Anaconda Copperheads blank football Loggers, 28-0
Libby High School football coach Neil Fuller was upbeat after his team fell to 0-2 Friday after a 28-0 home field loss to the Anaconda Copperheads.
The reason for Fuller’s optimism is simple: improvement.
“I’m excited,” Fuller said. “I think we played with a lot of confidence. I think we’re playing better football.”
After two first-quarter scores more than a week ago against the Bonners Ferry Badgers, the Loggers have gone seven quarters without scoring. The game Friday was the Copperheads’ first game of the season.
The Loggers had a difficult time on both sides of the ball. Simply, the Loggers could not get their offense on track while their defense was unable to stop the Copperheads run and passing game.
The Loggers, who did not manage a to gain a first down from scrimmage in the first half, came on in the second half to end with nine first downs. The Copperheads, in amassing 524 yards of total offense, managed 20 first downs.
The Loggers found a ground game much more difficult, amassing just 44 yards on the turf and 45 yards through the air for a total of 89 yards in offense.
Still, there were some stellar performances by the Loggers as quarterback Jared Winslow displayed his agility in the fourth quarter on a third-and-15 play to elude defenders, eventually picking up a first-down with a 20-yard gain.
The run was lauded by the Logger faithful, some of whom stood to cheer their quarterback’s effort.
On the play, Winslow was caught deep behind the line — at one point it seemed he would be sacked 14 yards behind the line — only to escape the clutches of multiple defenders. Winslow zigged and zagged his way to a linear gain of 20. However, the senior signal-caller easily covered 50 yards on the play, even catching the praise of Copperhead coach Bob Orrino.
“Holy cow their quarterback was something,” Orrino said. “The way he moves, gosh I wish I had him.”
On that play, senior wide receiver Josh Bowers made a great hit on a defender to spring Winslow just as he was weaving his way back up to the line of scrimmage.
Copperhead quarterback Cory Stanberry performed well, too. The 6-foot senior scrambled 15 times for 208 yards and two touchdowns while passing for another two scores. Stanberry completed 11-of-26 passes for 156 yards.
Fuller said despite being down 14-0 at halftime, he felt his Loggers were just one big play away from getting back into the game.
“I do think we battled back in the second half,” Fuller said. “We had some dropped passes. We’re just not good enough to overcome those. We need to catch those.”
The Loggers’ Jason Schnackenberg made a great play to intercept a Stanberry pass in the fourth quarter to halt a drive as the Copperheads were advancing to the red zone.
The 0-2 Loggers travel to Hamilton for a 7 p.m. Friday.