PhotoFest: Wind River Edges Southeast in 9-Man Semi-Finals

The Wind River-Southeast 1A 9-Man playoff game in Pavillion was an epic contest worthy of postseason football. Wind River put points on the board first on a 7-yard touchdown run from Cooper Frederick and with the successful two-point try, the Cougars had an 8-0 lead after one-quarter of play.

Southeast got right back into the game as quarterback Ayden Desmond found Cole Sauer for 8 yards and a TD. The Cyclones went for 2 and made it to tie the game at 8 apiece. Wind River surged ahead with a pair of touchdowns from Chris Burk. The first one was a 1-yard scoring run and the other was a 15 TD catch. At halftime, the Cougars led 24-8.

Southeast rallied in the 3rd quarter as TJ Moats ran it into the end zone from 4 yards out. The 2-point try was good again so the Cyclones inched closer at 24-16. Later in the 3rd, Southeast found the end zone again, this time on a 5-yard run from Desmond. The Cyclones tied the game at 24, converting yet another 2-point try.

Wind River responded in the 3rd with a 54-yard gallop to the end zone from Frederick. The Cougars went for 2 and converted so they assumed a 32-24 advantage. Midway through the 4th quarter, Southeast hit paydirt again as Matthew Chapman caught a 5-yard touchdown pass to cut the gap to 32-30. The Cyclones went for 2 again and this time Wind River stopped them and it remained 32-30. The Cougars prevailed in this game thanks to an interception from Brayden Tatro at the 5-yard line in the last 90 seconds of the contest.

Wind River with this 2-point win has run the table so far in 9-Man football at 10-0 and will face Big Piney in the championship game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie. The Cougars defeated the Punchers 28-21 in the regular season. Southeast concludes the season with a record of 7-3. The Cyclones were making their 5th consecutive appearance in the postseason.

We have some stellar photos of the WR-SE game, compliments of Jessica Schooner. They can be found in our gallery below. Enjoy!