Buffs overcome slow start, top Wind River
After spending most of the first half in neutral, Greybull’s offense came to life in the second half Saturday afternoon, scoring four touchdowns to fend off Wind River’s upset bid and stake their claim to a playoff game on their home field.
The 26-12 win over the Cougars moved the Buffs to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in 1A West heading into the final weekend of the regular season, when playoff seedings will be decided by big games happening on both sides of the state.
The Buffs didn’t get off to a good start against the Cougars. In fact, most of the first half was a miserable slog as they found themselves on the losing side in a game of keep-away. Relying entirely on the run, the Cougars piled up first downs and dominated time of possession, building a 12-0 lead midway through the second quarter. Their points came on a pair of 1 yard runs— the first by Mato Amos, the second by Brayden Tatro — that capped long, sustained drives.
To that point, Wind River had 11 first downs to Greybull’s two and 158 yards to Greybull’s 43.
“They did what I thought they were going to do, which was read our linemen and backers and let Tatro try to make his way through them,” said Coach Jeremy Pouska. “They’ve got some big fellas up front, too.”
The turning point, however, came on Greybull’s next possession when Caden Hunt connected with Anthony Chacon, who had snuck behind Wind River’s defense. The play covered 71 yards and gave the Buffs a jolt heading into halftime.
“We really needed that to reignite our team a little bit,” Pouska said. “We’d gone to our no huddle offense ... and noticed their corner was playing a little too tight, pressing coverage on Anthony. Most of the time, teams give receivers like Anthony some space and try to react. Credit to Caden for pushing it to Anthony on a little longer route and to Anthony for making the play.”
The second half was all Greybull.
After running just 11 plays in the first half — eight runs, three passes — the Buffs asserted themselves in quarters three and four. They ran 28 plays, three of which went for scores. Lucas Bolzer scored the first on a 1-yard run that tied it at 12. Wyatt Didrickson followed with two more on runs of 64 and 56 yards.
When asked about the contrasting halves, Pouska said, “We just needed our offense to get the ball in its hands. For that to happen, the defense had to step up — and it did. To hold a team like Wind River that dominated us for two quarters scoreless the rest of the way was pretty impressive.”
This week
The Buffs play their final game of the regular season today (Thursday, Oct. 24) in Ethete. Wyoming Indian sports a 2-5 record, but has dropped all four of its conference games and will not be making the playoff field. Kickoff is at 5 p.m.
“We have to respect our opponent, be crisp and do our job,” said Pouska. “Hopefully we can highlight all these things, and check each of those boxes. If we do, it should give some of our young players an opportunity get good playing time.”
The fact that the Chiefs won’t be in the field is about the only certainty heading into the playoffs. The Buffs have qualified and would be the No. 2 seed and earn home playoff game if Big Piney defeats Shoshoni. A win by the Wranglers, however, would leave three teams at 4-1 in the conference. A tiebreaker formula would then be needed to set playoff seedings; the top two would host playoff games, the bottom two would travel.
On the East, top-ranked Lingle-Fort Laramie leads with a 5-0 conference record, Pine Bluffs sits in second at 4-1 and Southeast and Saratoga are tied for third at 3-2. But those four teams play each other this weekend, as Saratoga faces Lingle and Southeast faces Pine Bluffs. So as in the West, it’s up in the air.
Wind R. 6 6 0 0 — 12
Greybull 0 6 14 6 — 26
WR — Mato Amos 1 yard run.
WR — Brayden Tatro 1 yard run.
G — Anthony Chacon 71 yard pass from Caden Hunt.
G — Lucas Bolzer 1 yard run.
G — Wyatt Didrickson 64 yard run (Bolzer run)
G — Didrickson 56 yard run.
RUSHING — Wind River 57-283 (Tatro 29-178, Amox 11-38, Snyder 4-18, Hardcastle 4-30, Martinez 4-13); Greybull 30-280 (Wyatt Didrickson 7-174, Lucas Bolzer 8-67, Caiden Sorenson 7-24, Caden Hunt 8-15).
PASSING — Wind River 0-of-4 for 0 yards; Greybull 2-of-9 for 80 yards.
RECEIVING — Greybull: Anthony Chacon 1-71, Bolzer 1-9.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUTS — Yandel Hernandez had 34 points (15 assisted tackles, 4 solo tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 fumble recovery), followed by Lucas Bolzer with 30 (10 assisted, 7 solo, 2 forced fumbles), Caiden Sorenson with 29 (15 assisted, 4 solo, 1 tackle for loss, 1 fumble recovery) and Garrett Wiggins with 17 (9 assisted, 2 solo, 1 tackle for loss, 1 forced fumble). Jesse Brown and Clayton Didrickson were credited with interceptions.