Gillette Opens the Season in Style!

The 2012 4A Wyoming High School football season got started off right for the Gillette Camels as they jumped out early and took down The Red Devils in Evanston 37-24.

Junior QB Austin Fort had a very good debut for the Camels as he went 17-32 for 184 yards, 2 TDs and one rushing TD. All while only tossing one pick in the 3rd quarter.

Taylor Bigelow showcased his skills on the offensive side of the ball as he ran 12 times for 127 yards and 2 scores and he caught 3 balls for 37 yards and a score.

Gillette's defense forced Evanston into 4 turnovers, 3 INTs and one fumble. Danni Fischer picked off two passes one from starting QBS Matt Johnson and 1 from backup Kyler Wagaman. Cole Petty also led off Wagaman and Taylor Barbour recovered a fumble for Gillette in the 3rd quarter when the teams combined for 3TOs.

The Camels got the scoring started after Fischer's 1st interception and all it took was :25 seconds on the clock for Fort to connect with Bigelow on a 31-yard screen pass for a TD and after Nathan Phillips 1st of 5 extra points on the night that made it 7-0. Gillette never trailers the rest of the game.

Evanston tied it up late in the 1st quarter on a 7-yard TD run by Wagaman, but then the Camels went on to outscore the Red Devils 31-3 until late in the 4th quarter when Evanston added a couple more TDs to make the score seem closer than it really was.

Gillette's 2nd score of the night came on 21-yard scoring strike from Fort to Fischer early in the 2nd quarter and the Camels then added to their 1st half total with a 5-yard TD run by Bigelow to make it 21-10 at half.

Neither scored in the 3rd quarter, but then Gillette put the game out of reach with TD by Bigelow, a safety and a rushing TD by Fort from 8-yards out.

Gillette's offense racked up 428 yards of total offense while the Camels defense held Evanston to just 295 yards of total offense. With 81 yards coming off two big plays for Evanston, other than that Gillette's defense stymied Evanston all night long.

Billy Williams saw extensive playing time in the 2nd half as ran for 34 yards on 7 carries and caught 2 balls for 48 yards, including a 38-yard screen pass in the pivotal 4th quarter. Matt Fogle was Fort's most popular receiver as he led the team with 4 receptions for 33 yards. On the night Fort connected with 7 different receivers. Cody Kelley caught 2 for 21 yards in the 2nd half. Kris Adams caught 3 for 13 yards and he punted tremendously for the Camels. Twice pinning Evanston inside their 10 yard line. And Dani Fischer caught 2 balls for 28 yards, including Gillette's 2nd TD of the game.

Next up for the Camels is their home opener on Friday, August 31 at 7pm against Rock Springs who hosted Laramie in week 0 and won 28-18. Also picking up wins in the opening week of action in4A football were Natrona County 62-8 over South, Sheridan came from behind to beat Central 33-28 and East handled Kelly Walsh 30-10.