Big Piney 21 – Tongue River 18
STATE 3A FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS!
Saturday, November 11, 2006 at Dayton, Wyoming
See BigPiney.com story for more championship game coverage.

Coach Eskelsen's Comments:

It was a great football game as both teams left everything they had on the field. At game’s end, it was a Puncher defense that had bent but never broken to insure the victory.

This was the 5th state championship in the past 9 years and the 2nd in the past 3. That tradition and the desire to keep it alive drove the Punchers. In simple terms the heart to prevail.

Tongue River was a great team and their 10-0 record going into the game was an indication of the abilities. I think that the toughness of the Southwest teams help the Punchers prepare for the run. Our conference teams were much better from top to bottom than the north conference.

Offensively, Big Piney used a balanced running attack with many misdirection plays and reverses. For the day, our three backs of Linn, Greenwood and Moffat had 84, 76 and 54 yds respectively. FB Mike Forrester and the offensive front of Zak Redden, Greg Eiden, Taylor Moceika, Brady Parks, Trevor Wilson and Josh Eiden worked efficiently all day. Greenwood accounted for two TD runs and the option combination of Linn and Greenwood had Tongue River fooled each time we ran our so called outlaw option. We were able to control the ball some and that kept the potent Tongue River offense off of the field.

They say defense wins championships. That statement again turned true this week as we held Tongue River to about half of their season average and well below the 45 points they averaged in the first two play-off games. Coach Jim Roufs had set the tone for the play-offs and was not available at the game due to personal family matters. Hats off to Coach Lehr as he assumed the roll of defensive coordinator and the Punchers responded in the way he knew they would.

Tongue River had the number 1 rusher in 3A and our defense held him to a mere 53 yds in 20 carries. Tongue River’s other two stat leaders, QB Johnson and wide receiver Scafee, had great days but couldn’t provide enough yds and TDs to take the game away from the Punchers. Seth Linn, Parker Greenwood and John Colton led in defensive stats. Chris Manning was credited with the only turn-over for the defense with a fumble recovery.

Special thanks to all of the Big Piney students, parents and especially the fans in the community who travel that far to support the Punchers. The excitement they produced was unbelievable. As in all the championships, the Punchers played hard for our great communities and our county. A sincere thanks for that great support and, oh yes, the fire trucks.

The season of 2006 has provided a mixture of emotions and excitement and it will be tough to say so long to a great bunch of seniors. In their 42 games as Punchers, they compiled a record of 30-12 with 2 state championships, 4 semi-final appearances and a conference championship. Good job, boys, and a big thanks for the effort.

Scores by Quarter:

Scoring:

Stats: