Author Archives: Jeremiah Johnke

Grizzlies’ Harter aggravates injury

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Cheyenne Grizzlies’ relief pitcher Kyle Harter left Sunday’s 6-4 loss to the Casper Cutthroats after aggravating a right Achilles’ tendon injury.

Harter, who will be a senior this fall, was in a walking boot after Sunday’s. He tore his Achilles while pitching at William Woods University in Fulton, Mo., last fall. He had been cruising prior to tweaking his injury Sunday. The hard-throwing right-hander gave up a walk and single to the first two hitters he faced in the sixth inning, but then struck out the next four.
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The Central and East girls ready to do battle again in state soccer finale

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ROCK SPRINGS — The Cheyenne Central and Cheyenne East girls soccer teams have gone head-to-head three times this season. They were three of the most physical soccer matches you’ll ever see.

And not physical because either team was playing dirty. Physical because both teams were competing their collective tails off trying to get a win.

I don’t expect that to be any different in today’s Class 4A state championship.

As one parent said to me, “I feel sorry for the center official that has to do this game. You couldn’t pay me enough to take that on.”

How close were the three previous meetings? They tied 1-1 and 2-2 before East grabbed a 2-0 win in the 4A East Regional.

Both sides expect for of the same today. Continue reading →

Cheyenne Central at Casper Natrona County glance

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Central at Natrona
No. 5-ranked Cheyenne Central (1-1) wins if: The Indians must run well. They don’t have a solid every-down back, so they’ve started using a tight formation that relies on misdirection. Central is averaging north of 200 yards per game, which is pretty good. It’s backs must have a solid average in order for Central to have a chance against a stingy Mustangs’ defense. Throwing the ball well also wouldn’t hurt because it will keep Natrona from loading the line of scrimmage to stop the run.
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Sheridan at Cheyenne South glance

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Sheridan at Cheyenne South
No. 4-ranked Sheridan (1-1) wins if: The Broncs get their rushing offense going. Sheridan was held minus-21 yards on the ground in last week’s loss to Casper Natrona County. The Broncs longest run was five yards on its first play from scrimmage. They had nearly 300 rushing yards in their Aug. 24 come-from-behind win over Cheyenne Central. The running game is important and Sheridan must establish it early.
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Cheyenne South at Cheyenne Central glance

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Here are my thoughts on Friday’s Cheyenne South at Cheyenne Central football game.

Cheyenne South at Cheyenne Central

No. 5-Cheyenne Central (0-1) will win if: It holds the lead. I know that sounds pretty elementary, but the Indians came from ahead to lose against reigning Class 4A state champion Sheridan 33-28. Central must get ahead and stay ahead of the Bison.
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Cheyenne East at Laramie glance

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Here are my thoughts on Friday night’s Cheyenne East at Laramie football game.

Cheyenne East at Laramie

No. 4-ranked Cheyenne East (1-0) will win if: The offense gets going. Defense shouldn’t be a problem for the Thunderbirds this season, but the offense is still a question mark. East had success on the ground in a 30-10 victory over Casper Kelly Walsh, rushing for 269 yards, but it scored just nine points from the middle of the second quarter on.
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South keeps it loose in Shrine Bowl rout

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CASPER — Chad Goff wanted the South team to enjoy its Shrine Bowl experience, so he tried to keep things as loose and carefree as possible outside practice.

On the field, the South was all business and had had quality practices.

Still, there was a part of Goff that wondered if it was the right approach.

His team removed all doubt by halftime. The South held a 42-6 edge at the intermission and went on to win 56-33 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score.

The North was able to make the game somewhat interesting thanks to the mercy rule that allows a team trailing by 15 points or more to receive the kickoff after it scores.

“These guys did everything we asked them to when we got them between these white lines,” said Goff, who is Cheyenne East’s head coach. “You don’t want to come up here and be in their faces the whole time. They did what we asked them to do all week.

“Other than that, they’re kids and they had a great time getting to know each other and building some good camaraderie.” Continue reading →

Central grad trying to resurrect Torrington football

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CASPER — I hesitate to say that Torrington’s football program has fallen on hard times when a siren creates a break in my conversation with Mark Lenhardt.

As the siren goes away, I try to characterize the Trailblazers’ struggles as a “down cycle” when the second-year coach interrupts me.

“To say that we’ve fallen on hard times is true,” he said. “There hasn’t been a winning season in 14 years.”

It’s actually been 16.
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