Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Week 6: Worland at Douglas at 7 p.m. on October 5
Warrior quarterback Rudy Sanford (7) pitches the ball to running back Andrew Edholm during a game against Riverton on Sept. 21 at Worland High School.
RAWLINS -It's not how you start but how you finish. That could not be truer for the Worland High School football team Friday night at Rawlins High School. The Warriors went to Rawlins to take on the Outlaws and left town the 16-7 victors, thanks in part to an impressive second half.
The Warriors (3-2) did all their damage against the Outlaws (1-4) in the second half scoring all 16 of their points after the halftime break. Not to be outdone, the Warrior defense locked it down in the second half, blocking a punt, forcing two turnovers on downs and allowing zero points.
The first half saw the Warriors miss out on prime scoring opportunities with an interception and turning it over on downs near the red zone. Worland also benefited from a costly mistake on Rawlins' part. The Outlaws were trying for a quick score with seconds left in the first half and they appeared to achieve that goal when they ran in a 52-yard touchdown with two seconds remaining.
But the Outlaws touchdown was called back because of holding. The Worland defense held on the final play of the half and went into halftime trailing 7-0.
Worland's turnaround after halftime was a two-part effort. The first part being the Worland offense, the Warriors got the ball to open the second half and turned in a drive that would make many NFL teams envious.
The Warriors went on an over eight-minute, 22-play drive that was capped off by an Andrew Edholm touchdown. Feeling in an offensive groove WHS football coach Ryan Utterback called for the Warriors to attempt a two-point conversion. Worland picked up the two points on a Rudy Sanford to Luke Mortimer pitch and catch, giving them the 8-7 advantage.
The second part of the turnaround was the Worland defense. After the long Worland drive, the Outlaws offense had to fight tooth and nail to bring the ball into Worland territory. The Warriors forced the Outlaws into fourth-and-two around the Worland 40-yard line. Rawlins elected to go for it and were stopped well short of the first down sticks.
The turnover on downs was a huge stop for Worland. It gave the Warriors even more control of the game and put Rawlins with their backs against the walls.
Worland's defense wasn't done impacting the game. With 3:27 remaining in the fourth quarter Rawlins went to punt from their own 12-yard line. The Warriors reached the punter to block the punt, their second blocked punt in as many games and recovered the ball on the Rawlins eight-yard line.
Capitalizing on the excellent field position, Sanford ran for a one-yard touchdown and the 2-point conversion to give the Warriors a nine-point lead at 16-7.
After forcing another turnover on downs the Warriors offense ran a few plays then ended the game in victory formation.
Friday's win pushes Worland's conference record to 2-0, and all but secures them a playoff berth for the second season in a row. With three games remaining, all against conference opponents, the Warriors have the chance to improve on their playoff seeding. If things break in their favor Worland could host a playoff game.
Before getting too far ahead, the Warriors will have to take care of business against the Douglas Bearcats next Friday. It's another road contest for Worland as they take on Douglas at 7 p.m.
WHS football coach Ryan Utterback could not be reached by press time, a preview of the Warriors game against Douglas with comments from Utterback will be in Thursday's edition of the Northern Wyoming Daily News.
