Championship Humble Pie: A weekend to remember

Sheridan hadn’t been to the top of the pile since 1995.

But the celebration 14 years in the making was worth the wait.

Playing in an atmosphere best suited for a snow globe — or some kind of awesome, dramatic, snowy Hollywood set — the Broncs won the 4A championship by routing Cheyenne Central 40-15.

The game was Sheridan’s from the start. Kody Williams ran the opening kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown, Austin Woodward ran for three touchdowns and the Broncs’ speed overwhelmed an Indians defense that had no answer.

Since winning five championships in six years from 1990-95, Sheridan had struggled to reach the top again. The Broncs lost title games in 1996 and 1997, then suffered through nine consecutive losing seasons.

Don Julian took the reins of the program three years ago and immediately made positive strides. Sheridan went 5-4 in 2007 and were 8-2 last year.

Saturday’s snowy victory was the culmination of that effort. And the way the Sheridan fans lingered on the field afterward, it’ll be a victory the community savors for a long time.

Second mad props to the Thermopolis Bobcats, who built a big lead then held off Glenrock to win 22-20 and win their first title since 1992. The Bobcats, led by quarterback Mitch Syverson’s big day (155 rushing yards, 107 passing), led 22-8 heading into the fourth quarter, then survived as Glernock scored a pair of touchdowns but came up short on both two-point conversion attempts.

Glenrock’s conversions were a little weird, too. The first never really had a chance to get started — a fumbled snap turned into trouble right away. The second from the run-first, run-second, run-third Herders was, of all things, a pass. Both came up short — and that was all the room the Bobcats had, and all they needed.

Now, onto the other three, which I picked right — and actually had the chance to watch, because of the Laramie trial championship weekend:

Southeast beat Lingle in the 1A 11-man title game 27-20 in a game that had no completed passes from either team. That stat says something about both the conditions (snowy and cold) and the teams (smashmouth running squads). Southeast benefited from an early lead and some late precision; Lingle played well and had some big plays but not quite enough to overcome the Cyclones, who won their fourth consecutive championship.

Douglas, meanwhile, jumped all over Douglas 44-14. The Bearcats finished with 508-217 yardage advantage and won their 19th consecutive game. Those numbers speak volumes about the type of dynasty coach Jay Rhoades is building in Converse County.

Guernsey won as expected, a 76-16 romp over football newbie Kaycee. The game was never really close — the Vikings scored on their first two plays from scrimmage and rolled up a big lead — 42-0 — by the end of the first quarter. It was 63-8 at halftime. And, really, that’s about all you need to know.

And now for something completely different, some awards for the weekend:

Best run: Sheridan coach Don Julian trying to avoid the ice water bath his team wanted to give him after the Broncs’ 40-15 victory over Cheyenne Central. He did pretty well, actually, avoiding the brunt of the icy bath, but didn’t escape totally….

Best hit(s): Guernsey’s Kevin Boomhower earns this award for back-to-back wind-taking hits on successive plays in the first quarter against Kaycee. Both times, the Buckaroo victims had to be helped from the field.

Best individual game: It’s hard to overlook what Thermopolis’ Mitch Syverson did on Friday. Seventeen carries for 155 yards and two scores; 10-of-18 passing for 107 yards and a score (and no interceptions). Not bad — and he’s only a junior.

Best individual game from the losing side: Even though Kaycee got swamped by Guernsey, Buckaroo sophomore Jordan Largent was in on basically every big play for Kaycee. He scored Kaycee’s first touchdown on a 51-yard pass reception after breaking behind the Guernsey defense and finished with a team-high three catches for 87 yards. He also recovered two fumbles and got credit for the team’s only tackle for loss on the day.

Oddest stat: 0. As in number of passes completed, combined, by Southeast and Lingle. That stat just astounds me — even though it shouldn’t. Both teams love running the ball, and the conditions basically stripped away the effectiveness of both teams’ passing games.

Oddest sequence of plays: Douglas’ first scoring drive. The Bearcats went 44 yards, but needed 13 plays and 5 minutes, 56 seconds to do so. That’s because there were seven penalties in the drive — four on Douglas, three on Cody. It set a trend that lasted all game: Douglas finished with 13 penalties for 118 yards, Cody had 11 for 96. (Runner-up goes to Lingle’s first four offensive plays, on which there were three fumbles. The Doggers recovered them all…)

Best player: Sheridan’s Austin Woodward. The Broncs had a pretty simple game plan, and big No. 4 came through — 23 carries, 152 yards, three touchdowns. He didn’t have as good a day through the air, but the Broncs didn’t need that as much on Saturday night because of what he did with his legs.

Biggest mad props: That goes to the grounds crew at UW. The guys with the shovels and behind the wheels of the vehicles did a commendable job of keeping the playing field as playable as possible — which, especially on Friday, was a tough task. Those crews worked hard into the night on Friday, too, and on Saturday morning the field looked spotless for the 3A title game. Nice work.

I’ll post some more thoughts about the weekend later this week, after I at least START my term papers that will be due all too soon… but don’t wait for me. What did you think of the first football championship extravaganza? Post your thoughts and I’ll chip in, eventually…

This week: 3-2 (60 percent). This season: 237-60 (80 percent — my best in five years!). Overall five-year record: 1,101-344 (76 percent).

–patrick