Loggers defeat Badgers in football action

LIBBY — The Badger fans that made the trek across state boundaries to watch Bonners Ferry and their new head coach Casey McLaughlin take on the Libby Loggers in the first game of the season were rewarded with an exciting show.

The packed visitors’ stands watched a Badger team that was more dynamic than it has been in recent years. The offense spread the ball around both through the air and on the ground and out of several different sets.

The defense was the highlight, though, forcing four punts, two turnovers on downs, and coming up with a recovered fumble and an interception.

Libby rarely crossed mid-field on their own merit and were held scoreless the entire first half.

Bonners Ferry’s quarterback, Christian Trocke, showed impressive poise after he bounced back from an early game interception on the first possession, to orchestrate a methodical drive down the field.

A mix of runs by Bryan Yeomans and Zachary Wilson coupled with a pass to each Yeomans and Matt Sabin landed Bonners Ferry in the end zone. The extra point attempt failed, but the Badgers came away with the 6-0 lead.

The Badgers appeared to control the game almost the entire time, but came up short after a couple of bad breaks.

Mental mistakes and early-season kinks were almost the story of the game.

Libby seemed determined to sink its new offense before it could even take off. It began early when junior defensive lineman Tarasik Krisanov bumped the punter, a 15-yard boon for the Badgers.

“We need to work on our punt-blocking,” said Loggers head coach Neil Fuller. “He was maybe too aggressive on that, and that’s not his fault.”

Libby had other costly penalties, including an encroachment on fourth down that put Bonners Ferry at first and goal and allowed them their only score of the night.

“We need to clean up a lot,” said McLaughlin of his team’s malaise in the red zone. “We’re struggling to be successful on offense. Mistakes cascade in football.”

Bonners Ferry’s kicking team missed out on the extra point and would later miss a 30-yard field goal, perhaps costing the team valuable momentum.

Even with the Badgers misfiring, Libby suspensions kept the split-backs out of the game until the second quarter, making the team run out of shotgun formation and not the new veer offense offensive coordinator Kyle Hannah had planned.

Predictably, the offense sputtered, Winslow spent more time on his back than he’d have liked, and the Badgers took their 6-0 lead into the half.

Some miscues on special teams gave Libby the ball on the Bonners Ferry 9-yard line that was taken advantage of with a fade rout to the corner of the end zone. The converted extra point gave Libby the one point lead.

The Badgers had a chance to take the lead back on the ensuing possession but the field goal attempt inside the Libby 20-yard line came up short.

It seemed like when Bonners Ferry needed that big play, they just could not get it while the opposite was the case for the Loggers. The Libby offense struggled most of the game, but with just under three minutes to go Jared Winslow found Lane Luscher deep down the sideline for a 30-yard toss caught in the end zone giving the Loggers the 14-6 lead.

Coach McLaughlin said after the game, “they outplayed us and we didn’t help ourselves.” While they might not be completely true, Libby certainly outplayed the Badgers when it counted most.

Bonners would get the ball back with almost 2 minutes and 30 seconds to go but Trocke threw another pick.

Some interesting play calling and poor clock management from the Libby sideline got the Badgers the ball back and Trocke and the crew went back to work. Bonners Ferry marched up the field effortlessly and came within 25 yards of the touchdown needed to give them the shot at a two-point conversion and extending the game to overtime.

The Bonners Ferry crowd on their feet watched the last play unfold with only three seconds to go. Everyone seemed to collectively groan when Trocke settled for a short dump pass to Wilson who still had to scramble 20 yards to score, but scramble he did.

Wilson bolted passed the Logger defense to the elation of the fans in blue, but the excitement was short lived. With just a yard to go Wilson was forced out of bounds and with the clock expired Libby took the win.

The Badgers lost a heartbreaker, but it is obvious the team has a lot to look forward to. Wilson could not quite punch the last play in the end zone, but just the fact that he made it as far as he did shows what type of player he is.

Trocke made big plays as well and Sabin is an impressively large target for the junior QB.

The defense put on a show with highlights from Roberts Swanson knocking the football loose then recovering it and an interception by Brendan Evans that he returned almost 30 yards.

As Coach McLaughlin said, “these guys battled…we’re getting there…but we’ll make adjustments and continue to improve.”

With the kind of stuff the Badgers showed up with last Saturday they have a solid foundation to build on. When asked what he liked about the game Coach responded, “I liked the hustle.”

Badgers will put their hustle on display this Saturday at 7 p.m. when they play host to Lethbridge, the team from Canada who will be making their twelfth consecutive trip into Bonners Ferry. Last year Lethbridge took one from the home team so Bonners Ferry will be looking to get one back this year.

Editor’s note: Ryan Murray, a reporter with the Western News, contributed to this story.