EVANSTON — The Evanston youth football season came to a close last week after the first-ever Evanston youth football all-star team competed against Rock Springs. 

The Evanston all-star team is comprised of a group of talented young athletes from fifth and sixth grades. The all-star team wrapped up postseason play with a 1-1 record, defeating Green River and getting beat by a more experienced Rock Springs team. 

The Evanston team competed well considering the team only had one week to practice together and prepare for the games. 

The reason the team was put together was because of a phone call from an old Evanston friend, Roy Lloyd. Many in the community know Lloyd from him growing up in Evanston and from his involvement in youth sports in southwest Wyoming. Lloyd is the president of Green River’s youth football program and its team was preparing to play in the Snowy Range Showdown, which is an annual youth football tournament played in War Memorial Stadium in Laramie. 

As part of Green River’s preparation, Lloyd called an Evanston youth football coach and asked if Green River could play Evanston in an all-star game. It was something the Evanston youth coaches had wanted to put together for a long time. All of Evanston’s youth football coaches were asked if they would support putting the team together and the vote was a unanimous “Yes.” 

Putting the team together took a lot of work in a short amount of time but with the help of a lot of people in the community, the team was able to compete very well. 

The coaches involved with putting everything together were Matt Morrow, Jon Dolezal, Todd Stryker, Kris Staley, and Brent Lake. Every one of these coaches are very dedicated to Evanston youth sports and without coaches like them the Evanston youth sports programs could not succeed. 

There were a lot of other people that allowed this team to compete. First and foremost, the parents of these great kids deserve a lot of the credit. They gave their support, time, and money to ensure their kids could be part of the first ever Evanston football all-star team, an experience the kids will never forget. 

A big thank you goes to the Evanston Parks and Recreation Department (EPRD) for its cooperation with putting this team together. The EPRD does not promote post season all-star youth sports play; however, it did support the football team with the equipment needed to play postseason games. 

Another big thank you goes out to a local small business, Varsity Ink. Brenda Richins worked her magic to ensure the Evanston all-star team was outfitted with top-of-the-line new team jerseys for postseason play. 

Without the support from the community, Evanston’s youth sports programs could not function. As a direct result of the support from the community, some of Evanston’s best young athletes were able to experience something they will never forget. 

However, this is just the beginning. The youth football coaches responsible for putting this team together are dedicated to making the youth football program even better. They have set their sights on competing in the 2018 Snowy Range Showdown in Laramie next year. The coaches will be reaching out to the Uinta County School District #1 athletic department, the Evanston High School coaching staff, the Evanston middle school coaching staff, the EPRD, and the community of Evanston for their support with making this program bigger and better.

Player names
and numbers

Sam Dolezal #5; Zayn Leland #7; Bridger Lake #8; Cohen Morrow #10; Jesse Page #11; Jordan Staley #13; Ryder Wilson #19; Kai Barker #20; Brady Roberts #21; Braunson Sims #22; Drew Barker #24; Ryan Martin #33; Gus Roden #34; Aidan Liechty #53; Steele Smith #55; Jackson Erickson #56; Kyson Hamilton #65; Cayson Dana #66; Kenyan Muir # 78; Tanner Tholl #86; Gabe Hutchinson #88; Cole Robinette #89