OTHER VOICES How the Laramie Boomerang previewed the big game Class 3A State Preview: Douglas, Cody will do it their way in Class 3A title game By Dave Shelles [email protected] Despite football being a team sport, today’s Class 3A state championship will feature one of the more intriguing one-on-one matchups of the season. Cody senior running back Carter Myers, who averages 125.5 yards per game, goes against Douglas senior defensive end Bay Parks, who averages 8.5 tackles a game. Douglas coach Jay Rhoades credited Cody’s offensive line for springing Myers throughout the season. “More than anything, their size up front is really what allows him to do what he has,” Rhoades said. “He does a lot with his speed, too, but we are fast on defense. Their size presents more of a challenge than the speed of any of their players.” Cody coach Matt McFadden didn’t return WyoSports’ calls for comments. Myers does it all for the Broncs (9-1) — literally. The 6-foot-1, 220-pound senior averages 8.4 tackles per game and has an interception, a fumble recovery and two blocked kicks. He leads the state in scoring with 21 touchdowns and 17 successful point-after kicks. He also averages 37.6 yards a punt, third in Class 3A. The Bearcats (9-1) counter with Parks, a 5-11, 205-pound senior. He’s listed at running back as well as at defensive end but Rhoades said Parks doesn’t play much on offense. In addition to his tackles, he has a state-leading 18 tackles for loss and six quarterback sacks. Still, Rhoades is quick to point out that the Bearcats won’t game-plan for just one player. Where Myers lowers a shoulder and bashes forward, the Broncs also have an outside threat in Noah Rivera, a 5-9, 165-pound senior who has scored 16 touchdowns this season — 12 rushing and four receiving. Junior quarterback Blake Hinze has thrown for 872 yards and 11 touchdowns against four interceptions. “Coach Wes Gamble is our defensive coordinator, and he does great things week in and week out to put ourselves in position to stop the opposing offense,” he said. “But you can’t really focus on one player. You have to have everybody do their jobs and Friday’s no different.” Offensively, the Bearcats have been unspectacular but effective. Senior running back Colter Haman needs 22 yards to reach 1,000 for the season, and senior quarterback Haize Weber needs seven yards to reach 1,000 yards passing. So they’ve relied largely on the state’s best defense to make it to the season’s final weekend. The Bearcats lead the state in total defense, scoring defense, touchdowns allowed and turnover margin. Interestingly, Cody is second in Class 3A in those four categories. Rhoades said between a season-opening loss to Powell and a 13-7 win over Cody a week later, a young team grew up quickly. “When we went and played them before, we started a sophomore quarterback because our senior had an appendectomy,” he said. “We haven’t put up great numbers all year, but they’re a capable group. “We’ve done better every week. We had one starter returning on offense, but now they seem to be playing well.” The kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie. By the way, Myers will do that, too.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 02:37:00 +0000
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