The Shoshoni Wranglers will try to defend their state title against the Pine Bluffs Hornets on Saturday in Laramie for the Class 1A-9 Man State Championship.

These two schools have never played each other for a state football title.

The Wranglers beat Rocky Mountain a year ago, 19-6. That was the first championship on the football field for Shoshoni since 1985.

Pine Bluffs returns to the title game for the first time since 2017. The Hornets won it all that year as part of back-to-back Class 1A 11-Man championships.

These two squared off in Week 1 of the 2022 season in Shoshoni. Pine Bluffs topped the Wranglers with the final score of 34-26.

WyoPreps received more insight into both teams from the two head coaches before the game. We spoke to Shoshoni head coach Tony Truempler and Will Gray from Pine Bluffs.

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Team Info & Series History:

Pine Bluffs (10-0) – Will Gray: 12th year as head coach; 2 state championships in school history; the Hornets went back-to-back in 2016 and 2017. Their most recent title win was over Big Horn, 20-16. Pine Bluffs beat Tongue River for their first championship in 2016.

Shoshoni (9-1) – Tony Truempler: 10th year as head coach; 3 state championships in school history; they won it all last year, 19-6 over Rocky Mountain. Their other titles were in 1959 and 1985.

The Hornets have a 5-3 lead in the all-time series. They first played each other in a varsity game in 2009. In the postseason, there have been two previous meetings between the two schools, a quarterfinal in 2018 (won by PB, 54-0) and a quarterfinal in 2020 (won by Shoshoni, 48-6).

Team Stats per game:

                             Pine Bluffs                                        Shoshoni                              

Rush Offense = No. 4 (225.9)                                     No. 2 (295.3)

Pass Offense = No. 1 (203.3)                                      No. 6 (111.4)

Total Offense = No. 1 (429.2)                                     No. 2 (406.7)

Scoring Offense = No. 1 (49.3)                                   No. 3 (41)

Rush Defense = No. 1 (58.4)                                       No. 6 (153.1)

Pass Defense = No. 3 (66.8)                                        No. 5 (85.6)

Total Defense = No. 1 (125.2)                                    No. 4 (238.7)

Scoring Defense = No. 1 (12.4)                                  No. 3 (17.1)

Key Players:

Pine Bluffs = Dalton Schaefer – 709 rushing yards, 12 TDs in limited action; Stu Lerwick – 202.8 passing yards per game, 25 TDs, 3 INTs; Ryan Fornstrom – 46 rec. for 977 yards, 15 TDs; Collin Jessen – 24 rec. for 399 yards, 3 TDs; Ryan Fornstrom – 27 defensive points per game – ranks No. 1.

Shoshoni = Pehton Truempler – 190.4 rushing yards per game, 27 TDs, No. 1 in scoring with 29 TDs; Alex Mills – 111.3 passing yards per game, 17 TDs, 9 INTs; Trey Fike – 28 rec. for 422 yards, 5 TDs; Dom Jarvis – 21.4 defensive points per game – ranks No. 5.

This game starts on Saturday in Laramie at 1 p.m.

Series history information is Courtesy of Wyoming-football.com.

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