LARAMIE – Sweat and blood flew every Friday night as teams, like two gladiators, fought until the bitter end for several fall months. The lights, the cheering fans and cheerleaders, the squeaking of the bus tires all have come to this. One game for immortality.

After conquering the season and standing tall though the playoff, the best teams in the state traveled to Laramie to decide who is the top of the division. Some may go on to play in college, but for most this is the final time they will take the field competitively. War Memorial Stadium was the backdrop for these dramatic performances.

6-Man Football

In the six-man war, the Meeteetse Longhorns took its undefeated record to the field to face the Midwest Oilers. The game remained close for the first half. Midwest only trailed by one, 19-18 until Longhorn quarterback Seth Bennett scored with 10 second left in the half. From there, Meeteetse turned up their play.

A 34-point fourth quarter kept the Longhorns undefeated, taking the title over Midwest, 65-30,

Bennett’s performance was one which six-man football will talk about for some time. Bennett ran for 304 yards and six touchdowns. He also threw for 103 yards and three more touchdowns. On defense he had seven solo tackles.

Midwest was paced by Kacey Guseman who finished with 100 yards on the ground on three touchdowns.

1A

Lusk entered the 1A Championship game undefeated while Cokeville only had one blemish on its record. Cokeville took the lead at the end of the third quarter and was able to hold off Lusk in the fourth to take the one-point state championship win 13-12.

Cokeville took the early lead with the only score in the first quarter. They lost the lead at the start of the third as Lusk was able to take a 12-6 lead at the beginning of the third. Cokeville’s Jace Petersen scored what proved to be the winning touchdown with a one-yard run at the 1:46 mark in the third. Cokeville kicked the only extra point in the game that gave Cokeville the state title.

Peterson had both scores on the ground as he finished with 70 yards rushing.

2A

In 2A, Mountain View fell behind big to start the game and was not able to come back as Big Horn bettered the Buffalos, 47-22.

Mountain View (9-3) struck first to take a 6-0 lead, but that was about it for the Buffalos as they didn’t find the scoreboard again until the fourth quarter. Big Horn (10-1) scored 34 straight points to grab the title. Mountain VIew was able to score 16 points in the final quarter but it was a little too late.

Cade Covington paced Mountainview on the ground with 97 yards and on score. Quarterback Au Housekeeper had 63 yards on the ground with two touchdowns and 180 yards through the air. Big Horns quarterback Con McCafferty had 147 yards and four touchdowns passing.

3A

In a battle of the undefeated, the game lived up to the hype as Powell and Douglas went into overtime to decide a champ. Powell’s Hayden Cragoe blasted a two-yard run to take the title.

Douglas was the only team able to find the endzone in the first half.

With 1:49 left in the third Powell was able to tie the game. Powell struck again at the start of the fourth and Douglas evened it up with just under six minutes to send the game to overtime.

Douglas had a big game from Logan Barker on the ground who scampered for 125 yards. Both quarterbacks, Cragoe for Powell and Austy Matthews threw for two scores.

4A

In the grand finale of the tournament, Natrona and Cheyenne East faced off for the final title of the tournament. Both teams traded touchdowns in the first quarter and actually the game winning extra point came in the second quarter as East defeated Natrona 14-13.

With 2:25 left in the half, East scored and added the extra point to take the 14-10 lead. Casper was able to shut out Cheyenne in the second half but East matched, only allowing a Natrona field goal. The East extra point at the end of the second quarter was the state championship point.

Both East’s scores came from Tevis Bartlett who ran for 65 yards. Natrona quarterback Sam Turner threw for 172 yards and the only Mustang touchdown. Logan Wilson caught six balls for 93 yards and was on the other end of the Turner touchdown.