Cowboys Ride To 52-6 Homecoming Win

Homecoming week tends to be one of the most memorable weeks in a high school football player's career.  It's made even more memorable when you finish with a win.  That is just what coach Hatch and his Cowboy players did last Friday when they hosted the Wolves from Castleford.  A season ago the Cowboys opened the year on the road against this same Castleford team and the Wolves handed North Gem a devastating 42-20 loss.  This year's Cowboy team that is loaded with upperclassmen and talent were determined to not let that be their fate in this season's opener.  

If you haven't had the pleasure of watching a North Gem football game you are missing out.  With typically a 4 o’clock start time and a unique layout that allows fans to park right on the sidelines makes it a great community event.  You will see fans walking the full length of the field visiting and cheering on their Cowboys.  Perhaps one of the neatest things you may see at a North Gem game is the presentation of the flag on horseback.  I don't know if you will see much more of an American scene than a rider, horse, the flag and a football team all at the same time.

The Cowboys also play eight-man football, which in the case of the Cowboys means little rest for the players, who double on both sides of the field.

To go along with their crowd theme of a whiteout the Cowboys elected to wear their white jerseys which are typically reserved for road games.  The Cowboys solid defense held the Wolves to minimal yardage on Castleford’s first possession.  This set the Cowboys up with decent field position on their first offensive possession.  North Gem spread the runs around between Welker, Hatch and Yost keeping the Wolves on their heels.  The drive was capped off with a Yost sweep around the end followed by a Hatch keeper up the middle for the two point conversion.  After the defense was able to stop a fourth down attempt near midfield the Cowboys offense was on the move again.  Coach Hatch must have been feeling a little carefree due to the fact that he dialed up a pass play on this drive which was completed to Welker setting the Cowboys up for a first and goal.  Two plays later Yost was once again walking into the endzone and the Cowboys extended their lead to 16-0 ending the first quarter.  

Castleford strung together several plays and were able to move the ball down the field to open the second quarter.  However, once again the Cowboy defense took on a bend-but-don't-break mentality, ending the Wolves drive with Frandsen getting a sack on fourth down.  The Cowboys marched right back down the field and Hatch earned his first touchdown of the season, pushing the score to a three score advantage for North Gem.  Following a fumble recovery the Cowboys added one more score in the closing minute of the second quarter and took a 30-0 lead into the half.  

The second half was more of the same, as the Cowboys marched right down the field finishing with yet another Yost touchdown run.  The Cowboys continued their dominance throughout the third quarter, pushing the lead to 46-0.  On the last drive of the quarter the Wolves would catch a break when a bobbled snap and a wild scramble would set Castleford up with a first and goal.  That would lead to the Wolves only score of the game that came just seconds before the end of the third.  

Having hit the mercy rule threshold in the third quarter the fourth quarter would go quickly as the clock would run.  Hatch would add one more score before time would run out on this one.  The Cowboys come away with a big 52-6 victory.

North Gem will look to build on this momentum when they travel to Shoshone for this week's match-up.