2022 Class 3A Football State Championship Preview [VIDEO]

Two-time defending 3A champion Cody seeks a third straight championship, but they have to go through rival Star Valley to get it on Friday in Laramie.

Cody rolled to a 41-24 victory in last year’s championship game against Jackson. That gave the Broncs their seventh title in school history and their fourth since 2014. Star Valley is back in the final game for the first time since they won it all in 2019.

Between the Broncs and Braves, those two schools have won the last eight Class 3A state championships.

The two 3A West Conference rivals squared off in Afton in Week 6 of the regular season. Cody defeated Star Valley, 35-25. It was the closest game of the year for the Broncs.

WyoPreps had conversations with both head coaches before the game, Star Valley’s McKay Young, and Cody’s Matt McFadden.

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Team Info & Series History:

Star Valley (9-2) – McKay Young: 7th year as head coach; 12 state championships in school history; the most recent was in 2019 (49-13 vs. Powell). Three of the titles have come under Young (2016, 2018, 2019). This is Star Valley’s sixth trip to the title games in Laramie.

Cody (10-0) – Matt McFadden: 10th year as head coach; 7 state championships in school history; they’ve won the last two (34-13 and 41-24 over Jackson in 2020 & 2021). Their first title came in 1958. The Broncs are making their fifth trip to Laramie.

Star Valley has the series lead of 25-13. They first played each other in a varsity game in 1957. In the postseason, this marks the seventh meeting between the two schools. The first one was a semifinal game in 1990. Both teams have three wins over each other in the playoffs. They met one previous time for a state championship. That was in 1991, and Cody was victorious, 25-7.

Team Stats per game:

                             Cody                                                              Star Valley                    

Rush Offense = No. 2 (254.3)                                                    No. 8 (112.3)

Pass Offense = No. 2 (198.9)                                                     No. 1 (306.7)

Total Offense = No. 1 (453.2)                                                    No. 2 (419)

Scoring Offense = No. 1 (52.4)                                                  No. 2 (37.2)

Rush Defense = No. 1 (96.7)                                                      No. 3 (109.5)

Pass Defense = No. 7 (147.3)                                                     No. 6 (146.4)

Total Defense = No. 1 (244)                                                       No. 2 (255.8)

Scoring Defense = No. 1 (10.8)                                                 No. 2 (16.5)

Key Players:

Cody = Lucas Talich – 58.2 rushing yards per game, 7 TDs and 168.2 passing yards per game, 25 TDs, 4 INTs; Matt Nelson – 63 receiving yards per game, 9 TDs – has 19 total TDs – No. 2 in scoring; Jackson Schroeder – 11.2 defensive points per game – ranks No. 25.

Star Valley = Taft McClure – 282.6 passing yards per game, 32 TDs, and 10 INTs; Wyatt Crogg – 80 rec. for 1166 yards, 7 TDs; Chase Stewart 41 rec. for 685 yards, 12 TDs; Derek Astle – 15.3 defensive points per game – ranks No. 5.

The game is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start on Friday in Laramie.

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