When the Southeast Cyclones arrive at Leroy Sinner Field in Pavillion on Friday at 2 p.m. it will mark the sixth meeting between the Cougars and the traditional powerhouse program from Goshen County.
The Cougars and Cyclones have met five previous times, with four of those at Yoder and one in Pavillion.
Southeast holds a slight 3-2 edge in the series but won by substantial margins the first three times the teams met.
In the 2009 playoffs, Wind River head coach Andy Ray’s team was handled by venerable Southeast head coach Mark Bullington in Yoder 42-12. Southeast went on to win the state championship a week later in Laramie over Goshen County rival Lingle-Ft. Laramie.
Bullington has nine state championships at Southeast in a head coaching career dating back to 1999.
Three regular season games followed with Southeast blowing out the Cougars 57-6 in 2013, and again 47-0 in Pavillion in 2020 under head coach Mykah Trujillo.
In perhaps the most important statistic, Wind River won the last two meetings, both at Yoder 8-6 in the regular season un Trujillo in 2021 and 46-38 in the opening round of the Class 1-A 9-man playoffs last year.
In that memorable game, Wind River junior running back Cooper Frederick set a new Wyoming High School rushing record with 534 yards on 61 carries in a back-and-forth tilt with the Southeast Cyclones.
Frederick is back with lower rushing totals this season, but much higher passing numbers and he currently leads the entire state in total offense.
Entering Friday’s tilt, the two teams have a pair of common opponents. Southeast handled Riverside 29-6 in their season opener at Yoder, and beat the Rebels 50-20 last week, also at Yoder. The Cougars edged Riverside in Basin 22-20 in their season opener and the Rebels third game of the year after winning by forfeit in their first two games.
Lusk beat the Cyclones 8-6 in Yoder back in September, and Wind River blew out the Tigers 68-6 in Pavillion last week. Lusk played without their starting quarterback in last week’s playoff opener.
Statistically Wind River is the top offensive team in 9-man averaging 407 yards per game in total offense with 280 of that on the ground and 127 through the air. They’re ranked first on the ground and third in passing.
Southeast enters the semi-final matchup with the sixth-leading offense in the state at 318 yards per game. They’re sixth in rushing at 199 per contest and fifth in passing with a 120-yard per game average.
On the ground, Frederick leads the Cougars with 847 yards, a 121-yard per game average, and 13 touchdowns. Brayden Tatro averages 41 yards per game, for a total of 285 yards and four touchdowns. Chris Burk is just behind him at 37 yards per game, 258 total yards, and seven touchdowns.
Frederick is 14-64-1 through the air for 13 touchdowns and 855 total yards.
Aidan Ruby is Wind River’s leading receiver with 13 catches for 277 yards and five touchdowns. Joaquin Stevens has four touchdowns on 11 receptions for 188 yards. Tatro and Burk had two scoring receptions each with Tatro eight for 181 yards and Burk eight for 111 yards.
Defensively the Cougars are a formidable team with Frederick tallying 74 tackles, Blake Snyder 43, Ruby 33, Tatro 32, Kyzaia Jones 31, and Burk 27. Stevens and Frederick have four of the Cougars’ 10 interceptions each.
For Southeast, it’s all about quarterback Ayden Desmond. He had 93 carries for 635 yards and 16 touchdowns. Matthew Chapman has three touchdowns on 358 yards, and Cole Sauer has a single score on 52 rushing attempts for 275 yards.
Desmond throws the ball well, completing 79 of 142 attempts for 11 touchdowns and 1001 yards while giving up six interceptions.
Desmond’s favorite receiver is Cole Sauer with receptions, four touchdowns, and 392 total yards. TJ Moats has 21 catches for 241 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Ayden Shimic has a single touchdown but 15 receptions and 197 yards. Chase Sauer rounds out a bevy of talented receivers with 123 yards on 11 catches and a pair of touchdowns.
Tiegen Thompson leads the Cyclones in tackles with 96, TJ Moats has 64, Ayden Desmond 59, Lance York 74, and Chase Sauer 45. Desmond has five interceptions.
The winner Friday afternoon advances to the state championship game next Saturday at 1 p.m. at Jonah Field inside War Memorial Stadium in Laramie.