Note: The total yards were updated after a detailed film review.
It had the style and elegance of ballet on steroids Friday night in Yoder. Wind River junior running back Cooper Frederick set a new Wyoming High School rushing record with 549-yards on 61-carries in a back-and-forth tilt with the Southeast Cyclones.
The Cougars won the shootout 46-38 with Frederick scoring all six Wind River touchdowns. Conversions played a huge role in the win as well. Frederick tallied three two-point conversion runs, connected with tight end Blake Snyder on another, and Calder Johnson scored the other two points.
You don’t run a railroad without rails, you don’t pull a plow without horses, and you don’t rush for state records without blocking.
Frederick worked in a choreographed fashion with blockers Tucker Jensen, Casey Befus, Trapper Hallock, Kyzaia Jones, Calder Jones, Snyder, and fullback Johnson all evening.
The Cyclone field at Yoder runs east and west on a nearly new artificial surface and created perfect running conditions for the Cougars.
Each time Frederick took the ball, he would hesitate as his linemen engaged the Southeast defenders, read the block, and dart into the hole. It was this hitch-and-go on each run that kept the Cyclones guessing.
Hallock, Befus and Jensen delivered pancake blocks on several off-tackle runs, with Kyzaia Jones engaging linebackers from his center position for plunges straight up the middle.
Southeast wasn’t without weapons, but the Cyclones don’t run on sustained drives like the Cougars, they prefer the long strike, and breakaway run.
Quarterback Austin Short scored on a 63-yard scamper in the first period for the Cyclones, then connected with Ayden Desmond on 26 and 58-yard scoring strikes. Desmond added an 82-yard run of his own to open the second-period scoring.
With the Cougars leading 46-30, Short had a final scoring connection to Matthew Chapman on a 36-yard pass on Southeast’s last offensive play of the season at 1:32 of the final period.
In between Frederick’s initial run of 19-yards on Wind River’s first drive of the game to Chapman’s final score, the Cougars were ahead the entire time, but it never felt like they were in complete control of the game.
While Frederick’s running kept the Cyclone defense off balance it was little things that kept the Cougars on top.
In the third quarter with Wind River trying to hold the long strike Cyclones at bay, punter Kyzaia Jones got off a beauty, sending the ball 40-yards from the line of scrimmage before it hit at the four-yard line and caromed out of bounds at the two.
As the first half ended, Wind River head coach Rod Frederick and assistants Hoag Mulholland, and Kyle Hunter did a masterful job of clock management.
After trailing 24-7 late in the opening period, the Cyclones clawed back to within two points on a 58-yard pass from Short to Desmond, with the conversion cutting the score to 32-30 with just 58 seconds left in the first half.
The Cougars marched 64 yards on seven plays with just two timeouts to set up a nine-yard Frederick run as the clock hit :00.
Frederick ran behind a huge line surge for three consecutive first downs, with judicious timeouts stopping the clock, Frederick rolled out of bounds on one play, and quarterback Carter Fowler spiked the ball to stop the clock on the other.
The scoring play began with just three seconds left in the half. Fowler tossed the ball to Frederick on the left and he hit the pylon with the ball after time expired behind sealing blocks by Jensen, Befus, and Johnson for a 38-30 halftime lead.
Frederick tallied Wind River’s only score of the second half on a 24-yard touchdown run with five minutes remaining in the third.
As often happens in wild scoring first halves, the defense set the tone in the third and fourth quarters.
The Cougars stuffed a Southeast drive at the 11 on one series, then drove the length of the field and stalled themselves at the three-yard line.
Jones’ punt was a key play in the final half, and Aiden Ruby intercepted Short to apparently end another drive, but Hallock was flagged for roughing the passer. On the ensuing administration of the penalty, game officials gave the Cyclones possession of the ball 15-yards from where Ruby intercepted, rather than from the line of scrimmage. The penalty gave Southeast a free 35-yards, instead of the 15 the infraction called for.
Southeast scored their final time after the extra yardage from the penalty then failed on the onside kick with the Cougars recovering and running out the clock for the final 46-38 margin.
The Cyclones finish the season with three losses, a surprising opening game loss to Riverside in Basin, one to the Cougars, and a blowout the week before at the hands of top-ranked Pine Bluffs.
It will be a much shorter trip this week for the Cougars as they play at rival Shoshoni in the semi-finals for the second year in a row.
Kickoff is tentatively scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday at Bailey Field in Shoshoni.
WIND RIVER 24 14 8 0 – 46
SOUTHEAST GOSHEN 8 22 0 8 – 38
First Quarter
WR – Cooper Frederick 19-run (Frederick run)
WR – Frederick 48-run (Frederick run)
SE – Austin Short 63-run (Short kick)
WR – Frederick 15-run (Calder Johnson run)
Second Quarter
SE – Ayden Desmond 82-run (Desmond from Short)
WR – Frederick 9-run (Blake Snyder from Frederick)
SE – Desmond 26-pass from Short (Short run)
SE – Desmond 58-pass from Short (Short kick)
WR – Frederick 9-run (run failed)
Third Quarter
WR – Frederick 21-run (Frederick run)
Fourth Quarter
SE – Mathew Chapman 35-pass from Short (Desmond from Short)