Southeast Survives Cokeville Comeback [VIDEO]

Highlights of the Football Class 1A Semi-Final game, between Southeast at Cokeville.

Scroll down to watch the highlights of the game!

It was a game that went down to the last play as the Cyclones would avenge last year's championship loss to the Panthers.

Now that’s what I want to do when I retire! Watch a high school football game from my front porch. These people have the best of both worlds!

Southeast at Cokeville in the 1A semi-finals…first quarter…Cokeville wearing the orange and black…Jonathan Fiscus has an open receiver downfield, but watch how fast Jeff Burroughs rushes over to break up the pass. Braxton Delgado might have had a sure touchdown, had the freshman not reacted as fast as he did.

Now it’s Southeast’s turn to do something, and they went to their running game, but Brigham Teichert saw it coming, and he would put a stop to things before they got going. The defense for both sides did really well in this game and there’s more to come.

Now this play was very uncharacteristic for the home team…bad exchange on the handoff. Zach Eisenbarth was able to pounce on the fumble for the visitors and they were in pretty good shape, by setting up shop in enemy territory.

But the Panther defense would ride to the rescue…Teichert comes in on the linebacker blitz and he’s going to introduce Garrett Bartel to the ground. That’s how this game went for awhile, and we got nothing on the scoreboard after the first 12 minutes.

2^nd quarter…the undefeated defending champs were back on the attack…Fiscus trying to do something himself on the option keeper…trying to get around the line, but Eisenbarth wraps him up and knocks the ball loose…Colton Stees comes up with the loose ball at the 28 yard line and the Cyclones were in great shape once again.

But just like last time…they could not cash in. Bartel has an open lane and he’s taking off, but he also came up with a case of the dropsies…Delgado will recover at the 6 and his team dodged a close one on that possession. We still have no score in this game.

More defense coming up…this time James Teichert is taking the snaps for Cokeville, but that’s not going to fool John Lessard. The sack would stall the drive and this was starting to turn into a pretty good game.

We need to get some offense going if someone wants to win…Bartel is rolling out…aiming for Burroughs 14 yards away. It was ruled a simultaneous catch between the freshman and the defender…and in that case you favor the receiver. Touchdown Southeast, plus 2 and they lead 8-to-nothing. That was a tough call either way.

Here it is again in slow motion…a little hard to tell with the ref in the way, but it looks like Burroughs got his hands on the ball first, then the defender got his hands on it as well as they were coming down, hence the simultaneous catch. Yes, the defender was able to wrestle the ball away AFTER both players hit the ground, but once both players hit the ground, the play is over. It does not matter what happens after that on a forward pass.

Moving on…the Panthers were trying to rally…Fiscus feels the pressure and tries to dump the ball, but he dumps it right into the hands of Travis Jinks, and once again…the Cyclones would start a drive on the other side of the 50, which is always a good thing when you have the ball.

The visitors would get backed up a little bit because of penalties, but that did not stop Bartel. He’s scrambling and still looking for somebody. The senior is going for broke on this 41 yard pass and Josh Kirchhefer has his defender beat and he’ll haul in that pass for a Southeast touchdown. Tack on 2 more points after that, and the visitors would go into the locker room, up 16-to-nothing, in what was turning into a stunner so far.

3^rd quarter…Cokeville would respond and special teams would provide the initial spark. Delgado is waiting for the punt at the 23…and the junior will get some good blocking and get nice return on this play. He’d eventually step out of bounds at the Southeast 34 yard line, and that’s the most progress that his team has had so far this game.

It took about 5 plays but the home team would finally punch it in. Brigham Teichert would muscle his way in for a 2 yard score, plus a 2 point conversion…and the Panthers are right back in this game, down 16-to-8.

The momentum was swinging in favor of the home team and the defense would add on to it…Brigham Teichert will break through the line again, to bring down Wyatt Somsen…and the score would hold at 16-to-8 going into the final 12 minutes.

4^th quarter…more defense. The Cyclones had to put a stop to things soon and Lessard will take care of that problem by dragging down Fiscus for the sack and that would slow things down for awhile, but this game was not over.

The visitors had several chances to put the final nail in the coffin…but on this play, Eisenbarth never got his hands on the ball, and the home team will catch a break when Macen Petersen came up with it. Now his offensive buddies need to get something going.

Later…this play was almost a complete disaster. Fiscus with a good fake…rolls out…feels the pressure and gets swallowed by Jinks, but we got a loose ball in the backfield. Luckily for Cokeville, Tyrel Toomer was able to fall on it for the save, because if the visitors had recovered, this game might have been over.

Both teams would then trade turnovers on downs…and that lead to this…you’ve probably seen it by now. The Panthers have to go 76 yards in 1 play and they almost did it. Fiscus is trying to buy some time for his team-mates. Southeast did what they were supposed to do and knock the ball down, but it went right into the hands of Colter Linford and he’s got a chance on the far sideline. The senior has 2 defenders beat, but Burroughs…the freshman…would catch up to him and drag him down at the 12 yard line, to save the day for the Cyclones, as they survive a last second attempt…and avenge last year’s championship game loss. They’re heading back to Laramie…with a 16-to-8 road win!