CHEYENNE – Cheyenne East wasn’t phased going up against Class 4A’s No. 1 defense Friday night.
The No. 1-ranked Thunderbirds gained 406 yards of total offense – 200 more yards than what No. 4 Sheridan’s defense allows on average – lifting them to a 31-21 victory and sending them to the state championship game next week.
East started the game with a 13 play, 79-yard drive which ended with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Graedyn Buell to Jackson Hesford for an early 7-0 lead. The drive set the tone for the remainder of the game.
“When you go out and have success on your first drive, you have great confidence for the rest of the game,” Buell said. “When you go out and punch it down their throat right away you know you can do it again and again, especially with how potent our offense is, and it kind of set the pace for the rest of the game.”
The second quarter was big for East (10-1) on both sides of the ball.
On the first play of the second quarter, Sheridan quarterback Zach Koltiska dropped back to attempt his first pass of the game and it was picked off by junior Kaleb Romero.
The teams exchanged touchdowns throughout the rest of the period, and East held a 17-7 advantage before Koltiska dropped back for his second pass attempt, which was again picked off by Romero.
Fifteen seconds and two plays following the second interception, Buell scored on a 29-yard touchdown run and the T-Birds went into the break with a 24-7 lead.
“Our defense as a unit has gotten consistently better throughout the year,” East coach Chad Goff said. “(Friday night) they did a great job of not letting Sheridan gain any momentum and made big plays at big times.”
The Broncs (7-4) trailed by only 10 with 9 minutes, 47 seconds remaining in the game after Coon scampered for his second score of contest. Just as Sheridan seemed to gain a little momentum, Buell found Jake Rayl for an 80-yard touchdown after the pocket collapsed and Buell was forced to scramble to make the throw.
“We had wing left and (Rayl) on the back side and I didn’t like what I saw with their coverage, so I just tried to extend the play,” Buell said. “(Rayl) did a great job of turning up field and making a great catch.”
Sheridan quickly answered on its ensuing possession, but the T-Birds put a halt to any type of late comeback.
East will host Thunder Basin next week for the 4A state championship game at Okie Blanchard Stadium. Because of COVID-19 the state championships, which are usually played at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, will be hosted by the top remaining seed.
Thunder Basin beat the T-Birds in the first week of the season 34-28 and the T-Birds haven’t lost a game since. They are currently on a 10-game winning streak, which is the longest such streak in program history.
“(The winning streak) means a lot for these kids,” Goff said. “They’ve have worked so hard and its awesome to show them and teach them that hard work does pay off … it’s a credit to how hard these kids worked in the offseason.”
EAST 31, SHERIDAN 21
Sheridan…… 0 7 0 14 – 21
Cheyenne East…… 10 14 0 7 – 31
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
CE: Hesford 8 pass from Buell (LaRue kick), 7:37
CE: LaRue 26 field goal, 2:46
Second Quarter
S: Coon 6 run (Greer kick), 6:34
CE: Buell 2 run (LaRue kick), 3:44
CE: Buell 29 run (LaRue kick), 0:44
Fourth Quarter
S: Coon 10 run (Greer kick), 9:47
CE: Rayl 80 pass from Buell (LaRue kick), 8:46
S: Martin 69 pass from Koltiska (Greer kick), 8:27
Individual statistics
Rushing
Sheridan: Askamit 12-43, Coon 20-116, McComb 4-11, Koltiska 3 (minus-9); Cheyenne East: Pugh 14-38, Buell 20-118.
Passing
Sheridan: Koltiska 8-18-1 122; Cheyenne East: Buell 22-29-0 250.
Receiving
Sheridan: Steel 1-9, Martin 1-69, AskaMit 2-22, Meinecke 2-2, Coon 2-24; Cheyenne East: Hesford 7-52, Goff 3-34, Rayl 7-123, Schlabs 5-41.
