but struggled to do too much with long fields and too many third down situations.
Here’s tonight’s postgame thoughts.
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Learn, Respond and Move On
The first half of this game was a disaster if you were wearing orange and white. But we won’t dwell on the first half too much.
Football is a game of momentum, and sometimes you just happen to be on the wrong side of that momentum. Rock Springs struggled to get anything going in all three phases of the game in the first half. And unfortunately when things were not going their way, they really weren’t going their way. And it happens. That pretty much sums up my main takeaway from the first half of this ballgame that read a score 35-7.
In the second half, the storyline didn’t change all that much. Rock Springs held their own through much of the third quarter, but a few late touchdowns late in the third quarter by the Bolts put out any hopes of a miracle comeback.
The best thing the Tigers can do this week is watch the tape, take away the good, learn from their mistakes and respond next week against Campbell County.
And speaking of Campbell County, the Tigers make the long road trip back to back to Gillette again next Friday. It will be a testament for this team to see how they respond to the adversity from the Bolts game and having to take the long trek to Gillette next week to play another road game.
Have a short memory. Learn and move on to the next week.
Flack’s Game Ball 🏈
One bright spot in tonight’s game was the playmaking ability of wideout Kael Anderson.
Anderson was responsible for some of the biggest plays the Tigers had tonight, including a 44-yard snag in the fourth quarter.
His speed and capability to get open make him a threat to opposing defenses. I’m expecting this game ball to not be Anderson’s last this season.
Keep up the great work!
– Flack
The Line of Scrimmage Makes the Difference
The one other note I’ll make about tonight’s game is this: the line of scrimmage matters.
Last week we saw the Tigers dominate the line of scrimmage. And this week it proved to be a challenge.
Moving forward, the line of scrimmage battle will be the key to every win or loss for Rock Springs. There are plenty of playmakers on this squad, but the most important play will always take place on the offensive and defensive lines.
I’m eager to see how the boys up front respond to the challenge not only next week, but the rest of the season.
