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Wyoming dominates Taft 37-6

WYOMING, Ohio – The Wyoming Cowboys dominated from start to finish on a cold rainy night defeating the Taft Senators 37-6 at Bob Lewis Stadium.

The Division IV matchup was a rematch of last year’s defensive battle that saw Wyoming win 10-7.

The game was hampered by a steady rain the entire game thanks to the lingering remnants of Tropical Storm Harvey that devastated the Houston, Texas area earlier in the week.

Each team struggled in the early going and were forced to punt after its opening possession.

Wyoming got things clicking in front of its home crowd, taking advantage of excellent field position beginning with its second possession. The Cowboys scored four touchdowns thanks to beginning all of its scoring drives inside of the 50-yard line.

Wyoming head coach Aaron Hancock explained what worked best for his team knowing that the weather would be a factor.

“We knew they (Taft) had a lot of guys going both ways so we felt like we could get some tempo on them early and we did a really good job of that,” said Hancock.

Quarterback Evan Prather, who helped push the tempo, was responsible for three of the touchdowns in the first half. Besides running for a pair scores, Prather also threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Joey Edmonds.

Wyoming’s Miles Smith intercepted a Cleveland Farmer pass that lead to Prather’s second rushing touchdown.

Pierson Rogers, the Cowboys leading rusher, topped off the scoring in the opening half with an 11-yard touchdown run.

The Cowboys defense held the Taft offense to zero yards of total offense in the first half. Demarco Bradley’s six-yard run in the final minute of the second quarter gave Taft’s it only first down of the half.

“Our defense is stout and just did a good job of giving us great field possession in the first half and our offense took advantage of the short fields and got on them early,” Hancock said of a group that only surrendered two first downs in the entire game.

The Senators showed signs of life, beginning the second half with Bradley’s 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Unfortunately for Taft, the offense could not generate any momentum.

Taft’s defense made adjustments and played well in the second half. Wyoming was held scoreless in the third quarter but its was defense and the kicking game that put the game out of reach.

Wyoming kicker Sergio Listo proved to be a valuable weapon throughout the game. Listo’s fourth quarter punt was downed on the Taft one-yard line. Farmer was forced out of the back of the end zone by Rogers for a safety.

The Cowboys scored its final touchdown when Rogers found the end zone for a second time to trigger the running clock mercy rule in the fourth quarter.

Despite the final score, Hancock knows that the margin of victory was not a true indication of how good he thought Taft will be as the season progresses.

“Taft is a good football team and they’re going to be a playoff team later on down the road. This is a huge win for us tonight,” said Hancock.

 

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Taft 0-0-6-0 – 6

Wyoming 21-7-0-9 – 37

 

SCORING PLAYS

W – Prather 10-yard TD run (Listo kick)

W – Edmonds 39-yard TD catch from Prather (Listo kick)

W – Prather 9-yard TD run (Listo kick)

W – Rogers 11-yard TD run (Listo kick)

T –  Bradley 92-yard kickoff return for TD (pass failed)

W – Safety, Rogers forced Farmer out of the back of the end zone.

W – Rogers 1-yard TD run (Listo kick)

 

RECORDS: Taft (1-1); Wyoming (2-0)

UP NEXT: Taft at McNicholas (1-1); Wyoming at CHCA (1-1) on Saturday

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