Sheridan’s undefeated Broncs of 2022 deserve tons of praise.
With a 12-0 finish, Class 4A Sheridan became just the fourth team since 2005 to finish Wyoming’s big-school football season undefeated, joining a previously undefeated Bronc team from 2017 and Natrona teams from 2012 and 2014.
However, a look at their playoff results gives Sheridan an ignominious aspect to its playoff run — worst playoff defense ever among state champions.
Before you get those keyboards fired up, though, Bronc fans, hear me out. This isn’t my call. It’s simple math: No team that has ever won an 11-man championship in Wyoming has ever given up so many points during its three-game playoff run than Sheridan gave up in its three playoff games of 2022.
The Broncs gave up 92 total points in their three playoff victories, giving up 27, 42 and 23 points in their quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games, respectively. Sheridan still won each game by double digits on its way to victories of 52-27, 63-42 and 34-23, finishing off that undefeated season with yet another 4A title.
Still, the 92 total points allowed is by far the most allowed by a title-winning team in a three-game stretch, topping the 79 points Star Valley allowed in 2016. In fact, only four 11-man title teams have allowed more than 60 points in their three games, the others being — ready for this? — Sheridan in 2019 with 75 points and Sheridan in 2021 with 65 points.
The other 11-man champions this year gave up 51 points (Star Valley, 3A) and 33 points (Big Horn, 2A) in their respective three-game playoff runs.
As noted in a previous post and updated here, here are the most points allowed by 11-man teams in their three-game championship runs:
92 points: Sheridan (27, 42, 23), 4A 2022
79 points: Star Valley (27, 42, 10), 3A 2016
75 points: Sheridan (14, 35, 26), 4A 2019
65 points: Sheridan (14, 24, 27), 4A 2021
58 points: Cheyenne East (10, 34, 14), 5A 2007
55 points: Star Valley (13, 27, 15), 3A 2015 … Big Horn (14, 19, 22), 2A 2013 … Sheridan (12, 29, 14), 4A 2011 … Big Piney (8, 33, 14), 3A 2001 … Big Piney (7, 20, 28), 2A 2000
54 points: Lyman (20, 28, 6), 2A 2021 … Cheyenne Central (20, 20, 14), 5A 2005 … Rocky Mountain (12, 22, 20), 1A DI 1997
51 points: Star Valley (17, 27, 7), 3A 2022 … Sheridan (17, 6, 28), 4A 2016
Conversely, the fewest points allowed in a three-game playoff run for teams on their way to a championship include:
0 points: Kemmerer (0, 0, 0), 3A 2007 … Wind River (0, 0, 0), 1A DII 1997
2 points: Southeast (0, 2, 0), 1A 2008
6 points: Lusk (6, 0, 0), 2A 2002 … Sundance (0, 6, 0), 2A 2005
7 points: Gillette (0, 0, 7), 4A 2000
8 points: Cokeville (0, 8, 0), 1A 2002 … Glenrock (8, 0, 0), 3A 2008
9 points: Upton (0, 3, 6), 1A 2005
10 points: Natrona (0, 7, 3), 5A 2003
12 points: Glenrock (0, 6, 6), 3A 2003 … Glenrock (0, 12, 0), 3A 2002 … Torrington (6, 0, 6), 3A 1990
13 points: Cokeville (0, 7, 6), 1A 11-man 2014 … Cokeville (0, 7, 6), 1A 11-man 2010 … Cokeville (0, 13, 0), 1A DII 1995 … Lusk (6, 0, 7), 1A DI 2000 … Natrona (0, 13, 0), 4A 1996 … Powell (0, 3, 10), 3A 2012 … Southeast (0, 6, 7), 2A 2001 … Thermopolis (0, 0, 13), 2A 1992 … Worland (0, 0, 13), 4A 2003 … Worland (7, 6, 0), 4A 2001 … Mountain View (14, 0, 0), 2A 1995 … Natrona (7, 0, 7), 4A 2012 … Wheatland (6, 0, 8), 2A 2015
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To win a championship while still allowing so many points, Sheridan must have had a record-setting offensive performance during its playoff run, right?
Well… almost.
The Broncs’ 149 points scored tied for the sixth-most ever by an 11-man team in a three-game title run. And four of the top five performances ahead of Sheridan, though, have come since 2018, including three from 2019 alone. Again updated from a previous post on this site, those include:
191 points: Big Horn (67, 68, 56), 1A 11-man 2018
185 points: Big Horn (82, 48, 55), 1A 11-man 2019
162 points: Cokeville (54, 54, 54), 1A 2002
159 points: Sheridan (62, 62, 35), 4A 2019
152 points: Mountain View (72, 56, 24), 2A 2019
149 points: Sheridan (52, 63, 34), 4A 2022 … Buffalo (56, 50, 43), 2A 2018 … Sheridan (64, 43, 42), 4A 1993
148 points: Mountain View (55, 66, 27), 2A 1995
145 points: Lusk (68, 49, 28), 1A Division I 1999
144 points: Southeast (74, 42, 28), 1A 2007
140 points: Mountain View (60, 52, 28), 2A 2014 … Douglas (40, 56, 44), 3A 2009
The fewest points scored in a championship run, though, now includes this year’s aforementioned Big Horn team. The Rams only allowed 33 points, but conversely only scored 43 — tied for second-lowest of any 11-man championship team in a three-game playoff run:
31 points: Cokeville (7, 7, 17), 1A 11-man 1994
43 points: Big Horn (28, 7, 8), 2A 2022 … Glenrock (20, 10, 13), 3A 2003
44 points: Natrona (14, 23, 7), 4A 1996
48 points: Riverside (17, 10, 21), 2A 2007
49 points: Big Piney (12, 16, 21), 3A 2006
52 points: Pine Bluffs (23, 19, 10), 1A 11-man 2016
53 points: Southeast (34, 7, 12), 1A 2008
54 points: Guernsey (32, 8, 14), 1A 2006
55 points: Cheyenne East (13, 28, 14), 4A 2013
59 points: Cokeville (28, 19, 12), 1A Division II 1998
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In six-man, meanwhile, Snake River just put up the best defensive playoff run of any state champion. The 2022 version of the Rattlers allowed only 22 points — six in the quarterfinals and eight in both the semifinals and championship — on their way to this year’s six-man championship.
The 22 points allowed barely edged out the 24 allowed by Snake River in its 2010 title run. Snake River also owns the third-best run with 38 allowed in its 2019 championship season.
Three teams have finished with more than 200 points scored in a six-man championship run, led by Farson’s 225 in 2018. Farson also allowed more points during its three-game playoff championship run than any other, allowing 79 that same year. Two years later, in 2020, Farson scored 154 points — the fewest ever scored by any six-man champion since 2009.
Here are the top three performances by state champions in the six-man playoffs since 2009:
Most points scored
225 points: Farson (90, 62, 73), 2018
217 points: Guernsey (65, 72, 80), 2014
202 points: Dubois (89, 59, 54), 2012
Fewest points scored
154 points: Farson (70, 42, 42), 2020
157 points: Kaycee (60, 56, 41), 2016
173 points: Snake River (64, 42, 67), 2010
Fewest points allowed
22 points: Snake River (6, 8, 8), 2022
24 points: Snake River (0, 12, 12), 2010
38 points: Snake River (0, 0, 38), 2019
Most points allowed
79 points: Farson (22, 19, 38), 2018
78 points: Guernsey (8, 40, 30), 2014 … Snake River (8, 46, 24), 2021
–patrick