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Big Piney 21 – Tongue River 18 Also see Coach Eskelsen's Comments on the championship game. Once again the Big Piney Punchers had their fans on the edge of their seats for another close football game. The Punchers never trailed, but each time they scored, the Eagles would come right back with a score of their own. The game came down to the last seconds. After a 39-yard pass, the Eagles had the ball with 1st down on the 10-yard line with 55 seconds left in the game. Puncher fans had to agonize over three straight incomplete passes finally sealing the victory for the Punchers. The Punchers scored first with an 11-yard Parker Greenwood run in the first quarter on 3rd down and goal. The Eagles answered 14 seconds later with a 90-yard kick-off return, leaving the score 7-6, after Tongue River could not score on a 2-point run. In the second quarter, the Punchers scored again on a Parker Greenwood 15-yard double pitch run from Seth Linn. The Eagles came back with a long drive scoring on a 4-yard run, but again could not score on a 2-point run, leaving the halftime score 14-12 in favor of the Punchers. After a shank punt in the 4th quarter, the Punchers had a short 18-yard drive, capped off by a 5-yard run by Seth Linn to the goal line where he fumbled and Brady Parks recovered the ball for a touchdown. Once again, the Eagles came back on another long drive scoring on an 8-yard touchdown pass, and once again failed on a 2-point pass play, leaving the score 21-18. The Punchers stopped Eagles drives twice in the last 6 minutes on 4th down. The last one leaving the Eagles just 10 yards short of victory. The Punchers were able to move the ball running all day and punched it in for touchdowns when they had the opportunity. The Eagles were able to move the ball passing, but had trouble scoring against a stiff Puncher defense in the red zone. The Punchers stopped the Eagles three different times on downs when they had first down inside the Big Piney 20-yard line. The Punchers also stopped three 2-point conversion tries, making the difference in the game. As has been the case during the playoffs, the Puncher kicking game excelled while the Eagle kicking game was non-existent. Puncher Iggy Del Carre made all three extra-point attempts keeping the Eagle behind even when they were matching Puncher touchdowns. The Eagles didn’t appear to have any confidence in their kicker. They didn’t attempt an extra point kick in three opportunities. The Eagles also chose not to kick field goals when they found themselves 4th down on the Big Piney 2, 17 and 10 yard line. In each case, a field goal would have given the Eagles the lead or a tie. The punting game was much the same. Jay Van Wagoner punts kept the Eagles with long fields to score. Five Van Wagoner punts left the Eagles average starting position of their own 22-yard line. In contrast, five Eagle punts left the Punchers average starting position on the Tongue River 44-yard line. The last Eagle punt was a 7-yard shank setting up the Punchers final touchdown. Tongue River was undefeated (10-0) and ranked #1 in the state entering the championship game having dominated the East division all year and beating Lyman in a close semi-final game. Big Piney (6-4) on the other hand was the 4th best in the West during the regular season, losing close games to the top three West teams, Kemmerer, Lyman and Mt. View. However, the Punchers turned it around in the playoffs, beating the top three East teams, Newcastle, Glenrock and Tongue River, to win the Championship. Big Piney won its 5th State high school football championship in the last 9 years. Puncher seniors: Ignacio DelCarre (#42, Kicker), Seth Linn (#30, RB/LB) Brady Parks (#53, OL/LB), Parker Greenwood (#21, RB/DB), Trevor Wilson (#61, OL/LB ), Zak Redden (#71, OL/DE), and Tanner Bates (#51, OL/LB), Brett Moffat (#15, Quarterback/DB). Puncher coaches: Joel Eskelsen, Jim Rougs, Bill Hehr and Kevin Ruff. Special thanks to KPIN 101.1 FM (Pinedale radio) and KWYO 1410 AM (Sheridan radio) for broadcasting this game. Photos by Clint Gilchrist, BigPiney.com. Unofficial Drive and Game Summary:
Big Piney Punchers Football 2006 |
Fire trucks, with lights and sirens, and
a line of enthusiastic fans in cars, escort the Puncher team bus into town
at 2:00 AM.
Coach Eskelsen holds the prized State Championship trophy as he got off
the bus at 2 AM.
Seniors Iggy Del Carre, Seth Linn, Brady Parks, Parker Greenwood, Trevor
Wilson, Zak Redden, and Tanner Bates. Senior Brett Moffat is not pictured.
Coach Eskelsen gave an emotional speech celebrating the latest Puncher
Championship.
A large
crowd of supporters showed up at the Puncher Gym to meet the team
Sunday at 2 AM.