CHEYENNE — For the fourth week in a row, the Rock Springs Tigers found a way to lose. Friday night’s first-round playoff loss came in the final minutes against the #3 seeded Cheyenne Central Indians. After leading for three quarters of the game, the Tigers couldn’t finish what they started which ended in a 16-20 loss.
Rock Springs finishes the season with a 4-6 record. While the loss was the toughest one to swallow for the Tigers, it marked the beginning of a new era of Rock Springs football.
Instead of making the entire article about the game, this will be more focused towards takeaways moving forward.
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Missed Opportunities Again Leave Rock Springs Empty Handed
As it has been mentioned before, the previous four weeks have been among the toughest for this Rock Springs football team. For whatever reason, the Tigers found ways to lose and the same narrative wrote itself Friday night in Cheyenne.
Rock Springs’ defense dominated the Indians and shut down one of the highest scoring offenses in 4A. Despite forcing three turnovers in the game (not including Justis Reese’s interception on a two-point conversion) the Rock Springs offense failed to convert the stops into points. Coupled with the Tigers’ own three interceptions thrown, the offensive production lacked greatly when compared to what it should have been.
Although the offense did find a big play down the field on a 99.5-yard touchdown catch and run by Favor Okere, the passing game was hard to watch. Overthrown balls and dropped passes that could’ve been touchdowns now serve as regrets. They say defense wins championships, but for the Tigers, defense only kept them in games this season. Moving forward, the Tigers have to find a more balanced offense to support their top-ranked defense.
Much like their week two matchup, the game Friday night against the Indians was about missed opportunities.
Onward and Upward
Throughout the season we saw the Tigers improve each week. This year was completely different from previous years in the program’s history. If there was one thing we all learned this year, it was that head coach Mark Lenhardt knows what he’s doing and has this program going in the right direction.
Good football teams have commitment, a strong work ethic and discipline. I’m willing to bet that Lenhardt knows and has goals already in mind to improve commitment, work ethic and discipline. We saw flashes during the season of those characteristics and it’s only up from here for Rock Springs football.
Patience in Development
I spoke about talent a few weeks back and how it takes time to develop. This is the most important offseason yet, and what’s exciting is to imagine which players will ascend next year. There is a lot of young talent from the offensive line to the defensive backs.
While it’s hard enough for football players to exercise patience in their own development, the same must be expected from coaches, parents and the community. It might take a few years, but the results will show out on the football field. Patience is a virtue, and the key from our community in order for this program to blossom.
While many see it as the end of the 2019-20 high school football season, I see it as the dawn of a new era of Rock Springs Tigers football.
See you next Fall.
