Natrona Holds On To Beat Gillette To Remain Undefeated [VIDEO]

Kevin Koile – wyopreps.com

Highlights of the Friday, October 19th football game between #2 Gillette at #1 Natrona.

Scroll down to watch the highlights of the game!

The Mustangs scored all of their points in the first half and held on to win, thanks in part to a self-destruction job by the Camels at the end.

I just hope they are playing some game that has a football theme to it. With a game of this magnitude…all eyes better be on the field.

Number 2 Gillette at Number 1 Natrona…undefeated vs. undefeated…first quarter…Natrona wearing the black…they would get the ball first and march 80 yards in 9 plays…capped off by this beautiful fade from Brecken Biggs to Dan Reese for the last 20 yards…Mustangs strike first and lead 7-to-nothing.

Gillette would strike back thanks to a fumbled punt at mid-field…Taylor Bigelow finds the hole and goes right through it. He’ll slip a few tacklers at the end, and he’s in on an 18 yard touchdown run…P-A-T was no good, so the Camels were down 7-to-6 after the first 12 minutes.

2^nd quarter…the visitors would threaten again…Nathan Phillips is on for a 30 yard field goal try…not much  pressure by the boys in black on that one, and the kick is good. The score is now 9-to-7 and it’s the first time this season that the home team has trailed in a game.

Now this highlight is not a repeat, because the result was much different. Phillips to try again from 26 yards…it’s hard to tell with everyone in the way, but the kick was blocked by Thomas Myler…and if you can find him on the right side of your screen…number 20 is Isaac Cooper…he scoops the loose ball and he’s going all the way in the other direction…an 84 yard blocked field goal return for a touchdown…you don’t see plays like that often, but it’s awesome when it happens. NC takes the lead 14-to-9.

Later…this play was pretty good looking as well. Biggs runs one way…dumps the ball in the other direction to Josh Flanigan…and the senior will take care of the rest on the near sideline. He had about 150 yards himself in this contest…and about half of them came on this 78 yard catch and run for a Mustang touchdown. Things were in decent shape with the scoreboard reading 20-to-9, going into the locker room.

3^rd quarter…not much happened. The boys in black were knocking on the door. Biggs was looking for Logan Wilson, but instead he wound up with Cole Petty who plays for the other team. The Camels could not do anything with the turnover, but that saved 6 points…and the score stayed the same…20-to-9 going into the final 12 minutes.

4^th quarter…more defense…Biggs has a couple of targets in range, but the opposition read the play well. Matt Fogle will end up with the pick, and he’s returning it into enemy territory…down to about the 38 yard line. Now his team-mates need to cash in soon, because time was starting to become a factor.

Coming into this game, Natrona’s defense on average was only giving about 100 yards per game…the visitors would quadruple that number. Austin Fort would connect with Kelly for a 7 yard touchdown to make this a 20-to-15 contest, and it was decision time.

Gillette would elect to go for 2…and this play was similar to the last one. Fort rolls out to his right…he’s got a man…this time it’s Dani Fischer and he’s in for the conversion. That would relieve some of the pressure and the Camels have some time now…trailing 20-to-17.

Skipping ahead…less than 1 minute to go. The visitors are going for it on 4^th and 4 from the 14. They thought about a field goal…changed their mind…and it payed off some. Fort over the middle to Fischer and he’s got the first down. Now they have some time, and a little breathing room, to roll the dice again.

Less than 30 seconds left…2^nd and goal at the 2…this play was critical. Bigelow…stuffed…but watch what happens afterwards. Fort gets called for a 15 yard personal foul penalty…and the Camels got 5 more for a delay of game, for snapping the ball while the refs were trying to reset the clock. They had to back up 20 yards.

So it came down to this…Phillips is back for a 44 yard try to tie the score and send the game into overtime…short and no good.  Natrona survived despite not scoring in the second half. They won this battle, 20-to-17, to remain undefeated…but depending on what happens in the playoffs…this war may not be over.