For the first time in 36 years, the Shoshoni Wranglers are state football champs. They beat Rocky Mountain 19-6 for the 9-man title on Saturday in Laramie.

Alex Mills threw three touchdown passes to Trey Fike, one in each of the first three quarters, and the Wranglers captured their third football title in school history.

Shoshoni head coach Tony Truempler said he feels like a million dollars.

“We should be going to Disneyland right now. Instead, we’re going to stay and watch 4A (their championship game).”

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On their second drive of the game, Mills found Fike open for a 2-yard TD pass. That made it 7-0 with 4:59 left in the first quarter.

The two connected again midway through the second quarter. This was an 11-yard TD pass, which made it 13-0 after the PAT kick was blocked. It capped a 12-play, 59-yard drive that took over six-and-a-half minutes off the clock.

Rocky Mountain nearly scored before the break. A 13-play drive was halted by a Nathon Cousineau interception of a Carsyn Weber pass at the one-yard line on the final play of the first half.

It was 13-0, Shoshoni, at halftime.

On their second drive of the third quarter, the Wranglers increased their lead to 19-0. Mills found Fike for a 26-yard TD pass. The two-point conversion failed.

The Grizzlies answered with their only score of the game. A 13-play, 65-yard drive was punctuated by a Weber to Collin Haslem 12-yard touchdown pass. The two-point pass failed.

Rocky Mountain threatened twice in the fourth quarter. A fumbled snap on fourth down and five at the Wranglers nine-yard line halted one drive. After a fumble recovery by Weber at the Shoshoni 39-yard line, the Grizzlies faced another fourth down. With three yards to go, Weber scrambled but slipped down and lost a yard.

The Wranglers took a knee for the victory.

Truempler said what put his team over the top was they were ready.

“We set goals, and we met them. We knew coming in, they were going to be ready for our run game. They were going to try to shut Pehton (Truempler) and Cannon (Campbell) down, and they did for the most part, somewhat. We knew we could go to the air and get ‘em. It’s great because we have so many weapons that we can dive into the well whenever we need to, and we play the hot hand.”

That happened to be the passing of Mills to Fike.

The Wranglers had 281 yards of total offense. Mills went 10-for-15 passing for 128 yards and the three scores. Truempler added 118 yards rushing. Fike caught five passes for 61 yards and the three TDs. Defensively, Cousineau had eight tackles and the pick. Truempler and Dom Jarvis added seven tackles each.

Rocky Mountain finished with 272 yards on offense. Weber was 14-29 passing for 182 yards with one TD and one interception. He was sacked once. Weber also had 86 yards rushing. Haslem hauled in eight passes for 62 yards and one touchdown. Russell Crosby had nine tackles for the Grizzlies’ defense.

Truempler knew they had to contain Weber to have a shot.

“He’s a good quarterback. We made it real personal with my secondary that we were going to shut them down. They caught a couple of deep passes on us when we played them in Week 2. We made it personal that this doesn’t happen again. They don’t like to get scored on, so we went from there.”

The Wranglers held on for their first state football crown since 1985.

Shoshoni finished with an overall record of 10-1. Rocky Mountain ended 9-2.

University of Wyoming’s Top 50 Football Players

During the summer of 2021, 7220Sports.com counted down the Top 50 football players in University of Wyoming history, presented by Premier Bone & Joint Centers, Worthy of Wyoming.

The rules are simple: What was the player's impact while in Laramie? That means NFL stats, draft status or any other accolade earned outside of UW is irrelevant when it comes to this list.

This isn't a one-man job. This task called for a panel of experts. Joining 7220's Cody Tucker are Robert GagliardiJared NewlandRyan Thorburn, and Kevin McKinney.

We all compiled our own list of 50 and let computer averages do the work. Think BCS -- only we hope this catalog is fairer.

Don't agree with a selection? Feel free to sound off on our Twitter: @7220sports - #Top50UWFB

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