2022 Class 2A Football State Championship Preview [VIDEO]

For the second time this season, the Lovell Bulldogs will face the Big Horn Rams, only this time it’s for the Class 2A football state championship.

These two teams have never met in a title game. Lovell appeared in last year’s championship but lost. Big Horn is back in the finals for the first time since 2019 when they won their second consecutive Class 1A-11 Man state title.

They met in Week 1 of this season. Lovell held on for a 14-7 victory at Big Horn.

WyoPreps spoke to both head coaches before the game, Lovell’s Nicc Crosby and Big Horn’s Kirk McLaughlin, for some insight into the teams and this matchup.

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Team Info & Series History:

Lovell (10-0) – Nicc Crosby: 4th year as head coach; 2 state championships in school history; the most recent was in 2011 (21-13 over Lyman). Their only other title was back in 1987.

Big Horn (9-1) – Kirk McLaughlin: 5th year as head coach; 7 state championships in school history; the last was in 2019 (55-7 vs Cokeville). Their first title was in 1985.

This will be the 10th meeting in the series. Overall, Big Horn has an edge of 5-4. They first played each other in a varsity game in 2012 in the semifinals of the playoffs. In the postseason, the two schools have played three, with Big Horn prevailing in two of the three games. This is the first time they’ll face off with a championship at stake.

Team Stats per game:

                             Big Horn                                            Lovell                             

Rush Offense = No. 10 (143.5)                                   No. 4 (213.6)

Pass Offense = No. 2 (187.4)                                      No. 4 (117.2)

Total Offense = No. 1 (330.9)                                     No. 2 (330.8)

Scoring Offense = No. 2 (35.1)                                   No. 1 (35.7)

Rush Defense = No. 9 (176)                                        No. 4 (122.3)

Pass Defense = No. 3 (53.3)                                        No. 2 (51.5)

Total Defense = No. 5 (229.3)                                    No. 3 (173.8)

Scoring Defense = No. 3 (10.6)                                  No. 1 (8.7)

Key Players:

Big Horn = Cooper Garber – 75.7 rushing yards per game, 10 TDs & 184.8 passing yards per game with 20 TDs & 7 INTs; Dylan Greenough-Groom – 64.6 receiving yards per game, 7 TDs; Wyatt Brown – 18.5 defensive points per game – ranks No. 4.

Lovell = Ben Nichols – 101.5 rushing yards per game, 9 TDs; Davin Crosby – 117.2 passing yards per game, 11 TDs & 8 INTs; Jared Mangus – 132 all-purpose yards per game, 14 TDs; Zane Collins – 14.2 defensive points per game – ranks No. 17.

The kick-off will be at noon on Friday in Laramie.

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