Playoff hopes alive as stud senior RB/LB Eli Gale suffers season-ending injury: ‘We’re gonna play for him.’
By Jack Reaney SENIOR EDITOR
Sheridan High School led 28-6 at halftime, and 36-14 entering the fourth quarter. Spirits sulked on a cold, damp night at Lone Peak High School on a night meant to celebrate six seniors—one was sidelined almost immediately by injury, while the others felt frustration as their final home game slipped away.
Early in the fourth quarter, standout senior Ebe Grabow returned a punt 35 yards, setting up an immediate touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Jens Biggerstaff to junior receiver Lucas O’Connor. Biggerstaff passed short left to senior Will Helms for the two-point conversion, and the 22-point deficit suddenly shrunk to 14.
The Panthers marched, but met a stiff defensive effort and turned the ball over on downs.
With seven minutes left, the Big Horns needed two touchdowns. Four-and-a-half minutes later, Helms broke into the open field and caught a touchdown pass to narrow the deficit to eight points. And with roughly six seconds remaining, the Big Horns got the ball back with a chance, or two, to take a shot downfield and tie the game.
The senior night comeback fell short, but the Big Horns walked away feeling better about a second half in which they outscored the Panthers, 22-8.
“We all played as a team, we rallied around each other and we really brought the energy,” Helms said after the game. “But we gotta bring that energy the whole game… They beat us at the beginning, and that’s what cost the game.”
Senior cornerback Aeneas Espinosa said the loss came down to a handful of poorly executed plays and missed opportunities, especially early.
“At halftime we all had to really come together and focus up,” Espinosa said. “‘Cause, we were all just getting in our heads… Focus up, don’t miss assignments, and we’re golden.”
Head coach Dustin Shipman said the Big Horns made defensive adjustments at halftime, aiming to contain the Panthers’ explosive rushing attack—senior quarterback James Reedy bulldozed and sophomore running back Charlie Larsen evaded tacklers for chunk plays throughout the game, combining for five total touchdowns.
“They ran the ball really effectively for the first half, and then coming out in the second half, they had that really long, time consuming drive,” Shipman said.
The defensive adjustment proved successful—save for a 55-yard touchdown run by Larsen after the Panthers converted on fourth down in the third quarter—but the comeback would remain just out of reach despite the Big Horns’ fourth quarter surge.
“Monday we need to bounce back,” Helms said. “We need to start bringing the energy to each game. We need to start playing as a team. We need to start tackling as a team… We just gotta get to work on Monday, and fix all this stuff.”
One crucial challenge can’t be fixed: senior Eli Gale, whose size and strength would have been a key asset for the Big Horns in their playoff run, suffered a season-ending lower-leg injury on Lone Peak’s second offensive play of the game.
Coach Shipman said Gale is crucial to team chemistry and energy, and it’s sad to see a senior go down shortly after fighting his way back from a separate injury—Gale finished months of rehab for a back injury and returned to action just two weeks prior.
“I mean, he’s one of the best linebackers in the state,” Shipman said. “In eight-player football when he’s healthy, he’s fast, he’s strong, he’s aggressive. So that’s difficult when you lose a player like that on the second play of the game.”
Espinosa said the team will need to use Gale’s absence as fuel.
“We’re gonna play for him… This is all for Eli,” Espinosa said. “‘Cause that’s my brother, he showed up to every morning workout, he worked so hard to play with us. For that to happen tonight, it’s a killer.”
Espinosa and Helms said the atmosphere was great in their final home game.
“I’m gonna miss my brothers,” Espinosa said. “Six a.m. lifts, summer workouts… I cherished all of it, every moment. I know I played with everything I had. I left everything on the field.”
As Shipman nears the end of his fourth season as head coach, he said the seniors are the first group he’s coached from start to finish. He’ll miss them.
“They mean a lot,” Shipman said. “They’ve built a culture here—we’re fortunate enough to be in the playoffs [this season], those guys will be in the playoffs for the third time in their high school career.”
He added, “I can never say enough about Ebe Grabow. Will Helms, Matthew Tompkins. Aeneas [Espinosa] has been a kid who’s been to every practice, every spring practice, every summer practice, works his butt off. They mean a lot to Big Horn football, those boys.”
Shipman thanked the community for supporting Big Horn athletics, from football to a historic girls soccer season and a rebuilding year for volleyball.
The football team will play their final game at Lame Deer High School, needing to win against an opponent whom they blanked 70-0 in 2024.
“We hope to make a run in the playoffs… We’re gonna bounce back stronger,” he said.
