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.