School: Wind River
Nickname: Cougars
Colors: purple and black
Stadium: LeRoy Sinner Field
State championship: 1997
Times worth remembering: Wind River’s success has always come in spurts. Only three seasons in school history have the Cougars produced a season with fewer than three losses — 1992, 1997 and 2008. However, the 1997-98 seasons offered something no other two-year span has given the Cougars: seasons with back-to-back playoff victories. Wind River went 10-0 and won the 1A-Division II championship in 1997, then went 5-4 and reached the semifinals in 1998.
Times worth forgetting: Conversely, Wind River is almost always competitive. Since their first season in 1969, the Cougars have had only one winless season (1987). However, the early 1980s were tough for Wind River, as the Cougars could only muster two victories in 1980 and just one win in 1981. Then, after a 4-3 campaign in 1982, the Cougars went 1-7 in 1983.
Best team: The 1997 team stands alone as Wind River’s best. That squad notched a pair of feats the Cougars haven’t accomplished either before or since — an undefeated season and a state championship. The Cougars were at their best on defense; they had five shutout victories, including all three playoff games, and gave up an average of just 6 points per game. Seven players — all seniors — were first-team all-state selections, including repeaters Micah Vroman and Jacob Wempen.
Biggest win: Wind River had long waited for this moment. Since opening in 1969, the Cougars hadn’t won a state football championship, but the 1997 team changed that. In front of their home fans in Pavillion, the Cougars notched an 18-0 victory over Upton to secure the 1A-Division II championship — the school’s first and only football championship.
Heartbreaker: The 1992 team was nearly the one to win Wind River’s first championship. The Cougars reached the 1A title game that season with an 8-1 record, the lone loss coming courtesy of Rocky Mountain. The team Wind River met in the championship? Rocky Mountain. For the second time that season, the Grizzlies beat the Cougars, as Rocky’s Kenny May scored the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of the 10-7 victory.