Patriot winning streak stopped by tough Big Horn team

The game of the week, featuring the top two teams in Wyoming, took place in Upton on Friday night as the Upton-Sundance Patriots hosted the Big Horn Rams. Despite both teams being undefeated, the Patriot football team knew they had a huge task ahead of them.

The Patriot defense started on the field, holding their ground and forcing the Rams to punt it away. As the offense took the field, a gutsy call on fourth and one kept the first drive for the U-S Patriots alive. Making their way to midfield, the Patriots were ultimately stopped by the Big Horn defense and forced to punt it away as well.

On the Rams second series, misdirection was the name of the game as they chewed up big chunks of yardage and flipped the field, but their drive stalled out at the 23-yard line of the Patriots. A couple first downs for Upton-Sundance continued to move their offense down the field, but a bad snap put them behind the chains.

Facing a third-and-long, and desperate for yardage, the Patriots looked to pass the ball only to have it intercepted by the Rams. Defense was the name of the game in the first quarter, as each side worked hard to keep these high scoring offenses in check.

As the second quarter of play opened up, the Patriots were looking to gain some yardage on the run but the Ram defense continued to shut them down. Just as you thought it was going to be a defensive showdown, the Rams passed the ball out into the flat to Carson Bates.

With a couple quick moves, Bates was able to get away from the Patriot defenders and race down the sideline, only to be stopped short of the goal line, setting the Rams up with a first and goal. After a false start on the Rams followed by some tough Patriot defense, Big Horn was facing a fourth and goal.

A deep fade from Big Horn quarterback Quinn McCafferty found Will Pelissier in the end zone and gave the Rams the first score. An extra point by Cooper Garber put the Rams up 7-0 with 5:57 left to go in the half.

The Upton-Sundance Patriots took over and drove to midfield and were looking to be stalled out, but on a pass from Patriot quarterback Brad Kruger to Braden Bruce, which looked to be intercepted, Bruce was able to go up with the defender and rip the ball away as they came to the ground, keeping the drive alive. As the second quarter wound down, the Patriots passed the ball towards the end zone, only to have the Rams intercept and hold the Patriots from scoring again. The clock ran out with the score 7-0 at the half.

Patriots received the ball and started the third quarter on the Rams 35. Running back Jaydon Caylor ripped off a big run, bringing the Patriots across midfield, but a penalty moved them back.

The penalty did not deter Caylor and the Patriot offense as he found another hole to gain yardage but a false start on third and short made it fourth and nine, forcing the Patriots to turn the ball over on downs and the Rams take over on their own 33.

The Rams quarterback continued to find open receivers as they marched down the field, putting themselves at first and goal with 4:30 to go in the third quarter. Calling a timeout, they set up a little trickery.

On the next play, the Rams ran a jet-sweep-reverse- quarterback-throwback to a wide-open quarterback, McCafferty in the end zone. Another good extra point and the score was 14-0 with 4:24 left to go in the third quarter.

The wheels began to fall off for the Patriots as an illegal block in the back on the following kick off put it inside the 15. Caylor appeared to have a leg injury on the previous defensive series, forcing the Patriots to go to the passing game and punt the ball away to start the fourth quarter.

With the Rams pinned down on their own 24-yardline, and a holding on the first down, the Patriots had a chance to make a stop and gain the ball back in good position to capitalize. However, the Rams capitalized on a slant to Bates and a couple big runs by Pelissier to quickly get the Rams across midfield.

The Patriots called a timeout on defense, hoping to slow down the Ram momentum, but Pelissier was able to find another hole, after the timeout, running it in for a 34-yard touchdown and increasing the Ram lead to 20.

The Patriot woes continued on the next series as they fumbled the ball on third down, turning it back over to the Rams. However, a big sack on the Ram quarterback by Joe Bishop fired the team back up.

The Patriot offense made one last drive, only to have the ball intercepted one more time by the Rams. Shortly thereafter, Big Horn quarterback McCafferty found Ayden Phillips in the end zone for a 26-yard reception, making the final score of the game 27-0.

With this loss, the Patriots drop to the number two spot in the conference and have to hope another team is able to stop Big Horn offense in order to have a chance at regaining the top spot.

The 4-1 Patriots will face off against the Wright Panthers on Friday night in Sundance for their homecoming game. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Stats from the game:

Rushing: J. Caylor 17/75, J. Claycomb 9/31, B. Kruger 8/-2, E. Jones 1/3

Passing: Kruger 7/17/73 (3 INT)

Receiving: B. Bruce 2/35, K.Taylor 2/12, R. Barritt 1/10 , J.Caylor 1/9, J. Claycomb 1/7

Defense: J. Caylor 18 points, B. Bruce 15 points, J. Bishop 11 points (1 sack), J. Claycomb 10 points, E. Mills 8 points