TORRINGTON – All three area football teams got to hit someone other their own teammates over the weekend at a pair of area Week 0 jamborees.
The Lingle-Fort Laramie Doggers kicked off the weekend with a trip to Guernsey to face the Vikings and the Midwest Oilers - a pair of Class 1A 6-Man East Conference foes.
The team didn’t hold anything back.
“They have a feeling after showing their stuff tonight, they have the potential to do some really neat things this year,” LFL coach Matt Cornelius said. “The kids are really buying into one another and are working hard, not only for Lingle-Fort Laramie but each other.”
In a regulation half against Midwest, the Doggers scored eight touchdowns, had two fumble recoveries, one interception and held Midwest to four three-and-out drives.
Against Guernsey, LFL scored an additional six times, recovered another fumble and recorded another interception, to go along with three turnovers on downs.
“They are doing the little things right and they are doing the little things, not only on the field but off the field,” Cornelius said. “We have some good leadership this year that is helping us out, and we are going to focus on getting better.”
The Doggers will host Sioux County, Neb. on Friday for week one.
The next day, Torrington traveled to Yoder to join Southeast, Burns and Niobrara County high schools for a three-hour jamboree.
It gave the Blazers and Cyclones a chance to see different opponents other than themselves and handful of looks from those opponents on each side of the ball.
“We were a little tentative against Lusk. We were a little better against Burns, but this last one against Torrington was 10 times better,” Southeast coach Mark Bullington said. “I think we have a lot of kids that are unsure of what we are doing and are a little tentative rather than going and making mistakes and learning from those mistakes.”
The Cyclones came away with a more solidified lineup as a result of the scrimmage heading into the week one showdown with Mitchell, Neb.
“We had some kids, even today, show us they can play,” Bullington said. “Some of them might even earn a starting spot that haven’t been in there. That’s why we need these scrimmages so we can evaluate some people.”
Meanwhile, for Torrington and first-year head coach Russell Stienmetz saw progress from the Blazers.
“For the most part, we knew our assignments,” he said. “We didn’t execute them to the fullest. I was hoping for that, but deep down, I knew that probably wasn’t going to be the case on Aug. 31. I wouldn’t want that because the kids could become complacent.”
Stienmetz singled Corbin Harris and Jackson Jones who shined on Saturday.
“We asked him to do a lot and coach up the players around him. Him being there makes everyone around him better,” Stienmetz said of Harris.
“Jackson Jones stepped up at the mike linebacker,” he added.
Torrington will not see any of the teams they saw on Saturday during the regular season, but the coach said seeing the different looks was beneficial heading into the week one contest against Class 2A No. 5-ranked Glenrock.
“I think it was great to see three different offenses, from the defensive side, therefore, we had to know our base assignments. Therefore, we can adjust on the fly,” Stienmetz said. “We didn’t plan for any of these teams, and I thought our execution was pretty good.”
