WyoPreps Game of the Week: Cody vs. Powell [AUDIO]

The annual Big Horn Brawl in Cody on Friday night is our WyoPreps Big School Game of the Week.

The top-ranked and 3-0 Cody Broncs will host the No. 2 and 4-0 Powell Panthers.

Cody has three blowout wins over Riverton, Worland, and Buffalo. Their closest margin of victory is 14 points against the Warriors.

Powell enters off a shutout over previously fourth-ranked Douglas last week, 17-0. The Panthers also have victories over Riverton, Worland, and Lander.

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WyoPreps spoke with Powell head coach Chase Kistler and Cody’s head coach Matt McFadden before the big game. Kistler talked about last year’s close games, the good start to the Panthers’ season, and some new personnel playing key roles, and facing the Broncs, which Coach Kistler enjoys. Coach McFadden admitted this is his favorite week of the season. He discussed Cody’s roster change-over from last year’s title team, key players in new roles, prepping for Powell, and some keys to this game.

The focus for both teams is to establish their ground attack. Cody’s averaging 282 rushing yards per game, while Powell is at 202 per game. The Broncs are averaging 421 yards and 47 points per game. Powell is at 289 yards and 27 points per game.

Defensively, both teams are stingy. The Panthers allow only 73 yards rushing and 223 total yards per game. The Broncs give up 128 rushing yards per game but just 208 total yards per game.

Powell has one turnover on the season and is plus-7 in turnover margin.

The Panthers are led on offense by running back Reed Smith and QB Jhett Schwahn, while Toran Graham anchors the defense.

Cody is led by Luke Talich at QB, while Chaz Cowie and Drew Trotter are the leading ball carriers. Grayson Beaudrie and Jace Grant pace the defense.

This will be the 124th meeting between the rivals, according to wyoming-football.com. Cody leads the all-time series 65-54 with four ties. It dates back to 1921. The Broncs won both the regular-season and post-season games, 14-0 and 21-0, respectively. Cody has also won four straight Big Horn Brawls.

The game has a 7 p.m. start at Spike Vannoy Field.