They played twice in 2021. They’ve played 56 times since the consolidation of Morton and Pavillion in 1969, and they’ll play again this Thursday at 7:00 pm.
The Shoshoni Wranglers and the Wind River Cougars have one of the best rivalries in all of Wyoming prep football, and this time there is a lot more at stake than Fremont County bragging rights.
The Cougars are 6-0, 5-0 in the West 9-man Conference, the Wranglers are 5-1, but also 5-0 in the West. Thursday’s winner will host throughout the playoffs.
Both teams beat Big Piney in close games and destroyed everyone else they faced in league play except Rocky Mountain. The Grizzlies dropped a close 12-8 game at Big Piney and fell in another good game to the Wranglers in Shoshoni 28-20. Rocky is a playoff team whether they beat the Cougars or not the following Thursday in Pavillion, but no one is sure where they’ll finish, it just won’t be the top seed.
Wind River holds a 29-27 edge in the series, a series that officially began on September 26, 1969, with a 44-24 Cougar win, but the series goes back farther if you include the Morton Broncs and Pavillion Panthers that combined to create Wind River.
Shoshoni has been playing football a lot longer than any of the schools that once made up Wind River.
The Wranglers dropped their first varsity game 26-0 to the Gebo Miners in 1930.
The rivalry began 81 years ago on an October afternoon in 1941 with a 43-12 win by the Wranglers over Pavillion in a 6-man game.
The first contest with Morton was a decade later in a 53-0 blowout by Shoshoni in 1952.
Over the years the schools have played 6-man, 8-man (from 1967 to 1972), 11-man, and now the last two seasons the 9-man version of the game.
Shoshoni finished with an 8-2 lifetime record against Pavillion and a 12-7 mark with the Morton Broncs.
If you add those wins and losses to the current rivalry, the Wranglers hold a 47-38 advantage. That’s history, what’s about to unfold at Leroy Sinner Field on Thursday is the path to a state title game in Laramie next month.
Shoshoni has a five-game win streak entering this week’s game. There have been streaks throughout the years. From 1971 to 1974 the Cougars won six straight, they often played each other twice in those days.
With the arrival of the late Harold Bailey at Shoshoni, the tide turned in favor of the Wranglers. Bailey’s teams won eight in a row from 1980 to 1987, including a 22-20 overtime win in 1982. The longest win streak in the series goes to the Cougars at 9, from 2002 to 2011.
The teams have met twice in the playoffs with both games at Shoshoni and the Wranglers winning 28-18 in 2000 in the opening round, and 27-0 in the semi-finals a year ago.
The Wranglers were state champions in 1959 with an unbeaten season, and again in 1985 and 2021 with single losses. The Cougars title came with a 10-record in 1997.
Shoshoni had one more state title appearance, losing 38-14 to Cowley in 1941 in a 6-man game.
That’s the history of the rivalry, what can we expect this Thursday?
The predictions are over the spectrum, from blowouts by both teams to close games, and they’re being made across Fremont County. From Lysite to Crowheart this is the game people have been waiting for. You can’t go into a store, stop for gas, or sit down in a restaurant without hearing someone talking about the game.
It is the topic of discussion at Fast Lane, Cenex, Bloedorn Lumber, the Midvale Store, the Trailhead, and especially the Riverton Livestock Auction this week.
Wind River brings the state’s best running attack in the double threat of junior Cooper Frederic and senior state 100-meter champion Jaycee Herbert. The Cougars are fast, block well and as of late, they are throwing the ball well too with quarterbacks Carter Fowler and Chris Burke each completing key passes in recent games.
The Cougars are physical up front, as you might imagine with a line filled with heavier weight wrestlers. Tucker Jensen, Trapper Hallock, Casey Befus, Kaden Jones, Rowdy Shearer, Isaac Gardner, Calder Johnson, Kazaia Jones, and Julien Tatro with Blake Snyder at tight end have opened holes for their running backs all season.
Shoshoni enters the game with perhaps the most versatile offense in 9-man. The Wranglers run with power, battering ram style behind another pair of wrestlers in Pehton Truempler and Canon Campbell. These guys rarely spin or fake, they prefer to put their heads down and plow over potential tacklers.
Running the show at quarterback is 6-2 senior Alex Mills, an accurate passer with a big arm, and good judgment in running the option. Tight end Jaxon Stanley is a huge target, and wide receiver Trey Fike is perhaps the best possession receiver in the entire 9-man league statewide. Dominic Jarvis can pick up key yards, catches well, and is the Wrangler kicker.
Making the offensive engine purr are Julian Cabello, Korb Dewitt, and Kellen Linnan, with Stanley adding a strong side presence at tight end.
Defensively both teams hit hard, rush the passer well and have excellent pass coverage.
Mills is a coach on the field at safety, recognizing formations, and plays and he led all five divisions of Wyoming football last season in interceptions. Joining him in the secondary are Fike, an outstanding cover corner, and Quinten Clark who covers well and plays great at run support.
The Wrangler linebackers of Truempler and Campbell bring the same intensity they do running the ball. Jarvis is in on almost every play filling well and is adept at shutting down the sweep. The Wranglers’ secret weapon on the pass rush and in shutting down off-tackle plays is senior Tucker Maddock. Strong, quick, and aggressive he is difficult to block. The Wranglers’ offensive line moves to the other side of the ball with Linnan, Stanley, Cabello, and Dewitt huge anchors for the linebackers and corners to work with.
Wind River is a gang tackling team that flows around the 6-5 245-pound Jensen. Teams don’t run well to his side.
As with the Wranglers, the Wind River duo of Frederick and Herbert lead the team defensively at linebacker. Jensen and Calder Johnson contain opposing sweeps and pressure quarterbacks, Befus anchors the middle, and Aiden Ruby and Burk lead the team in interceptions. Hallock, Gardner, and Jones play good run support and Fowler, Snyder, Joaquin Stevens, and Wambli Romero are all adept at covering receivers.
They’ve played each other since sixth grade many times, but all records go out the window in a rivalry like this one.
It should be a full house Thursday.