GLENROCK – After watching film on Glenrock, Torrington knew there would be a chance to throw the ball around on Friday evening. The Blazers ended up scoring all five touchdowns on Friday through the air in a 34-0 win over the Herders.
All 34 of the Blazer points came in the first half.
“We knew there was going to be some open receivers,” THS coach Russell Stienmetz said. “Beau (Bivens) was able to find those open receivers. The receivers ran good routes, and we connected on a few of those early.”
Coming off a forfeit week and a home loss to Gering a week before that, it didn’t take long for Torrington to find its groove against the undefeated Herder squad.
“We had two weeks of practice where we were hitting each other the entire time,” Stienmetz said. “It was time to go hit someone else. They rose to the occasion and played physical the entire game. It was nice to get the win and a game in.”
By halftime, Bivens was 9-of-13 passing with five touchdowns with 226 yards. Three of those touchdowns went to senior receiver Kieser Wolfe, who tallied 125 yards. The other two scores went to senior Chase Miller and freshman receiver Grady Shields.
“Beau played well, and he is starting to find his receivers,” Stienmetz said. “He had more time with the o-line to find his receivers and hit those guys.”
The senior single caller finished 9-of-18 for the game as Torrington focused on more of a running game in the second half.
“It’s a work in progress, losing every lineman from last year,” Stienmetz said. “These guys are coming around.”
Senior Carson Schultz led the Blazers in rushing with 65 yards on eight attempts, while senior Cole Parriott added 61 yards on 11 carries.
On the defensive side of the ball, Torrington swarmed the run-heavy Glenrock team. The shutout was the first for the Blazer defense since the week three game against Glenrock a year ago in Torrington.
“I’m proud of the defense. They played well. They got to the ball, and with a team like Glenrock, a very runny heavy tradition, we knew we would have to gang tackle,” Stienmetz said. “We did a great job of tackling their backs all night long.”
Stienmetz pointed to two players in particular who played a role in the shutout, especially in the second half – senior Trevor Schaub and sophomore Bryce Hager.
“Those two had an expectational second half,” he said.
Schaub had five assisted stops, to go along with three unassisted tackles, while Hager had six assisted tackles, two unassisted and a sack.
It was junior Dylan Packard and Schultz leading the way on the defensive side of the ball with 16 defensive points. Packard had seven tackles to go along with a pass breakup and a fumble recovery. Schultz had nine stops and a pass breakup.
Torrington (1-2) returns back to Wiseman Field on Friday, Sept. 17, hosting the Tongue River Eagles (2-0). Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.
“They are a spread offense, so the defense is going from a very heavy run to spread offense,” Stienmetz. “However, they do run the ball quite a bit still. It’ll be a new challenge.”
