PhotoFest: Big Piney Downs Wind River for 1A 9-Man Football Crown

When Big Piney and Wind River met in the regular season in Pavillion, it was a very competitive game with Wind River winning 28-21. Big Piney turned the tables in the 1A 9-Man Championship game in Laramie on Saturday with a 39-14 win so each team finished with one loss on the year, to each other.

Wind River jumped out to a 14-point lead in the title game thanks to a 1-yard plunge into the end zone from Chris Burk and a 23-yard TD connection from Cooper Frederick to Joaquin Stevens. Big Piney responded with a pair of touchdowns in the 2nd quarter as Reuben Stoutenburg ran it in from 6 yards out and Caden Clifford had a 5-yard run for a score that put the Punchers trailed 14-13 at halftime.

Big Piney took the game over in the 3rd quarter as quarterback Champ Snively tossed a 28-yard TD pass to Karsyn Gurr, which was followed by a 10-yard run to the end zone from Clifford. Snively and Gurr hooked for 34 yards and a touchdown later in the 3rd to give the Punchers a 33-14 lead. Stoutenburg reeled off an 85-yard run for a touchdown in the 4th quarter just for good measure and he finished the day with 147 yards rushing on 11 carries. Clifford ran for 127 and Wind River was led offensively by Cooper Frederick with 137 yards on the ground. The Big Piney defense forced 4 turnovers and Wind River was penalized 10 times.

Big Piney won a state championship for the first time since 2006. Take a look at our video of Saturday's game and some fabulous photos of the contest from Libby Ngo. Those pics can be found in our gallery below. Enjoy!