BUFFALO - The Wheatland Bulldog football team survived a pre-Halloween scare last Friday night, outlasting the Tongue River Eagles 22-16 in an important conference road win for the Bulldogs. The night began strangely when the Bulldogs found out as they neared Dayton (the home of Tongue River High School), they had to turn around and head for Buffalo. The game in Dayton had to be moved due to shifting winds and an inundation of smoke from nearby fires.
Surprisingly, the game began on time in Buffalo, with both teams demonstrating flexibility, showing up ready to play no matter the setting. The game itself was a defensive struggle through the first quarter and a half, with Tongue River opening the scoring on a 21 yard pass play. They added a two-point conversion to go up 8-0 on Wheatland. Two drives later, it looked as if Tongue River was about to score again when Clayton Dahlstedt ripped the ball from an Eagles receiver as he was being tackled on the Wheatland 13-yard line. Dahlsted took off in the other direction and made it all the way to the opposing 19-yard line before being tackled. After a couple of nice runs from Waylon Milnes, Jake Hyche scored on a quarterback keeper from a yard out. Milnes ran in the two-point conversion and the score was knotted up 8-8 at halftime.
Neither team managed to get anything going in the third quarter, and the score remained 8-8 until well into the fourth quarter. Eventually the Eagles scored from one yard out and added another two-point conversion to go up 16-8. According to the Wheatland coaches, an ominous feeling hung in the air, as this was very similar to how the previous week had gone, with disappointing results for Wheatland.
On the ensuing kickoff, junior kick returner Cooper Meyer fielded the ball at his own 23-yard line, and broke to the left. The Bulldog return team walled off the defense on a left-return scheme, and Meyer headed up the sideline. Seventy-seven yards later, Meyer crossed the goal line. Cooper added the exclamation point by catching the two-point conversion pass from Hyche, and the score was again tied. On their next drive, Tongue River turned the ball over on downs, and Wheatland went back to work, scoring on a 38-yard pass from Hyche to Meyer. The two point try failed, and Wheatland found themselves up 22-16 with just a few minutes left in the contest.

Wheatland’s defense dug in as the Tongue River Eagles mounted a last ditch effort to drive the field. Wheatland held fast, and the Eagles again turned the ball over on downs. Wheatland ran out the clock and went home a winner.
Wheatland Head Coach Tony Borton commended the Eagles and their coaches, saying, “I can’t believe how hard the Tongue River boys played tonight. It’s truly a testament to Coach Hansen and his staff, and how his team let it all hang out – especially considering all the adversity they’ve been through lately.” Borton was referring to the fires near Dayton, and the fact both the school and community have been completely upended the past two weeks. The Eagles were forced to forfeit their game against Upton-Sundance last week and have had very limited practice time.
Added to all this stress was the fact the game (Tongue River’s Homecoming) had to be moved down the road to Buffalo at literally the last minute. Again, Borton was impressed by the show of resolve and fortitude on the part of Tongue River.
“Honestly, this game could’ve gone either way. We just made a couple more plays than they did. Both teams played their hearts out tonight. Cooper Meyer showed up huge for us tonight, as did several others when it really mattered. I love my guys,” Borton said.
Standouts for Wheatland offensively included Milnes, Hyche, and Meyer. Defensively, the Bulldogs were led by Bode Stone, Hyche, and Clayton Dahlstedt.
This week Wheatland travels once again, this time to Moorcroft to face a struggling Wolves team that just moved up to 11-man football again this season. The game holds great importance for Wheatland, since a win should assure them of a playoff berth.
According to WYOPREPS, the following are highlights for statistics after the fifth week of the season: Waylon Milnes is first for a top performance in rushing, earning 219 yards against Glenrock; Cooper Meyer is fourth on the list for a top performance in receiving with a 64-yard game against Glenrock; Abad Luna is sitting second for a top performance for a 70-yard kick return against Torrington; as a team Wheatland is second for rush defense by only allowing an average of 84 yards per game; the Bulldogs are also third for total defense allowing only 186 yards per game.
On the individual side: Milnes is second overall in rushing, earning 104 yards per game and is also 10th for all-purpose yards at 110.6 yards per game; Meyer is eighth for kick returns, averaging 19.5 yards per game; for WHS defense, senior Bode Stone is 35th, earning 11.2 pts on defense per game, and has racked up 32 tackles after week five.