Having lost the last four Oil Bowls to crosstown rival Natrona County, Kelly Walsh was intent on striking first in the 57th version of the annual series Friday night at NC's Cheney Alumni Field.
And the Trojans put themselves into position to do just that on their opening drive. Two passes from quarterback Hunter Mogen and a 38-yard run by Cam Burkett put the ball on the Natrona County 24-yard line before the Mustangs defense forced a field-goal attempt. That's when things went horribly wrong for the Trojans.
Beckham Stowe lined up for a 40-yard field goal attempt out of the hold of Gibson Sasser, but the ball never made it to the line of scrimmage. NC junior Wyatt Powell burst through the middle of the KW line and blocked the kick as soon as it left Stowe's right foot and returned it 70 yards for a touchdown.
Natrona County led 14-0 at the half and turned it on in the third quarter on their way to a 42-7 victory and a fifth consecutive Oil Bowl victory.
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Kelly Walsh (2-2) moved from its own 22 to the NC 38 on its next possession -- converting two fourth downs on the drive -- before Mogen's fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
Natrona County's first offensive possession appeared to finish in the end zone when Powell took the snap and rolled around the left end for a 28-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. But a holding call on the Mustangs negated the score and the drive ended six plays later when Tyler Hill's fourth-down pass into the end zone fell incomplete as KW's Dominique Sanchez brought pressure up the middle.
After stopping the Trojans on their next possession, Natrona County (3-1) gave the ball right back to KW when Jesse Thornton pounced on a Mustang fumble at the NC 37.
Kelly Walsh got the ball to the 32 before the drive stalled and Stowe's 49-yard field goal attempt hit the crossbar.
Taking over at its own 20, Natrona County put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive to push the lead to 14-0 just before the half. Junior Luke Spencer had four runs for 50 yards on the drive, which was capped by senior Kaeden Wilcox's 1-yard plunge.
The Mustangs made it 21-0 with 7:47 to play in the third quarter on Powell's 1-yard TD run. Wilcox set the Mustangs up at the KW 5 with a 36-yard punt return.
After stopping KW on downs at midfield, NC needed just five plays to find the end zone again, with Hill scoring from 3 yards out for the 28-0 lead with 4:22 remaining in the third quarter.
Billy Brenton ended the Trojans' next drive with an interception. Four plays later, Hill threw a quick slant to Breckin McClintock, who broke free from a KW defender and scored on a 45-yard touchdown to make it 35-0 with 93 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The lead grew to 42-0 early in the fourth when Hill connected with Preston Hytrek for a 20-yard TD.
Kelly Walsh avoided the shutout on Eric Whitley's 29-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Jackson.
The Mustangs play at Rock Springs, which suffered a 27-24 defeat at No. 2 Sheridan on Friday, next week while Kelly Walsh hosts winless Laramie.