Highlights of the 4A Football State Championship game, between Gillette vs. Natrona.

Scroll down to watch the highlights of the game!

The Mustangs dominated every aspect of this game to finish the season 12-0.

 

 

(BANG)

He was doing that a lot this weekend…and the big bang was still to come…or so we thought.

Gillette vs. Natrona in the 4A State Championship Game…first quarter…Natrona wearing the orange…and establishing the running game early on.  Josh Flanigan finds some room in the middle, and finds more on the near sideline. He would step out at the Gillette 13, but not before he picked up 37 yards. As a team…NC had 326 rushing yards, and that’s a good sign if a team can do that.

3 plays later…this is Isaac Cooper…his only run of the game, but he would tip-toe his way through the Gillette defense for 6 yards and a score. The Mustangs are on the board first, leading 7-to-nothing.

The Camels recovered a muffed punt at the Natrona 24, and went for it on 4th and goal from the 6. Austin Fort tried to hit Dani Fischer on a slant route, but the 2 could not connect. The score would stay at 7-zip after the first 12 minutes.

2nd quarter…NC would show them how to finish the job in the red zone…Brecken Biggs on the quarterback draw…7 yards…reaches the ball out and gets in for the touchdown. That’s how you do it and now his team has a 14-to-nothing advantage.

How about some defense? Watch number 33…Dan Reese…coming in on the linebacker blitz. He’s going to get ahold of Fort and introduce him into the ground. The Mustangs had the #1 defensive unit in Class 4A, coming into this game, and 2nd best overall in the state.

Gillette needed a break to go their way soon, or else this was going to be a looong game. Flanigan takes the swing pass and tried to gain yardage…but on the tackle, Justin Berkey is going to knock the ball loose and Cole Petty would recover at the 11…but his team went 3 and out after that and had to punt the ball away.

Natrona tried some special teams work. Logan Wilson was called on for a 50 yard field goal try…that’s quite a stretch in high school, and maybe he was hitting them in practice, but this one is short, and in high school, the ball can not be returned if it goes into the end zone, so it’s a touchback.

More defense coming up…I told you earlier how many rushing yards NC had…well Gillette’s total offensive numbers were only about half of that. 162 yards for the Camels and their only success came on an 89 yard drive at the end of the game against the reserves. Do the math. The orange defense had a feast.

Just before the break…they decided to give Wilson one more shot at it. This one is a 48 yard field goal try…ummmm…no. Neither side was worried as the score was still 14-zip going into the locker room.

3rd quarter…more defense…don’t get us wrong…Gillette was good…they almost beat the Mustangs a few weeks prior to this game…but on this day, it was not meant to be. Fort gets picked off by Flanigan who will take the ball to the Gillette 12 yard line, where his team would set up shop again.

Now on this next highlight, we owe Thomas Myler an apology. We lost the ball and by the time we found it, it was almost too late. He lead his team with 184 yards on the ground and that was his only TD of the game. NC was cruising up 21-nothing…going into the final 12 minutes.

4th quarter…more from the Mustangs. Biggs was under center, then he became the man in motion. He almost fooled the camera. Flanigan takes the direct snap. He’ll work his way in for a 4 yard touchdown…this championship game was starting to get out of hand. It was 28-to-zip at this point.

And they were not done…and neither was Flanigan. 5 more yards…6 more points. This game was out of reach with the score at 35-to-zero.

Fort would score for Gillette with 8 seconds left to prevent the shutout…no dis-respect, but it was against the reserves…and we were waiting for Coach Steve Harshman to get his bath. Stick a fork in this game coach…it was over a long time ago.

The Natrona County Mustangs…polish off a perfect 12-and-oh season in dominating fashion…35-to-7. It’s their second state championship, in the last 3 seasons.

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