WyoPreps Game of the Week: #1 Big Piney at #4 Wind River [VIDEO]

Pavillion, WY is the place for the fan-voted, small school WyoPreps Game of the Week, as top-ranked Big Piney visits No. 4 Wind River.

Both teams are 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference play, but they’ve gotten there in different ways.

The Punchers have out-scored their opponents 138-20 over three games. That includes shutouts against conference foes Rocky Mountain (58-0) and Greybull (47-0) in the last two weeks.

Wind River earned a forfeit win in their first two games. They picked up some non-varsity opponents to get some game action, but Cougars head coach Rod Frederick said they pulled guys against the Campbell County JV and then played their JV versus the Natrona Sophomores. They had their first official game last week and won at Riverside, 22-20.

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Both squads can run the ball very well. Big Piney is second in the classification at 294 yards per game, while Wind River is third at 273 yards per game.

The Punchers have a one-two punch with Caden Clifford and Reuben Stoutenberg. Clifford averages 17.5 yards per attempt and 146 yards per game. He has 6 TDs. Stoutenberg is at 12.5 yards per rush and 125 yards per game with 9 TDs.

The Cougars are led by Cooper Frederick. He ran for 134 yards in last week’s win over the Rebels. QB Chris Burke and Brayden Tatro are also key to Wind River’s attack.

An edge goes to Big Piney on defense. They’re No. 1 in the class allowing only 171 yards and 6.7 points per game.

WyoPreps chatted with Punchers’ head coach Jeromy Moffat and Wind River’s Rod Frederick about this pivotal West Conference game. The discussion focused on the start of the season, some key personnel, what they think of the opposition, a quick turnaround with a Thursday game, and a few keys for their team.

This is the eighth meeting between the two schools in football, according to wyoming-football.com. Big Piney is 6-1 in the series. Wind River won their first game over the Punchers last year, 20-18, at Big Piney. The first meeting came in 2001. All seven games have been in the regular season.

The kick-off is at 5 p.m. at LeRoy Sinner Field in Pavillion.