2022 Class 4A Football State Championship Preview [VIDEO]

No. 1 will take on No. 2 for the Class 4A football state championship with Sheridan playing Cheyenne East on Saturday in Laramie.

The regular season meeting was an instant classic, as the Broncs prevailed at home in Sheridan, 42-39, in Week 5 of the season.

This will be the second time they will meet with a championship on the line. The previous time was in 2011. Sheridan won that game, 42-14, in Laramie.

WyoPreps had conversations with both head coaches before the game, East’s Chad Goff, and Sheridan’s Jeff Mowry.

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Team Info & Series History:

Cheyenne East (10-1) – Chad Goff: 17th year as head coach; 5 state championships in school history; the most recent was in 2020 (29-15 over Thunder Basin). That game was played in Cheyenne during the covid year when UW did not host the title games in Laramie. Three of the Thunderbirds state championships have come with Goff as the helm. This is Cheyenne East’s third trip to a championship game in Laramie.

Sheridan (11-0) – Jeff Mowry: 5th year as head coach; 28 state championships in school history; the last was in 2021 (45-27 over Rock Springs). Their first title came in 1921. These Broncs have appeared in 9 of the previous 13 Class 4A title games in Laramie. They’ve also won it all in 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019 in Laramie.

Sheridan leads the series 31-15. They first played each other in a varsity game in 1960. In the postseason, this will be the seventh meeting between the two schools. Sheridan holds a 4-2 advantage over East. Sheridan has the only victory in a title game in 2011. Cheyenne East won the most recent playoff game, a semifinal, in 2020, 31-21.

Team Stats per game:

                             Sheridan                                                       Cheyenne East           

Rush Offense = No. 2 (275)                                                        No. 4 (200)

Pass Offense = No. 7 (121)                                                         No. 2 (240)

Total Offense = No. 3 (396)                                                       No. 1 (440)

Scoring Offense = No. 2 (43.1)                                                  No. 1 (48.2)

Rush Defense = No. 2 (121)                                                       No. 4 (147)

Pass Defense = No. 10 (220)                                                      No. 4 (157)

Total Defense = No. 6 (341)                                                       No. 3 (304)

Scoring Defense = No. 4 (22.3)                                                 No. 3 (21.5)

Key Players:

Cheyenne East = Drew Jackson – 86.8 rushing yards per game, 10 TDs, has 16 total TDs; Cam Hayes – 235.4 passing yards per game, 38 TDs, 8 INTs; Garet Schlabs – 69 rec. for 939 yards, 15 TDs; Dom Kaszas – 29 rec. for 465 yards, 6 TDs, plus 31.1 punt return yards per game, 3 TDs; Colby Olson – 15.4 defensive points per game – ranks No. 5.

Sheridan = Colson Coon – 177 rushing yards per game, 31 TDs, No. 1 in scoring with 34 TDs; Cael Gilbertson – 103.3 passing yards per game, 13 TDs, 2 INTs; Dane Steel – 33.2 punt return yards per game, 1 TD, plus 29.9 kick return yards per game, 1 TD; Mathew Ketner – 30.8 kick return yards per game, 1 TD; Alex Haswell – 15.9 defensive points per game – ranks No. 4

The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start on Saturday in Laramie.

Series history information is Courtesy of Wyoming-football.com.