2021 Wyoming Shrine Bowl: South wins first game since 2012 thanks to three-TD surge

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A surge of three touchdowns in less than two minutes of game time gave the South team a lead it never relinquished, helping the South win its first Wyoming Shrine Bowl victory since 2012 in a 34-32 victory against the North on Saturday in Casper.

The South took control of the game in at the end of the third quarter, scoring two touchdowns in the span of four seconds. A 13-yard touchdown run by Cokeville’s Nate Barnes cut the North’s lead to 26-20.

On the North’s next offensive play, a shotgun snap went awry, and Cheyenne East’s Julian Vigil recovered the loose ball in the end zone. A successful 2-point conversion made the score 28-26 South; the North never regained the lead.

After an interception by Barnes, East’s Jake Rayl added a 17-yard touchdown catch less than two minutes later, at the 14:02 mark in the fourth, pushing the South’s lead to 34-26.

The North nearly tied the game in the final minute, though.

Thunder Basin’s Dyse Shepherd completed a 99-yard drive with a 26-yard touchdown catch, his third of the game, on a fourth-and-5 play with 49 seconds remaining. But the South defense snuffed out the North’s 2-point conversion attempt to keep the South’s lead at 34-32.

Carter Lobatos of Cheyenne Central recovered the North’s onside kick attempt to ice the game.

The North had control of the game early. Shepherd’s first two touchdowns, one a 36-yard catch and the other a 20-yard catch, on passes from Cody’s Caleb Prior gave the North a 14-0 lead. Rayl’s 26-yard touchdown catch with 16 seconds remaining in the first half made the halftime score 14-7, North.

Thunder Basin’s Jaxon Pikula scored on a 5-yard run early in the third quarter to boost the North lead to 20-7, but Buell answered with a 12-yard score to make it 20-14. Natrona’s Braxton Bundy notched an 8-yard touchdown run with 1:51 to go in the third quarter to extend the North margin to 26-14.

Then the South unleashed its three-touchdown bonanza to jump up 34-26.

Buell was named the offensive player of the game, while Cody’s Nic Talich was the defensive player of the game. Full statistics from the game were not immediately available.

The game acts as a fundraiser for the Shriner’s Hospital for Children. The game typically raises between $20,000 and $30,000 annually for the hospital.

Last year’s game was not played due to COVID-19. The North had won the previous seven games.

The North leads the all-time series 25-19-3.

Scoring plays
North: Dyse Shepherd 36 pass from Caleb Prior (Jesse Trotter kick), 8:45 1Q (7-0 North)
North: Shepherd 20 pass from Prior (Trotter kick), 9:21 2Q (14-0 North)
South: Jake Rayl 26 pass from Graedyn Buell (Brant Nelson kick), 0:16 2Q (14-7 North)
North: Jaxon Pikula 5 run (kick failed), 11:29 3Q (20-7 North)
South: Buell 12 run (Nelson kick), 9:44 3Q (20-14 North)
North: Braxton Bundy 8 run (run failed), 1:51 3Q (26-14 North)
South: Nate Barnes 13 run (kick failed), 0:50 3Q (26-20 North)
South: Julian Vigil fumble recovery in end zone (Buell run), 0:47 3Q (28-26 South)
South: Rayl 17 pass from Buell (kick failed), 14:02 4Q (34-26 South)
North: Shepherd 26 pass from Prior (run failed), 0:49 4Q (34-32 South)

See previous Shrine Bowl results and records, and see all-time Shrine Bowl rosters in an interactive database.

2021 Wyoming Shrine Bowl game set for Saturday

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Wyoming’s annual Shrine Bowl all-star football game, pitting players from the North and the South against one another, will kick off at 2 p.m. Saturday at Cheney Alumni Field in Casper.

The North leads the all-time series 25-18-3. Last year’s game was not played due to COVID-19.

Players added to the roster since February’s initial release of rosters are Kelly Walsh’s Esaias Spillane (North, replacing Worland’s Rudy Sanford) and Cheyenne Central’s Brady Storebo (South, replacing Central’s Andrew Johnson).

Final rosters for Saturday’s game are:

NORTH
Big Horn: Winfield Loomis.
Buffalo: Hyrum Hatch.
Campbell County: Kaden Race.
Cody: Cody Phillips, Caleb Pryor, Keaton Stone, Nic Talich.
Jackson: Sam Lopeman.
Kelly Walsh: Dom Jahr, Reno Watson, Esaias Spillane.
Lander: Eli Mazurie, Jack Sweeney.
Lovell: C.J. Lindsay.
Meeteetse: Hadley Abarr.
Natrona: Braxton Bundy, Brady Dutcher, Jace George.
Powell: Kadden Abraham, Riley Bennett, Jesse Trotter.
Riverton: Damon DeVries.
Rocky Mountain: Tyler Banks.
Sheridan: Quinton Mangus, Kyle Meinecke, Justin Vela.
Shoshoni: Tryston Truempler.
Thermopolis: Logan Cole, Remington Ferree.
Thunder Basin: River Brisko, Michael Coleman, Scott O’Dell, Jaxon Pikula, Dyse Shepherd.
Upton-Sundance: Wyatt Gillespie, Brad Krueger.
Coaches: Matt McFadden, Cody (head coach); Trent Pikula, Thunder Basin; Jim Talich, Cody; Kirk McLaughlin, Big Horn; Larry Yeradi, Wright; Zeb Hagen, Meeteetse.
Student trainer: Sarah Manor, Sheridan.
Student manager: Oakly Bowman, Thermopolis.
Athletic trainer: Jessica Garden, Sheridan.

SOUTH
Big Piney: Kaden Raza.
Cheyenne Central: Jimmy Koenig, Joey Kostelecky, Carter Lobatos, Brady Storebo.
Cheyenne East: Graedyn Buell, Dakota Heckman, Jackson Hesford, Jake Rayl, Julian Vigil.
Cokeville: Nate Barnes.
Douglas: Gabe Borman, Kody Micke.
Evanston: Jagger Mitchell.
Farson: Parker Clawson.
Green River: Seth White.
Laramie: Matthew Maiava, Micah Maiava, Michael Maiava.
Lusk: Drake Lamp.
Lyman: Hansen Bradshaw, Preston Brewer, Joseph Turner.
Mountain View: Hunter Meeks, Ashton Schofield.
Pinedale: Colby White.
Rock Springs: A.J. Kelly, Collin Madsen.
Saratoga: Noah Rimmer.
Southeast: Harrison Hall.
Star Valley: Brant Nelson, Gabe Nield, JaAren Smith.
Torrington: Dylan Dreiling, Cody Pierce.
Wheatland: Adam Suko.
Coaches: Brent Walk, Mountain View (head coach); Paul Garcia, Cheyenne East; Wes Gamble, Douglas; Michael Collins, Mountain View; Logan Wright, Saratoga; Jack Cobb, Snake River.
Student trainer: Kristy Givens, Cheyenne East.
Student manager: Brooklyn Lowe, Cheyenne East.
Athletic trainer: Miranda Zamora, Laramie.

Looking for a roster deep dive? Here’s every Shrine Bowl player since 1974.

–patrick

Nebraska wins 10th annual six-man all-star game over Wyoming

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Nebraska’s six-man all-stars evened their series with Wyoming at five games apiece after winning the Six-man Shootout 48-14 Friday in Chadron, Nebraska.

Nebraska has won the last two contests it has played with Wyoming in the series, which started in 2012.

The only bit of drama in the game didn’t last long.

After falling behind 28-8 at halftime, Farson’s Parker Clawson caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Farson teammate Triston Lamorie on Wyoming’s first drive of the second half, and Nebraska’s lead was cut to 28-14.

After recovering an onside kick, Wyoming was in position to make it a one-score game but couldn’t generate a first down on the subsequent drive. Nebraska scored on its next drive to again make the lead 20 points, 34-14.

In the fourth quarter, Wyoming had two turnovers plus a turnover on downs and Nebraska scored twice to make it 48-14.

The Cornhusker State players started fast and took a 14-0 lead early. Clawson scored on a short run with 51 seconds left in the first quarter to cut the lead to 14-8.

Two more Nebraska touchdowns in the second quarter pushed the lead to 28-8 by halftime.

Team Wyoming had 18 players from eight different six-man schools.

–patrick

New head football coach Gifford hired at Lingle

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Brandon Gifford, an assistant coach who has been with Lingle for nearly a decade, will be the new head football coach for the Doggers in 2021.

Gifford, who has also been the school’s head wrestling coach for several years, confirmed his hiring Tuesday via email to wyoming-football.com.

Gifford has been at Lingle for 11 years and has been an assistant football coach for the Doggers for the past nine years, including stints in 11-man, six-man and nine-man. In addition to football and wrestling duties, he also is an assistant track coach for Lingle and teaches science at the school.

The hiring has been approved by the Goshen County School District, Gifford said.

He replaces Matthew Cornelius, who had coached the Doggers the past five seasons. Cornelius went 16-25 with the Doggers, including a trip to the Class 1A six-man semifinals in 2019.

Class 4A Laramie and Class 1A nine-man Greybull have hired new head football coaches for 2021, while Class 2A Glenrock is looking for a new head coach. If you know of other head coaching changes in the state, please email me at pschmiedt@yahoo.com.

–patrick

Updates: Natrona, Laramie, Cheyenne Central, Riverton, Torrington, Buffalo, Lander, Lovell, Greybull, Basin

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I’ve been using the Wyoming Digital Newspaper Collection a lot recently to track down information from before 1923, especially coaches. Some updates:

Games

Found the location for the Oct. 20, 1922, game between Lovell and Greybull; it was in Greybull.

Coaches project

Added the first name for Torrington coach Gordon Warren, who was coach in 1922 and 1923.

Found Riverton’s coach for 1922; it was Richard “Tripp” Tripplett. Tripplett was a center for the University of Nebraska before coming to work in the oil industry and coach in Riverton.

Found the first name and corrected the spelling of the last name for Leo Kische, one of Basin’s head coaches in 1921.

Found Buffalo’s coach for 1916; it was Lynn Myers.

Found the coach for Laramie in 1910 and corrected the name for the Laramie coach in both 1911 and 1912; they were all E.E. Smith.

Found the first name for Lander’s coach in 1910; it was William Kemp.

Found the first name for Natrona’s head coach in 1908; it was Rolla Hoffman.

Found the coach for Cheyenne Central in 1908; it was B.H. Claypool. Claypool coached at Douglas the next year.

Found the first name for Cheyenne Central’s coach in 1907; it was Russell Townsend.

Found the last name for Cheyenne Central’s coach in 1905; it was Lee. Still looking for the first name.

All the updates have been made on all the relevant pages.

–patrick

Glenrock looks for a new football coach

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Glenrock is on the search for a new head football coach after the Herders’ coach of the past two years resigned.

The Casper Star-Tribune reported on Friday that Ryan Collier had stepped down after two years as Glenrock’s head coach.

Glenrock went 2-6 in Collier’s first season but improved to 4-5 last year. The Herders did not make the Class 2A playoffs in either season.

Class 4A Laramie and Class 1A nine-man Greybull have hired new head football coaches for 2021. At this point, no other school has announced an open head coaching position for football. If you know of other head coaching changes in the state, please email me at pschmiedt@yahoo.com.

–patrick

Ten Sleep holds off on 2021 football plans

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Ten Sleep may not field a football team in 2021, the school’s activities director said Thursday.

“At this time we are short numbers,” Ten Sleep AD Sarah Novak told wyoming-football.com via email. “There is a good possibility that we may not be able to field a team.”

The Pioneers play in Class 1A six-man’s West Conference. Novak did not reply to a follow-up email with further questions sent on Thursday.

This will be the third time in the past four years that Ten Sleep has failed to field a football team. Ten Sleep had a team last year, finishing 1-7 while forfeiting two games. The Pioneers did not have teams in either 2019 or 2018.

Some Class 1A six-man West Conference schools have already replaced Ten Sleep on their 2021 schedules. For example, Meeteetse has scheduled a game with Kaycee the week it was to play Ten Sleep, while Encampment scheduled a game with Hanna to replace Ten Sleep on its schedule.

Ten Sleep is the second six-man program to drop for 2021. Sheridan-based program NSI Academy ended its football program permanently when its facility closed in March.

–patrick

Top 20 Wyoming high school football games of the past 10 years (2011-20)

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The past 10 years have provided us with 3,095 Wyoming high school football games.

Some were great. Some weren’t. This post is about the former — specifically, the best 20 games of the past 10 years.

Of course, “best” is subjective. These are the games I remember best over the past 10 years, for whatever reason. I definitely gave preference to high-stakes games, which is why you’ll see a lot of playoff games on this list. I also prefer close games, which is why you’ll see no game decided by more than one possession on this list. I also prefer games where exciting things happen late, which is why you’ll see a lot of games decided by fourth-quarter or OT scores here, too.

You’re welcome to disagree; the comments area on this post is ready for your thoughts, too!

From my list of 20, I chose one to be the “game of the decade.” See the end of the post for that choice. Meanwhile, here are my top 20 Wyoming high school football games for 2011-20, presented chronologically:

Cheyenne East 28, Evanston 27, OT, 2011 4A quarterfinals — Jeremy Woods has three TDs, including the game winner on fourth-and-1, as East rallies from down 14 at half.

Powell 23, Green River 21, 2011 3A semifinals — The Panthers score 20 points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winning 45-yard TD with 12 seconds left.

Powell 15, Douglas 14, 2011 3A championship — Powell’s Olie Olson intercepts Douglas’ 2-point conversion attempt with 15 seconds remaining to end Bearcats’ bid at a four-peat.

Green River 32, Douglas 25, 2012 3A quarterfinals — Blaine Christensen’s TD catch with 1:09 to go puts a cap on a thrilling playoff game.

Southeast 16, Cokeville 8, 2012 1A 11-man semifinals — The Cyclones’ hopes for a title are saved by a big tackle on final play.

Lyman 22, Lovell 20, 2012 2A championship — Revenge for Eagles is sweet as they beat the Bulldogs in a title-game rematch from the previous year.

Midwest 64, Dubois 62, 2013 1A-6 semifinal — The Oilers score 20 points in the final 2:08, and two TDs in the final 39 seconds, to rally past the defending state champions.

Powell 19, Douglas 13, OT, 2013 3A championship — In this 3A title game, it came down to the QBs near the goal line; one sneak didn’t work, the other did.

Cokeville 13, Lusk 12, 2013 1A-11 championship — Cokeville’s defense comes up big twice late in the fourth quarter, ending two separate Tiger drives on fourth down.

Cheyenne East 14, Natrona 13, 2013 4A championship — Natrona’s fourth one-point loss of 2013 is determined by the uprights; a missed field goal for NC would’ve been good on high school posts.

Sheridan 38, Gillette 31, 2015 4A championship — A high-scoring 4A shootout ends Gillette’s bid for an undefeated season.

Newcastle 31, Mountain View 28, 2OT, 2016 2A quarterfinal — Despite a big rally from the Buffalos, the Dogies pull off a huge first-round upset.

Pine Bluffs 19, Upton-Sundance 13, 2016 1A-11 semifinal — The Hornets upset the Patriots, a team that beat them 39-0 in the regular season, on the road, ending U-S’s perfect season while en route to their first state title.

Mountain View 35, Glenrock 28, 2017 2A championship — In a huge rally, Mountain View comes back from down 28-14 and scores the winning TD with 7 seconds left.

Pine Bluffs 20, Big Horn 16, 2017 1A-11 championship — In two words: the flip. Pine’s late TD clinches the Hornets’ second consecutive title.

Cody 29, Douglas 26, 2018 3A quarterfinals — Cody scores 21 unanswered in the fourth quarter to win a road playoff game in the opening round.

Torrington 22, Jackson 21, 2018 3A semifinals — Don’t let the controversial final minute distract you from the first 47 minutes, a thriller all the way.

Thunder Basin 19, Natrona 14, 2020 4A quarterfinal — The Bolts’ rally from down 14-0 at halftime was pretty epic; Natrona fans might still be upset about one missed call.

Mountain View 34, Wheatland 30, 2020 2A quarterfinal — Ashton Schofield’s 60-yard fourth-quarter TD helps Buffs survive a back-and-forth affair.

Farson 42, Encampment 41, 2020 1A-6 semifinal — The Pronghorns’ undefeated season almost came to an abrupt stop against the Tigers; Farson didn’t lead until the fourth quarter.

Honorable mentions: Lovell 23, Newcastle 20, 2011 2A semifinals; Meeteetse 50, Guernsey-Sunrise 48, 2012 1A-6 quarterfinals; Lovell 29, Big Horn 28, 2012 2A semifinals; Thermopolis 20, Burns 12, 2013 2A quarterfinals; Cheyenne East 28, Sheridan 27, 2013 4A semifinal; Riverton 41, Rawlins 37, 2014 regular season; Gillette 34, Cheyenne East 31, 2OT, 2014 4A semifinal; Star Valley 16, Green River 15, 2015 regular season; Greybull 27, Big Horn 25, 2015 2A quarterfinal; Tongue River 28, Cokeville 21, 2015 1A-11 quarterfinal; Glenrock 13, Lovell 10, OT, 2015 2A semifinal; Big Horn 20, Pinedale 14, OT, 2016 2A quarterfinal; Natrona 30, Gillette 28, 2016 4A semifinal; Pine Bluffs 10, Tongue River 7, 2016 1A-11 championship; Glenrock 30, Big Piney 27, 2017 2A semifinal; Kaycee 47, Burlington 38, 2017 1A-6 semifinal; Star Valley 20, Cody 16, 2018 regular season; Natrona 21, Cheyenne East 14, 2018 4A semifinals; Cheyenne South 36, Laramie 35, 2019 regular season; Thunder Basin 24, Gillette 20, 2019 4A quarterfinals; Cokeville 20, Wright 16, 2019 1A-11 QF; Powell 20, Cody 13, 2019 3A semifinal; Cheyenne Central 20, Sheridan 17, 2020 regular season; Natrona 38, Sheridan 31, 4OT, 2020 regular season; Douglas 16, Star Valley 14, 2020 3A quarterfinal; Rocky Mountain 44, Saratoga 40, 2020 1A-9 quarterfinal.

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After looking over this list, I made a personal, subjective call for game of the decade. It’s the game that had me the most excited, most engaged, most curious, most frustrated I couldn’t be there in person to watch it all.

If you follow my work closely, you might already know what’s coming. I chose Midwest’s 64-62 come-from-WAY-behind victory against Dubois in 2013 as my Wyoming high school football game of the decade.

Yes, I’m an alumnus of Midwest. Yes, that probably influenced my choice. But objectively, this game had it all. A playoff game, a big comeback, an improbable set of circumstances, a long championship-game drought broken — they all coalesced into one of the most thrilling comebacks of this, or any, decade of Wyoming high school football.

I remember listening to the live audio stream of the game. I was stunned. I was exhilarated. I was surprised. And when Midwest took the lead for the final time, and then held on to win, I was proud, proud of my hometown team for reaching the championship game, something it hadn’t done in more than two decades (and hasn’t done since).

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If you’re feeling nostalgic, I did the same thing on this blog 10 years ago for the years 2001-2010. Here’s the same list, but for the 2000s.

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So what’s your game of the decade? Leave a comment. I’d love to know what game from the last 10 years stands out in your memory bank as the one to top them all.

–patrick

Greybull names new head football coach

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Jerome Pouska, a former Riverside assistant coach, will be the new head football coach at Greybull.

The Greybull Standard first reported the hiring in its Thursday edition, noting that Pouska’s hiring was made official at the April 12 board meeting for Big Horn County School District No. 3.

Pouska works for Big Horn County as a maintenance supervisor.

Class 4A Laramie is the only other Wyoming program to have hired a new head football coach for 2021 at this point, and no other school has announced an open head coaching position for football. If you know of other head coaching changes in the state, please email me at pschmiedt@yahoo.com.

–patrick