Oh, so close: Herders’ potential winning drive against Burns denied in fourth

The old cliche of “the best offense is a good defense,” was never more true than the effort of the Glenrock High School football team beneath the Friday night lights last week. 

Hit after hit, tackle after tackle, it was the smothering performance of the defense that gave the team a chance to win to the fighting end against Burns.

The Herders, who were down by just one point in the third quarter, trailed by just one touchdown and had the ball with three minutes left in the game. 

Just 89 yards away from possibly tying the game, Glenrock’s pursuit of its first conference win ended when they turned the ball over on downs with 57 seconds left to play in a narrow 14-6 loss to third-place Burns.

While the offense has struggled the last five weeks, there is no question that the Glenrock defense has done everything to give the team a chance every Friday. This week was no different and the unit put on a defensive show in front of a loud and supportive home crowd.

Burns only scored twice against the tenacious GHS defense. The first of those scores came with 5:36 left in the first quarter that made it 7-0.

Glenrock spent the next three quarters creating all kinds of problems for the Broncs while trying to find the end zone as well.

GHS’ first shot at scoring came on the final drive of the opening period when running back Hayden Huyser busted loose for a 22-yard run to get into BHS territory.

A big loss of yardage on a fumble led to a punt and drive stalled.

Burns had no chance of padding its lead in the first half. The Glenrock defense, led by tackles via Adam Johnson, Case Barrett, Dusty Cox, JD Holman, Rylan Bloem and Huyser snuffed out the next three drives outside of the red zone.

Meanwhile, the Herders’ offense had their moments.

Large gains by Logan Jones, Brayden LaPointe and Huyser helped move the chains more consistently than the previous four games.

The setback for GHS was not stringing together enough of those gains on the same drive while the passing attack ineffective.

Glenrock’s best chance to score was midway through the second quarter. Jones and Huyser totted the pigskin down to the Burns 23-yard line and in scoring range.

That drive stalled with an incomplete pass in the end zone on 4th and 11.

The Broncs attempted to make GHS pay for the staled rive. The visitors used a couple of large gains in the middle of the field to get inside the 30-yard line where they missed a 43-yard field goal attempt with 6:03 left in the half.

Glenrock also tried to take advantage of BHS’ missed scoring chance. Jones helped chalk up a pair of first downs on the ensuing drive that ended at midfield with 3:37 on the clock as Burns clung to a slim 7-0 advantage at intermission.

Glenrock’s defensive front, which was led by Tristen Fleming, Charlie Schowengerdt, Cox and Barrett, rattled the BHS running game and disrupted the passing game several times to keep the visitors at just one score after halftime.

After exchanging possessions, the biggest play of the  game for the Herders sent the crowd to its feet when the defense also got into the scoring. Cox was dragging the quarterback to the ground as he desperately launched the ball into the air.

The Glenrock defense made it count. Holman hauled in the arrant pass and ran 29 yards untouched to the end zone for the interception and only Herder touchdown of the game to make it 7-6 with 5:51 left in the third quarter.

Leading by just one, Burns held off the stubborn GHS defense long enough to add on some insurance points. The Broncs drove 75 yards on their next drive, but it was a busted play that led to a 65-yard TD run that led to the final points of the game and a 14-6 BHS lead with 3:30 to go in the third.

Glenrock did not back down defensively and continued to light up the Burns offense with aggressive play. The effort gave the team a chance to tie the game as the Broncs never scored again.

However, the Herders were unable to sneak into the red zone again. And a pair of turnovers on downs in the fourth kept the team from chalking up an upset.

The loss dropped Glenrock to 1-5 for the season and 0-4 in conference play. Burns remains in contention for the title at 3-2 and 3-1, respective.

UP NEXT

The Herders will travel to Goshen County Friday night in search of their first league win against Torrington. The Trailblazers, who are 1-5 overall and 1-3 in conference, lost 48-13 to second-ranked Tongue River last week,

Kick off is set for 6 p.m.