Dogies fall to Herders

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
The Dogies busted out of the gate, scoring early against Glenrock last Friday night, but were rounded up by the Herders in the end, losing 13-28. According to head coach Matt Conzelman, his team continues to struggle with lapses and mistakes that their opponents use to their advantage.
“Defensively, I thought we played well for the most part but man, when you miss just a couple of assignments, a team like that will come back and sting you,” he sighed. “In those big games, you just have to make sure that if they make an error, you make them pay and we didn’t do that like we should have.”
The Dogies jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead on their second possession of the game. After having their offensive effort stifled by Newcastle, Glenrock attempted an on-side kick, but the Dogies fell on the ball with excellent field position at about the 50-yard line. 
The team put together a drive, marching the ball down the field, and Tristan Wornkey punched the ball in with a one-yard scamper. Bradyn Frye finished out the play with a good PAT for the seven point lead.
The Dogies won the first quarter 7-0, but the Herders were able to get one in the end zone in the second quarter and were good on their two-point conversion attempt to go up 8-7 over Newcastle. 
“It was fun to see how the guys started out against them,” Conzelman smiled. “The Herders went into the game ranked fifth in the state, so to have them on the ropes a little bit felt pretty good.” 
Glenrock was able to get another goal prior to the end of the first half so the Dogies went into the locker room down 7-16.
“We thought things were going well, and the game was still within reach at that point,” Conzelman began. “But, the attack that Glenrock has is true smash-mouth and they just go at you hard. By the end of the third and the beginning of the fourth, you could tell that was really wearing on us.”
Unfortunately for the Dogies, throughout the contest they just had too many missed opportunities which their opponent was able to use to their advantage.
“We should have had two to three scores that could have put us right in the battle. One was an interception and two were turnovers on downs when we were in the red zone,” Conzelman frowned. “That’s kind of hard to swallow when you’re so close to getting the ball in the end zone and competing because if we had, we would have been in business.”
Newcastle was able to get another touchdown, mid-way through the fourth quarter. The team had put together a drive, Chauncey Jenerou went for a big run but was taken down before he could get to the goal line. However, he would not be denied as on the next play he snagged a 33-yard pass from Slade Roberson to take his team to 13 points on the scoreboard. 
Being down two goals at that point, Conzelman opted to try for the two-point conversion, but the Dogies were held back by the Herders. 
“At that point, we still had time to pull even closer so we attempted an onside kick. Unfortunately, Glenrock was able to jump on it, got a couple of first downs and knelt on the ball to finish out the contest. I thought maybe we’d get the ball back, but we couldn’t get them stopped.”
Despite ending the contest on the losing end, Conzelman determined that there were definite positives to be taken from it.
“It really was a fun game, and we were competing against a good football team, so that’s good,” he determined. “The entire game was a see-saw of momentum between the two teams. They’d get something good, and then we would so it was fun.”
This week Rocky Mountain is coming to town for the Homecoming game on Friday with kickoff scheduled for 6:00. 
“They are a 1A school, but certainly not one to be overlooked,” Conzelman cautioned. “I think that they have made the playoffs in 1A for the last five years so they are a solid team. It should be a good matchup for us and should be an exciting game.”