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The Encampment Tigers' first varsity season in 30 years has come to an end, but not without a fight against the No. 1 team in the 1A West Six-Man Conference in the semi-final round of the 1A Six-Man Playoffs.

On November 7, the Tigers were hosted by the Farson-Eden Pronghorns to determine who would advance to the 1A Six-Man State Championship. For, at least, the first half of the game it looked as if Encampment would down the Pronghorns, who dealt them a loss in the regular season.

"This was a well played and hard fought game by both teams. From start to finish both teams got after it and it went down to the last minute of the game to determine the winner," said Kegan Willford, head coach of the Encampment Tigers. "It's really tough to lose games that are this close because you are always looking back to moments in the game where you could have made a different decision that maybe could have changed the outcome."

When the Pronghorns had hosted Encampment in September, they had sent the Tigers home with a loss of 32-74. The week before, Farson had downed the Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (Miners) with a 0-70 loss. The Tigers, however, were determined to continue to prove themselves as they narrowly lost, 41-42.

In the 1st quarter, Encampment led 7-6 thanks to a 60 yard rush from Caysen Barkhurst and a conversion from Koye Gilbert following a pass from Dalton Peterson. In the 2nd quarter, the Tigers continued their scoring as they doubled what they had done in the first 10 minutes.

A 15 yard rush from Peterson put Encampment at 13-6 and a 62 yard rush from Quade Jordan increased that score to 19-6. A point-after-touchdown from Michael Anderson added two more points to that lead. While Farson-Eden scored another touchdown before the end of the first half, the Tigers went into halftime leading 21-12.

When both teams returned to the gridiron, the Pronghorns had appeared to find their footing and tried to speed past Encampment. The 3rd quarter saw Farson-Eden put 14 points on the board while the Tigers only had 6 points, which came from a 40 yard rush by Jordan and Encampment still led 27-26.

In the final quarter, Encampment regained their footing and went nearly point-for-point against the Pronghorns. The gains by Farson-Eden in the previous 10 minutes, however, were difficult to overcome. The Tigers were able to put 14 points on the board, but trailed in scoring by two points against Farson-Eden.

Anderson scored a touchdown following a 24 yard pass from Peterson to push the lead 33-26. A flurry of scoring from the Pronghorns, however, kept Encampment scoreless for most of the final quarter as Farson-Eden switched the lead to go 33-42.

A 3 yard pass from Peterson to Kagan Gilbert, however, helped close the gap and a point-after-touchdown from Anderson put the Tigers 41-42 as the game ended.

Mary Martin

Michael Anderson kicks for a field goal against the Pronghorns on Saturday afternoon in Farson-Eden

"I am extremely proud of our team for putting forth great effort and never giving up. This was a game that not a lot of people were giving us a chance to be competitive in, but as a team we knew that we could go out and give ourselves a chance to win," Willford said. "We were in position to do just that, however we fell just short. It's unfortunate for the seniors to have this as their final football game, but they have left their mark on this program beyond just playing the games. These seniors were so instrumental in the creation of the program from going in front of the school board to volunteering and fundraising. This group should be proud of what they have accomplished in such a short amount of time."

In just two short years, the Encampment Tigers went from not having a six-man football program to ending their first varsity schedule in the semi-final round of the 1A Six-Man Playoffs against one of the top teams in the state. Though Willford is losing some key seniors after this season, it appears that there are enough future footballers to keep the program going for some time to come.

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Tigers leave their mark on Farson-Eden - The Saratoga Sun - The Saratoga Sun Homepage