I was really pleased with the way we came out and executed and performed in a big playoff game. The kids were dialed in and were ready to play. We have another big game coming up versus Big Piney and I think our team is hungry and will be ready to go on Saturday.”

Coach Brandon Gifford

Up Next

The Doggers host Big Piney for the 1A 9-man semifinals on Saturday, November 9 at 1 p.m.

LINGLE –  The Lingle-Fort Laramie (LFL) Doggers football team remained undefeated for the 2024 season following a 57-0 thrashing against Wind River in the quarterfinals for the 1A 9-man bracket in Lingle on Friday, November 1.

Fireworks by the LFL defense, coupled with a rock solid, dogged defense established an overwhelming 51-0 lead at halftime and advanced the Doggers to the semifinals this weekend against the Big Piney Punchers.

Glory to God, team unity and hard work

Senior Louden Bremer expressed gratitude to a higher power before giving a shoutout to his teammates.

“First and foremost, we want to give the glory of this win to God,” Bremer said. “We had a lot of big plays everywhere – offense and defense. The biggest were a pick six by (junior) Anthony Arnusch and Louden Bremer. (Senior) Cooper Smith was in the backfield for a bunch of TFLs. (Senior) Ned Nelson had a pass breakup. (Seniors) Brody Roberts and Elijah Hatch were lock-down coverage. It was just a good defensive game for the most part.”

Nelson also attributed the victory to a tenacious work ethic.

“We just come in every week and we go hard,” Nelson added. “We try to work and get better every single day. We take every day as a challenge. We know the end goal and we know we’re not done.”

Smith emphasized team unity.

“We really do it as a team – trust in everybody else to do their job and we do ours (on defense),” Smith added. “We just play the best we can be. We don’t play down to our opponents’ level. We play how we know how to play.”

Roberts agreed:

“Just showing up and trusting the guys behind you and going to war every single day at practice helps,” Roberts remarked.

LFL won most games this season by a significant margin, although the point-for-point battle against Pine Bluffs on October 18 resulting in a 30-27 win proved a turning point, Nelson said.

“It was a big challenge when we played Pine Bluffs,” Nelson added. “We learned a lot about ourselves and what we needed to fix that day. We still have a lot to build on, but that one taught us a lot.

Regardless of the margin of victory, the Doggers consistently raised the bar each week.

“The standard that we hold ourselves to is basically that no lead is big enough,” Bremer said. “We practice that way and we play that way. We play for something bigger than ourselves, so it’s easy to stay on the gas pedal whether we’re down or whether we’re beating a team pretty handily.”

The Doggers host Big Piney for the semifinals on Saturday, November 9 at 1 p.m.

“Our goal is the same as it is every week,” Hatch said. “To work hard no matter who our opponent is. Give all the glory to God and just keep grinding.”

And while continuing to improve each day, senior Kaiden Riggs added:

“We need to show up to practice every day with the mindset of knowing we need to get better at the things we made mistakes on this game and take that to next week and limit those mistakes.”

A blowout win

Wind River opened the game in possession but found themselves going nowhere due to tackles by Cooper Smith, Nelson, Riggs and sophomore Kaleb Smith.

The Doggers scored on the ensuing possession. Bremer took the handoff from junior quarterback Brady Cook and swept into the end zone for touchdown No. 1.

A good kick by junior Anthony Arnusch placed the Doggers up, 7-0.

The LFL defense shut out Wind River on the Cougars’ subsequent drive, including tackles by Cooper Smith, Arnusch and Riggs.

Gaining possession, Cook launched a pass to Arnusch for 28 yards. Carries by Bremer and Riggs placed the ball at Wind River’s one-yard line. On the next play, Bremer dove into the end zone for touchdown No. 2.

Arnusch kicked in the extra point and LFL led, 14-0.

Wind River took possession but fumbled. Nelson recovered the ball for the Doggers and LFL commenced a drive to the Cougars’ one-yard line as the first quarter ended.

Riggs opened the second quarter with a one-yard touchdown. Arnusch made good on another kick and LFL widened its lead, 21-0.

Wind River attempted to pass on its ensuing possession. Arnusch leapt up for the interception and sprinted into the end zone for a pick six. Moments later, Arnusch kicked in the extra point and LFL pulled ahead, 28-0.

Wind River found itself in possession but unable to advance the ball with tackles for loss or no gain by Nelson and Cooper Smith and a sack for loss by Arnusch. Junior Brayden Posten broke up a pass and the Cougars lost possession.

Riggs drove the ball into the end zone on the Doggers’ subsequent drive for touchdown No. 5. Riggs reached the end zone again to convert the PAT-2 and LFL led, 36-0.

Wind River regained possession but went nowhere as Posten and junior Colt Brown broke up a series of passes and Nelson sacked the quarterback for loss.

Taking possession, Cook completed a pass to Riggs under pressure. Riggs bulldozed across midfield and into the end zone to complete a 64-yard touchdown pass play. Brown reached the end zone for the PAT-2.

Wind River took over but Bremer intercepted a pass and sprinted into the end zone for the Doggers’ second pick six and seventh touchdown. Arnusch kicked in his fifth extra point and LFL controlled the scoreboard, 51-0.

Wind River ended the first half in possession yet only gained a few yards due to tackles by junior Colter McFarlin, Kaleb Smith and freshman Lincoln Speckner. 

The Doggers topped off the win with another touchdown early in the third quarter when Cook completed a pass to Nelson in the end zone.

The LFL defense hammered away at Wind River as the mercy clock ran in the third and fourth quarters, consisting of tackles by Speckner, Roberts, Cooper Smith, Brown, Cook and Kaleb Smith. Brown recovered a fumble and Kaleb Smith intercepted a pass.

The Doggers offense continued to control the clock with long drives in the second half and positive gains from Brown, Hatch, Cook and freshman Dutch Ogburn and a pass between Cook and Roberts.

Stats

The Doggers tallied 177 yards rushing while Cook completed seven of seven passes for 197 yards.

Bremer totaled 60 yards rushing on five carries, Cook 56 yards on four carries, Riggs 38 yards on seven carries and Brown 27 yards on six carries.

Riggs caught one pass for 64 yards and one touchdown. Nelson found himself on the receiving end of two passes for 53 yards and one touchdown. Arnusch caught two passes for 48 yards while Roberts caught one pass for 23 yards and Hatch one pass for nine yards.

Arnusch kicked in five extra points.

Defensively, Cooper Smith led with nine tackles, including five for loss and one sack. Riggs and Nelson both tallied five tackles with one each for loss. Nelson also contributed one sack, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery while Riggs broke up one pass.

Brown and Bremer both recorded five tackles. Brown also broke up one pass and recovered a fumble and Bremer intercepted a pass.

Arnusch filled out the stat sheet with four tackles, one for loss, one sack and one interception.

Posten broke up two passes while Kaleb Smith intercepted one pass. Speckner collected two tackles and Roberts and freshman Cooper Cutter one apiece.

Coach Brandon Gifford praised the team’s triumph against Wind River as LFL looks forward to the semifinal game.

By Robert Galbreath

rgalbreath@torringtontelegram.com

LINGLE –  The Lingle-Fort Laramie (LFL) Doggers football team remained undefeated for the 2024 season following a 57-0 thrashing against Wind River in the quarterfinals for the 1A 9-man bracket in Lingle on Friday, November 1.

Fireworks by the LFL defense, coupled with a rock solid, dogged defense established an overwhelming 51-0 lead at halftime and advanced the Doggers to the semifinals this weekend against the Big Piney Punchers.

Glory to God, team unity and hard work

Senior Louden Bremer expressed gratitude to a higher power before giving a shoutout to his teammates.

“First and foremost, we want to give the glory of this win to God,” Bremer said. “We had a lot of big plays everywhere – offense and defense. The biggest were a pick six by (junior) Anthony Arnusch and Louden Bremer. (Senior) Cooper Smith was in the backfield for a bunch of TFLs. (Senior) Ned Nelson had a pass breakup. (Seniors) Brody Roberts and Elijah Hatch were lock-down coverage. It was just a good defensive game for the most part.”

Nelson also attributed the victory to a tenacious work ethic.

“We just come in every week and we go hard,” Nelson added. “We try to work and get better every single day. We take every day as a challenge. We know the end goal and we know we’re not done.”

Smith emphasized team unity.

“We really do it as a team – trust in everybody else to do their job and we do ours (on defense),” Smith added. “We just play the best we can be. We don’t play down to our opponents’ level. We play how we know how to play.”

Roberts agreed:

“Just showing up and trusting the guys behind you and going to war every single day at practice helps,” Roberts remarked.

LFL won most games this season by a significant margin, although the point-for-point battle against Pine Bluffs on October 18 resulting in a 30-27 win proved a turning point, Nelson said.

“It was a big challenge when we played Pine Bluffs,” Nelson added. “We learned a lot about ourselves and what we needed to fix that day. We still have a lot to build on, but that one taught us a lot.

Regardless of the margin of victory, the Doggers consistently raised the bar each week.

“The standard that we hold ourselves to is basically that no lead is big enough,” Bremer said. “We practice that way and we play that way. We play for something bigger than ourselves, so it’s easy to stay on the gas pedal whether we’re down or whether we’re beating a team pretty handily.”

The Doggers host Big Piney for the semifinals on Saturday, November 9 at 1 p.m.

“Our goal is the same as it is every week,” Hatch said. “To work hard no matter who our opponent is. Give all the glory to God and just keep grinding.”

And while continuing to improve each day, senior Kaiden Riggs added:

“We need to show up to practice every day with the mindset of knowing we need to get better at the things we made mistakes on this game and take that to next week and limit those mistakes.”

A blowout win

Wind River opened the game in possession but found themselves going nowhere due to tackles by Cooper Smith, Nelson, Riggs and sophomore Kaleb Smith.

The Doggers scored on the ensuing possession. Bremer took the handoff from junior quarterback Brady Cook and swept into the end zone for touchdown No. 1.

A good kick by junior Anthony Arnusch placed the Doggers up, 7-0.

The LFL defense shut out Wind River on the Cougars’ subsequent drive, including tackles by Cooper Smith, Arnusch and Riggs.

Gaining possession, Cook launched a pass to Arnusch for 28 yards. Carries by Bremer and Riggs placed the ball at Wind River’s one-yard line. On the next play, Bremer dove into the end zone for touchdown No. 2.

Arnusch kicked in the extra point and LFL led, 14-0.

Wind River took possession but fumbled. Nelson recovered the ball for the Doggers and LFL commenced a drive to the Cougars’ one-yard line as the first quarter ended.

Riggs opened the second quarter with a one-yard touchdown. Arnusch made good on another kick and LFL widened its lead, 21-0.

Wind River attempted to pass on its ensuing possession. Arnusch leapt up for the interception and sprinted into the end zone for a pick six. Moments later, Arnusch kicked in the extra point and LFL pulled ahead, 28-0.

Wind River found itself in possession but unable to advance the ball with tackles for loss or no gain by Nelson and Cooper Smith and a sack for loss by Arnusch. Junior Brayden Posten broke up a pass and the Cougars lost possession.

Riggs drove the ball into the end zone on the Doggers’ subsequent drive for touchdown No. 5. Riggs reached the end zone again to convert the PAT-2 and LFL led, 36-0.

Wind River regained possession but went nowhere as Posten and junior Colt Brown broke up a series of passes and Nelson sacked the quarterback for loss.

Taking possession, Cook completed a pass to Riggs under pressure. Riggs bulldozed across midfield and into the end zone to complete a 64-yard touchdown pass play. Brown reached the end zone for the PAT-2.

Wind River took over but Bremer intercepted a pass and sprinted into the end zone for the Doggers’ second pick six and seventh touchdown. Arnusch kicked in his fifth extra point and LFL controlled the scoreboard, 51-0.

Wind River ended the first half in possession yet only gained a few yards due to tackles by junior Colter McFarlin, Kaleb Smith and freshman Lincoln Speckner. 

The Doggers topped off the win with another touchdown early in the third quarter when Cook completed a pass to Nelson in the end zone.

The LFL defense hammered away at Wind River as the mercy clock ran in the third and fourth quarters, consisting of tackles by Speckner, Roberts, Cooper Smith, Brown, Cook and Kaleb Smith. Brown recovered a fumble and Kaleb Smith intercepted a pass.

The Doggers offense continued to control the clock with long drives in the second half and positive gains from Brown, Hatch, Cook and freshman Dutch Ogburn and a pass between Cook and Roberts.

Stats

The Doggers tallied 177 yards rushing while Cook completed seven of seven passes for 197 yards.

Bremer totaled 60 yards rushing on five carries, Cook 56 yards on four carries, Riggs 38 yards on seven carries and Brown 27 yards on six carries.

Riggs caught one pass for 64 yards and one touchdown. Nelson found himself on the receiving end of two passes for 53 yards and one touchdown. Arnusch caught two passes for 48 yards while Roberts caught one pass for 23 yards and Hatch one pass for nine yards.

Arnusch kicked in five extra points.

Defensively, Cooper Smith led with nine tackles, including five for loss and one sack. Riggs and Nelson both tallied five tackles with one each for loss. Nelson also contributed one sack, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery while Riggs broke up one pass.

Brown and Bremer both recorded five tackles. Brown also broke up one pass and recovered a fumble and Bremer intercepted a pass.

Arnusch filled out the stat sheet with four tackles, one for loss, one sack and one interception.

Posten broke up two passes while Kaleb Smith intercepted one pass. Speckner collected two tackles and Roberts and freshman Cooper Cutter one apiece.

Coach Brandon Gifford praised the team’s triumph against Wind River as LFL looks forward to the semifinal game.

“I was really pleased with the way we came out and executed and performed in a big playoff game,” Gifford added. “The kids were dialed in and were ready to play. We have another big game coming up versus Big Piney and I think our team is hungry and will be ready to go on Saturday.”