Plains football coach proud of team effort
<p>The Horseman tacklers bring down the Big Fork running back during the senior night game Friday at Plains.</p>
PLAINS – The Plains Horsemen football team put up a good fight but fell short to the Bigfork Vikings 54-14.
The Horsemen were able to run the counter effectively early in the ball game. The slight trickery was able to lead to a 80 yard Plains touchdown in the first that gave them the lead 8-6 after a successful two point conversion.
“The one thing I wanted to do as a team is score against the first string,” Head Coach Juan Lulack said. “This is the number three team in the state and we did and had the lead for a good six minutes.”
The young Plains team was forced to go toe-to-toe with one of the bigger, stronger teams in the state and was able to play with them early on in the game. The Vikings roster was just too deep for the Horsemen to take on for four quarters of play.
“It’s hard on us because we are just so thin,” Lulack said. “We don’t have the 50 man roster Bigfork has and so our wheels wore out after awhile.”
Despite being down going into the fourth quarter the Horsemen or the fans never let the score get to them. The team and fans remained positive throughout the game. Plains was able to put together another scoring drive, thanks in large part to a 34 yard pass from junior Nick Barnes that set up a short pass into the end zone giving the Horseman 14 points on the board against one of the state’s top teams.
“Our goal was to score 21 points against them,” Lulack said. “We got 14 and played hard defensively and just never gave up.”
Even while down the defensive unit for the Horsemen continued to tackle strong and make big, flinching hits. The players kept good tackling technique and were able to wrap up and drive the Bigfork players down.
One disadvantage for the Horseman was not having a player tall enough to cover the 6’8” tight end for the Vikings. The height difference opened up the Bigfork passing attack leading to big plays. When the ball was on the ground for Bigfork, their offense was stagnant due to Plains effective run defense until late when the Horsemen were gassed.
Plains just did not have enough left in the tank come the end of the night but Lulack saw a lot of good things from his players.
“For us there is a lot of great things tonight,” Lulack said, “last year we were only able to score one touchdown all year and tonight we got two on these guys.”
The Horsemen continue to make strides in this year’s football season. Each week they are improving and learning to play as a team.
“I don’t know how many touchdowns we have scored this year,” Lulack said. “But we are making improvements. For playing the number three team in the state, I am very proud of this year and how we played tonight. Guys kept their composure and played hard.”
Coach Lulack and his team will be on the road next Friday night as they travel to Powell County and face another very good squad. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.