When it rains, it pours

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
Summer faded into fall last Friday night, and Dogie fans felt the dreariness of the changing of the seasons as adversity rained down on their beloved team in Moorcroft. 
On the first series of the contest, senior quarterback Sawyer Roberson suffered an ankle sprain which put him on the sidelines for the duration of the game.
Roberson had got his team started by picking up a couple of first downs before he suffered the injury. Upon his departure, the team was able to continue to drive the ball down the field, getting as close as the four yard line before penalties backed them up and kept them from getting into the end zone.
“We were able to move the ball, but losing Sawyer changed things for us,” head coach Matt Conzelman admitted. “We had to put guys in there that hadn’t been taking the reps like he had during the week. Reflecting on it this weekend, I came to the conclusion that when it rains, it pours. This was just more adversity thrown our way, and that we had to face.”
Following the missed scoring opportunity by the Dogies, the Wolves took advantage of their offensive possession and made a couple of really big plays to move the ball down the field quickly. 
Though the Dogie defense was able to hold them off for a while, Moorcroft succeeded in punching in two touchdowns during the second quarter so it was 12-0 in favor of the Wolves as the teams headed into the locker room for the halftime break.
“We were still in the game, even though we were down. We just needed to get a couple of stops,” Conzelman claimed. “That we were able to move the ball was a definite positive, but we needed a good defensive stance to get back in the game.”
The Wolves had possession of the ball as action got back underway, but the Dogies were unable to get the stops they needed and allowed their opponent to march all the way down the field for their third touchdown of the evening. 
The Dogies were finally able to answer back offensively in the fourth quarter on a pass from freshman quarterback Slade Roberson to senior Kyle Haslam to cut the lead to 18-6.
With time running short, the Dogies attempted an onside kick, but were not able to gain possession, and the Wolves used the resulting short yardage position on the field to score once more. Moorcroft added a safety to their tally to take the 26-6 win over Newcastle.
“We just weren’t clicking like we needed to be, and execution is still an issue,” Conzelman sighed. “At the end of the game, I told the guys that if they want to feel adversity, we are in it right now. So we can sit there and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can work harder to improve. That’s our main focus this week”.
Conzelman noted that his team was definitely disappointed with the loss, because they had gone into the contest feeling pretty optimistic given how well practices had gone all week. 
“It was really a shot to the gut, but we don’t have much time to dwell on it because we have a good Lusk team coming to town this Friday,” Conzelman nodded. “They are a physical and run-heavy team, so we definitely have to get some things going this week.”
The Homecoming matchup is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. on Friday at Schoonmaker Field.