ROCK SPRINGS — In their last home game of the season, the Rock Springs Tigers fell 35-10 to the Cheyenne Central Indians. A stagnant offense for the Tigers made the difference in tonight’s ball game.
Rock Springs earned the seventh seed after tonight’s loss and will take on the Cheyenne East Thunderbirds on the road in the first round of the playoffs next Friday.
Here’s tonight’s postgame thoughts.
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Unfortunate But Not Defining
Last week the Tigers’ offense was pass heavy and found success through the air. However, tonight the Tigers struggled to get much going on offense at all and appeared to be missing the chemistry in the passing game.
The offense had plenty of opportunities and due to dropped balls or throws that were just a bit off shouldn’t deter from the fact that those things are correctable in the week of practice ahead. I still believe this Tigers offense has found an identity over the last few weeks and tonight was just one of those games where things felt off.
Overall the defense held up for being on the field for a good portion of the game. It’s tough to be out there after the offensive drives end quickly. There were a few opportunities for turnovers, but again, just miscues that kind of summed up the entire night.
Basically what I’m trying to get at is that this game didn’t define the Tigers, but rather I hope it shed some light on things the team can work on heading into the playoffs with a week of practice. Focusing on getting on the same page and hammering home the idea of technique will get this team ready for next week and take care of the issues we saw tonight.
Tonight was just unfortunate, but not defining.
Flack’s Game Ball 🏈
We’re throwing another game ball to the special teams of Rock Springs, this time to the punting unit.
Cheyenne Central muffed two punts in tonight’s game, and the Tigers did a great job getting down the field and being in position to recover the ball.
Possession of the ball decides games, especially late in the season. Unfortunately the Tigers couldn’t capitalize, but special teams will prove to be important in next week’s playoff game.
Great job tonight to the punting unit!
– Flack
Keys to Next Week
We’ve seen the Tigers play nine weeks and each of the teams in 4A. But the regular season is over and it’s a brand new season where anything can happen.
Here are my keys to the playoff game between Rock Springs and Cheyenne East:
- Time of possession is key to beating a team like Cheyenne East. Sustaining long offensive drives is something we have seen from the Tigers at times this season, but it will be ever important in next week’s matchup. Limited opportunities for the Thunderbirds and keeping their offense off the field is a must.
- Winning field position battles will also determine the winner of this game. Short fields for the Tigers and pinning the Thunderbirds deep to create long fields can’t be stressed enough. If you’re going to beat Cheyenne East, you have to win field position.
- Lastly this is an obvious key, but controlling the trenches is another key to victory next Friday night. It’s been an up and down season for the Tiger’s offensive line. But again, the past is the past and this group should be playing their best ball at this point in the season. Getting pressure on the quarterback and protecting the quarterback is going to be a reason behind whichever team wins next week.
Best of luck Tigers!
