Pine Bluffs downs Sundance for third consecutive state title

LARAMIE – Pine Bluffs knew its last meeting with Sundance left something to be desired.

The Hornets fell down by three scores in the third quarter, but erased the deficit to come away with a 27-21 victory. Since that point, it became a key focus for head coach Will Gray and his staff to eliminate slow starts.

Any fear of a slow start was quelled almost instantly.

Thanks to a fast start on offense and a dominant defensive effort, Pine Bluffs cruised to the Class 1A nine-man state title with a 48-6 win over the Bulldogs.

"We had a great week of practice, and one of our better ones over the years," Gray said. "It was just good to see that come to fruition and when you have a group of kids that all have the same goals, that's powerful."

The Hornets finished Saturday's game with 356 yards of total offense. Junior quarterback Eli Currie led the way for the Hornets, amassing 198 passing yards and four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing). Cade Fornstrom had 91 of those yards and a score on three catches.

Gabe Federer led the charge on the ground with 10 carries for 90 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

"We really emphasized not coming out flat, finishing plays and blocking to the whistle," Federer said. "We did that, and I think it shows. That's all I can say, is that we did our job.

"… (Winning) is a blessing, and I'm so lucky. I got to do it with my dad (coach Carl Federer), and that just made it more special. I'm just really blessed to be able to play with the guys I played with and finish how we did."

While Pine Bluffs' offense was excellent, its defense stole the show. Sundance, which was the No. 1 offense coming into the game, gained just 121 total yards and entered the halftime break with minus-14 yards. Landon Halverson and Kade Mills, two of the classification's top rushers, were held to just 76 yards on 28 combined carries.

Junior Joey Mohren and sophomore Jax Thurin led the charge, combining for 15 total tackles, nine tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks.

"The credit goes to our coaches," Thurin said. "(Brian) Anderson fires us up before every game and teaches us all our hand fighting and how to get free and chase quarterbacks down. He practices rolling out so we have something to chase down. (Coach) Gray gets us hyped before every game as well with his speech."

Pine Bluffs rushed out to a 28-point lead thanks to two touchdowns in the first quarter and two in the second.

Ayden Soto broke open the scoring on the first drive after he bounced off a pair of Sundance defenders and carried the ball 23 yards for the score. Federer scored two drives later from six yards out to put the Hornets up 12-0.

Currie added two of his four touchdowns in the second quarter — a 16-yard run and a 48-yard pass on third and long to Cade Fornstrom to send Pine Bluffs into halftime with a 28-0 lead.

Sundance found a spark out of the break and, thanks to a 31-yard scramble my Kade Mills, was able to find the end zone on an 18-yard pass from Mills to Lyman Halverson.

Pine Bluffs' offense struggled to gain yards in the third quarter, failing to get more than one first down. But where the offense struggled, the defense picked the Hornets up. After allowing the opening touchdown, they didn't allow another trip across their 40 until the final drive of the game.

"Two years ago, we were up 27-0 against Lingle at halftime (and almost let that game slip away)," Gray said. "We just knew we had to get through that quarter."

Currie added a one-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Lerwick early in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Federer added a 39-yard touchdown run — a run in which he tripped in the end zone.

He still stuck the landing to celebrate with his teammates.

"Their safety is a pretty good tackler, and he was on me all game," Federer said. "So I knew he was going to be there, but I saw green grass and was like, 'I gotta go.'

"I went, scored and ate crap in the end zone."

Tommy Rigby added the exclamation mark on Pine Bluffs' win, taking a short pass from Currie 53-yards untouched to the end zone.

The win marked the school's fourth title in five years and third consecutive.

"Communication really helped us," Thurin said. "We were talking on the sidelines and calling out run and pass, which just helped everything."

PINE BLUFFS 48, SUNDANCE 6

Sundance...... 0 0 6 0 — 6

Pine Bluffs...... 12 16 0 20 — 48

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

PB: Soto 23 run (Perlinski kick failed), 8:24

PB: Federer 6 run (Currie pass failed), 2:48

Second Quarter

PB: Currie 16 run (K. Lerwick pass from Currie),

PB: Cad. Fornstrom 48 pass from Currie (Federer run), 4:51

Third Quarter

S: Halverson 18 pass from Mills (Mills pass failed), 8:14

Fourth Quarter

PB: K. Lerwick 1 pass from Currie (Perlinski kick), 9:43

PB: Federer 39 run (Cad. Fornstrom pass failed), 7:17

PB: Rigby 53 pass from Currie (Perlinski kick), 3:47

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Sundance: Ly. Halverson 12-34, McKee 1-4, Mills 16-42, Mayberry 1-(minus-1), C. Marchant 1-(minus-3). Pine Bluffs: Currie 5-9, Soto 4-39, J. Thurin 10-20, Federer 10-90.

Passing

Sundance: Mills 12-20-1 87. Pine Bluffs: Currie 11-18-0 198.

Receiving

Sundance: Lu. Halberson 1-14, Lyons 1-7, Ly. Halverson 4-29, Mayberry 1-20, T. Marchant 2-19, C. Marchant 3-(minus-2). Pine Bluffs: C. Fornstrom 3-91, J. Thurin 1-10, K. Lerwick 2-6, C. Lerwick 2-11, B. Freeburg 2-27, Rigby 1-53.