The Punchers stormed the
gridiron and showed no mercy at their home
opener against Shoshoni, walking away with
a 47-0 win.
Big Piney offense scored a total of seven
touchdowns and made good on five extra
points. A powerful defensive wall prevented
Shoshoni from moving the ball anywhere
close to the end zone throughout most of the
game.
Senior Bryan Pluid excelled on the field,
sweeping into the end zone with the ball a
total of four times. Senior Teagan Elliott and
juniors Kolby Lucas and Kaden Raza each
scored an additional touchdown. Sophomore
Kaleb Fila kicked in five extra points
to round out the scoring.
Head Coach Ryan Visser said that despite
some problems with offensive execution in
the first half, the team really stepped up.
“This was the first home game for a lot of
the kids, and emotions were pretty high,” he
said. “Overall, what I loved was the fact that
the kids competed and were out here wanting
to play football. The defensive line was
amazing and did very well knowing where
to line up. Raza and Cam Thomas had six
tackles and losses between them. Those two
lived in the backfield.”
Other members of the unbreakable defensive
line who made tackles included Taytan
Wing, Liam Hughes, Thomas Howard,
Wyatt Mager, Creedon Schell, Dom Snively,
Anton Vickrey and Carlos Munoz.
Visser also highlighted members of his
offensive line.
“Pluid gets a shout out – he played
his heart out and is a great leader for the
team. And this is only the second year he
has played football. In the second half,
Raza started to click and was in control of
Big Piney freshman Blade Hibbert,
playing for the Wranglers, hits the
ball down midfield on Tuesday.
Wrangler golfers compete at Lander
By Robert Galbreath, [email protected]
Robert Galbreath photos
Shoshoni gets nowhere with the Punchers’ impenetrable defensive line during
the first home game of the season.
Senior Bryan Pluid celebrates his
second touchdown with junior Carlos
Munoz, Friday, Sept. 6, during the win
over the Shoshoni Wranglers, 47-0.
Punchers crush Shoshoni
Big Piney leaves the Wranglers with no offense, 47-0, in victory
By Robert Galbreath, [email protected]
the game.”
Pluid set the momentum for the Punchers
with a touchdown on the second drive of the
first quarter. Fila kicked in an extra point to
end the quarter at 7-0 in favor of Big Piney.
Puncher offense struggled for the first
half of the second quarter. The defensive
line held, however, forcing Shoshoni back
time after time.
At the 6-minute mark, Pluid completed a
pass from Raza and sped into the end zone
with the ball. Another kick by Fila brought
the tally to 14-0. A few minutes later, Raza
executed another perfect pass to Pluid.
This touchdown and an extra point by Fila
brought the score to, 21-0, in Big Piney’s
favor when the halftime buzzer sounded.
Vickrey, Thomas and Wing crushed any
hopes Shoshoni had of reaching the end zone
at the beginning of the third quarter.
Puncher offense also dominated the field
in the third quarter. After a fumble by Shoshoni
and a tackle from Wing, possession
passed back to the Punchers. Lucas quickly
took advantage of the situation and outmaneuvered
Shoshoni’s defense to score the
fourth touchdown for the Punchers.
Seven minutes into the third quarter, Raza
threw another pass that was picked up by Elliott.
Elliott drove the ball into the end zone
to score another six points for the team.
Later Pluid and Raza pulled of a smooth
handoff, and Pluid raced the ball down the
field to score the third touchdown of the
quarter.
When the final quarter started, the score
stood at 41-0 in favor of Big Piney. Shoshoni
came close to putting the ball into its
end zone at one point, but was unable to
take advantage of the good field position.
Three minutes into the quarter, Shoshoni
was in control of the ball. The quarterback
attempted a pass. Raza leapt into the air, intercepted
the ball and carried it all the way to
the end zone, bringing the final score to 47-0.
The Punchers face conference rival and
3A powerhouse Mountain View this week.
Visser said that the team has its work cut out
preparing for the match and will work on
correcting “mistakes made in the first half.”
“We know it’s a big week coming up
against Mountain View and we plan to get
in a good week out of practice,” he said. “We
hope everyone will come out to support the
team.”
The Mountain View game is scheduled
for 2 p.m., Friday, Sept. 13, at Puncher Field.