Guest Posts on County 10 are provided by contributors and the opinions, thoughts, and comments within are their own and may not necessarily reflect those of County 10.
(Riverton – Statistics are through Seven Games)
Four Fremont County football teams enter the post-season this Friday, two at home and two on the road. Let’s start with the home teams.
The Riverton Wolverines are riding a seven-game winning streak entering Friday’s 6 p.m. kickoff against the Green River Wolves.
The two teams met on September 19 in Sweetwater County with the Big Red handling the Wolves 41-21. Green River enters the game as the fourth seed from the Class 3-A West with an overall record of 3-6. Those six losses include Class 2-A Mountain View, Jackson, Lander, Star Valley, Cody, and Riverton.
Look for a long game Friday night. Green River likes to throw the ball. Quarterback Maddux Hintz threw for 407 yards with 21 completions on 36 attempts in a 36-32 loss to Jackson. In the season, he’s completed 119 of 193 attempts for 16 touchdowns, but he’s thrown a dozen interceptions. He is also Green River’s leading rusher with 340 yards on 91 carries and seven touchdowns.
If you’re in the Riverton stands on Friday, look for number 24, Dax Taylor. Taylor has 57 receptions on the season. Irie Kuball (#2) and Trevor Johnson (#9) are also favorite targets.
Riverton throws the ball, too. Blake Gantenbein has 1450 yards through the air on 110 completions in 169 attempts. He found the end zone 13 times and has only three interceptions. The Wolverines have a solid running game as wel,l with all-time leading rusher Hunter Saltsgaver tallying 1250 yards so far this season. Saltsgaver has 13 touchdowns and is the state’s top place kicke,r hitting seven of eight field goals.
(Lander– Statistics are through Seven Games)
Moving across the valley, the Lander Tigers are enjoying one of the best seasons in school history with just a single loss in a classic game against Riverton. The Tigers are 8-1 entering Friday’s home game against the Jackson Hole Broncs.
Common opponents are Buffalo, Douglas, Riverton, Green River, and Evanston. Jackson edged Green River and Evanston, both by four points, along with a win over Powell for their 3-2 West 3-A record. They were handled easily by Cody and Star Valley.
The Broncs are led on the ground by former Dubois speedster Cooper Kintzler. Kintzler has 701 rushing yards, including a 76-yard breakaway. He’s carried the ball 122 times for a 5.7 yards per carry average. It’s a big drop in rushers after Kintzler, with only Marco Rosales over 100 yards on the season.
It could be another long game at Bill Bush Stadium since the Broncs like to throw the ball. They’ve thrown it 267 times so far this season, with quarterback Grand Johnson completing 169 of his 244 attempts. He averages 262 yards per game and has 27 touchdowns against just six interceptions. Johnson is one of the best quarterbacks in any division in Wyoming.
If you’re a Tiger football fan, look for wideouts and slot receivers with single-digit numbers. Tyson Kendall (#1) leads the Broncs with 48 receptions and seven touchdowns. Jake Simmons (#5) has 44 catches and five scores. Kintzler(#4) has six touchdowns on 34 catches and Liam Logan (#2) has six scores on 28 catches.
Lander is a good football team. It’s rare that both Riverton and Lander have such quality squads at the same time, but this is one of those times.
Coach Jim Burton’s Tigers are balanced offensively and don’t give up many points on defense. Cody West is their leading rusher with 758 yards on 95 carries and seven touchdowns. Statistically, Brayden Baker remains in the number position though he suffered a season-ending knee injury at Torrington last month.
Quarterback Paxon Hollingshead has 30 carries for 175 yards and Cole Espinosa has 25 for 160.
Hollingshead is an accurate passer, connecting on two-thirds of his passes. He has 1037 yards through the air with 68 completions on 105 attempts. He has a great ratio of 13 touchdowns to just three interceptions.
His favorite receiver is a quick one in Fin McFadden. McFadden has 32 receptions for 501 yards. Hollingshead has other targets in Parker Burton, Caleb Andrews, and West.
Shoshoni – – Statistics are through Seven Games
The Wranglers opened the regular season in distant Pine Bluffs, falling 50-14 to the defending Class 1-A 9-man champions. Shoshoni enters the post-season against those same Hornets.
In between the opening game and Friday afternoon’s tilt, the Hornets are unbeaten and unchallenged, rolling over everyone in their path.
Shoshoni is 3-5 over the season and 2-3 in the West 1-A. The Wrangler’s wins were over Southeast Goshen in the second week of the season, a route over Wyoming Indian, and a nailbiter in a 28-22 win over rival Wind River that came down to the final play of the game.
The Wranglers have a balanced offense with quarterback Kaden Kisling as their leading rusher, with 443 yards on 76 carries. His older brother Carson has 221 on 51 carries, but hasn’t carried the ball nearly as often after suffering a biceps injury.
Through the air, it’s Caden Kisling with 1294 yards in 148 attempts with 6 completions. He has 16 touchdown passes, but 11 interceptions.
Catching the ball is his favorite target, Oakley Hicks, with 26 receptions and 11 touchdowns. Hicks has 473 receiving yards. Corbin Brown, Brody Shepard, and Carson Kisling all have receptions in the teens.
It’s hard to key on Pine Bluffs; they have three running backs with over 300 yards on the ground. Ty Scarborough leads the team with 591 yards, but Carsten Freeburg is close behind at 565. Freeburg has an impressive 18 touchdowns.
Through the air Freeburg has pinpoint accuracy, completed 78 of 142 attempts for 11 touchdowns. He doesn’t get intercepted much, just twice so far this season.
Receivers Colby Lerwick, Cade Fornstrom, and Brady Freeburg all have over 20 catches.
(Dubois – – Statistics are through Seven Games)
The Rams play at 2 pm on Friday in Burlington in the opening round of the playoffs.
“They are consistent, they run the traditional 6-man, ‘playground’ offense, they toss it way back, he can run or pass,” Dubois head coach Dan O’Brien said. “They’re 6-2 overall with losses to Encampment and Little Snake River.”
“They have quick athletic kids, they’re well coached. They’re a lot like Casper, they all the little things well,” O’Brien said. “I think we can compete, I think we have a shot.”
Dubois surprised Casper Christian in Natrona County last week in a 71-48 win that sent the Rams into the playoffs via a coin toss.
“It was a crazy situation,” O’Brien said. “We did the point differential; you get 12 points maximum, so teams don’t try to run scores up. We beat Casper Christian by 12 or more, so it went to a coin flip. The Casper coach wasn’t too happy about it.
The coin flip was administered over a Zoom meeting with the Little Snake River AD, the Farson AD, a WHSAA representative, the Casper Christian head coach, and O’Brien.
“Casper flipped first, and it was heads. We flipped second and got a tail. Farson flipped third, they got tails. It was odd man out,” O’Brien said.
With Dubois and Farson in, seeding was determined by the regular-season result. Farson beat the Rams, so they’re third, and Dubois is fourth.
Burlington is 6-2 overall with losses to Encampment and Little Snake River in non-league play; they’re 6-0 in their Class 1-A 6-man North Conference, including forfeits over Midwest and Kaycee.
Common opponents are Little Snake River, Encampment, Meeteetse, Riverside, and Farson. Burlington edged Farson by six, and Dubois played poorly against the Pronghorns. In games with Riverside and Meeteetse, both teams played close contests.
Head coach Trent Aagard likes to give all his players a chance at moving the ball. He has 13 different ball carriers this season, led by Kole Walker with nine touchdowns and 284 yards.
Walker throws the ball well with 20 touchdowns and only one interception. True to form, Aagard has had seven different players attempt passes.
Dubois is balanced with sophomore Dylan Chamley, the breakaway threat, Dylan Wagner, the short yardage specialist, and senior quarterback Zander Hawkins, mastering the triple option and throwing the ball.
If there is an upset and a four versus one opening round game, you might find it in Burlington on Friday at 2 p.m.