Long Trip Awaits Regrouping Laramie Football Team

For the second consecutive week, the Laramie Plainsmen are on the road. This time they head northeast to face the Gillette Camels.

Laramie (1-1) is coming off a rough 40-7 loss at No. 5 Rock Springs last Friday night.

Gillette (0-2) showed signs of life but lost to top-ranked Natrona County last week, 47-28. It was the Camels 21st consecutive loss. The 28 points scored was the most in a game since 27 in a loss at home to Cheyenne South on Oct. 13, 2017, according to Wyoming-football.com.

The Plainsmen have their own concerns coming off last week’s defeat. Laramie head coach Clint Reed knows they’ve got injury and depth issues, but more than anything they pointed to making sure his team is lined up properly and knows what they’re supposed to be doing. Reed also talked about a different look Gillette team under new coach Andrew Rose.

Laramie is led by junior QB Garrett Dodd. He ranks as the No. 8 passer and No. 5 in all-purpose yards in Class 4A. Dodd is averaging 175.5 yards of offense per game. He’s thrown for 274 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Dodd is completing close to 54 percent of his passes. The top target is senior Janson Adair. He has eight catches for 135 yards and three TDs. That ranks seventh in receiving in Class 4A. Defensively, junior Colter Nunn and Adair rank fifth and seventh in defensive points per game.

Gillette is guided by their junior quarterback, Kaden Race. He is the No. 4 passer in Class 4A, averaging 145.5 yards per game through the air. Race has completed only 41 percent of his passes. He has one touchdown and three interceptions. Senior Vijay Pitter is the No. 2 rusher in Class 4A and averages 129 yards per game with three total TDs. Their top defender is Mason Dykes, who ranks No. 12 in defensive points per game at 14.

Friday night’s game will mark the 42nd meeting in the series. The Plainsmen have won the last two games by shutout.

Kick-off is at 7 p.m. from Camel Stadium in Gillette.

KOWB (AM 1290) will broadcast the game live with David Settle and Aaron Lozano calling the action. You can listen to the game in multiple ways, on your radio, through the KOWB app anywhere, online, or on any Amazon Alexa-enabled or Google Home speaker. Coverage starts at 6 p.m.