The LMS Tigers started off their fall season this past Thursday afternoon. The team of 31 players hosted the Lingle-Ft. Laramie Doggers.

The Tigers lost the coin toss and started the game kicking off to the Doggers. The Doggers returned the opening kick-off 35 yards that set them up nicely in Dogger territory. The Doggers scored in their first series and converted their two point conversion to put them up by eight.

Denton Shaw received the Dogger kick-off. He had a 62 yard return to put the Tigers deep into Tiger territory. Dakota Clark finished the drive with a run up the middle to put the Tigers on the board.

The Tigers tried for two but were stopped on the attempt. On the next Tiger kick-off, the team did a better job of stopping the Dogger return. The Doggers had a tougher time making it into the end zone this possession and had to pick up several first downs before making it over the goal line.

The Tiger defense did a nice job of intercepting the extra point attempt. The Doggers went up 14-6. The Tigers were stopped in their next series and the Tigers had to scramble on a bad snap, they gained some yardage but not enough for a first down. The first quarter ended with the Doggers keeping the lead.

The second quarter was a back and forth battle with neither team finding the end zone. The Tigers went into half down by 8. The Doggers received the kick-off after half and the Tiger defense caused a fumble around midfield which was recovered by Bryce Sturman.

On the next play, the Tigers ran Matthew VandeBossche out of the backfield for a nice 40 yard run to get into the red zone. Unfortunately the Tigers failed to capitalize and didn’t make enough yardage for a first down.

The third quarter ended with the Doggers still up 14-6. The Doggers scored and made their two point conversion with 4:59 left in the game. The Tigers had one last attempt to get something going but were intercepted and time ran out.

The Tigers lost their season opener to the Doggers, 22-6. “We had some first game jitters and then came up against a new look on offense that rattled the boys. They finally settled down and did a better job second half with it. We had some nice plays on both sides of the ball for our first game. There are some things we need to work on both offensively and defensively,” stated Coach K. VandeBossche.

Leading rushers for the game were M. VandeBossche for 112 yards, Shaw for 82 yards, and Clark and D. VandeBossche for 17 yards each. In the air, Sturman and D. VandeBossche connected for a 16 yard gain during one series. Leading the defensive attack for the Tigers were Brady Thurston, Clark, D. VandeBossche, and M. VandeBossche.

The Tigers travel to Harrison on Monday, Sept. 14 and host the Southeast Cyclones on Thursday, Sept. 17.



For the complete article see the 09-16-2009 issue.

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