Herd take care of business in Greybull

Last years playoff loss to Greybull after a perfect season hurt. It’s a new season this year, and the past is behind the herd, but getting revenge against an old foe is always satisfying.

“It was good to come back and get some good revenge on them,” running back Bryston Jennings said of the big win against the second ranked team in 2A. “We played hard and came out with the W.”

Jennings is one of five running backs who carry the rock for the Herd, using the double wing formation to grind the ball down opponents throats.

“It’s basically 24 power, 42 power.

Run, run, run,” Jennings said.

Jennings’ counterpart at running back, Payton Steinmetz, had a gamebreaking run to put the herd on the board, busting a 37-yard touchdown run.

“We were running our 45 power play we always run,” Steinmetz explained. “I run up the hole and there’s one guy standing there and he tried to tackle me on the side and I spin around him. I juke around another guy and I sprint in for the touchdown.”

In addition to the big touchdown run, Steinmetz had 17 tackles on a defense that held Greybull to seven points. “I’m not totally sure it was 17 tackles or not,” Steinmetz said. “But I’m going back and counting through that to see if it’s is true.”

The first game of the year is always chock-full of nerves and jitters, according to head coach Ray Kumpula.

“It was a hard fought game,” Kumpula said. “There were a lot of early mess-ups, but the kids played really hard. They stayed with it and we got it done.”

This is the first time the team has ever rotated five backs using the double wing attack.

“It really seemed to help,” Kumpula said. “The kids were a lot fresher, they stayed fresh most of the game. ...He (Steinmetz) hit a hole off of the left tackle and spun out of a tackle and went the distance to the goal line. It was a very impressive play. The linebacker came up on him and he just put a move on him, spun, and away he went.”

With the win, the Herders moved into the number one ranking in the state for 2A.

On Friday, they will play in their home opener against Lander at 7 p.m. There’s plenty to work on after the big win before the home game.

“We got a lot to work on,” Kumpula said. “Our offense kind of sputtered at times. We had little errors that we can’t afford to have as far as line blocking and communication. The effort was great, our execution, not so much. That’s what we’re going to work on this week, really hone-down our execution. “