The Braves rolled to their sixth win of the year and moved to 2-0 in the 3A West with an utterly dominant performance over the visiting Powell Panthers to cap off the 2025 Homecoming week with a 61-0 final on Friday night.
Seemingly every play went Star Valley’s way as they sprinted to a 55-0 lead with more than 10 minutes left in the second quarter, prompting a first-half running clock in the walkover.
The scoreboard pyrotechnics began with the opening kickoff which was returned 95 yards by Cooper Lancaster to set the tone. The Braves’ defense forced a trio of three-and-out possessions, scoring on each of the ensuing chances in lightning quick fashion. Phoenixx Hovey hit Travis Thomson for a 17-yard strike, followed by a bomb to Thomson again, this time from 35 yards out. The third Star Valley touchdown in this sequence came from Lancaster again on a 53-yard punt return for the score.
From there, Dylan Hirschi scored his third defensive touchdown of the season on a 43-yard pick-six of Powell’s Karcher Foley. This was followed by a 21-yard touchdown pass from Hovey to Preston Ross. The last offensive touchdown came from Nathan Haderlie who took his only carry of the game 51 yards to the house.
At one point the Braves had 41 points on just nine offensive plays.
The last touchdown of the night came from Caleb Erickson who picked up fumble forced by Kyan Watson and ran 22-yards for the touchdown. It was the second consecutive week of scoring a non-offensive touchdown for Erickson. Filling in all the gaps was Tayt Lawson who made 6 of 7 PATs and added a pair of field goals from 31 and 41 yards for the final tally. The latter field goal were the only points scored in the second half as Star Valley substituted liberally.
Defensively, the Braves forced two turnovers and held the Panthers to just 48 yards in the largest margin of victory in the series which dates back to 1976. It was the 27th straight win for the program as they now hit the road for the next chapter in the decade-long rivalry against the Cody Broncs who moved to 6-0 themselves with a 35-13 win over the Evanston Red Devils.
The two schools have combined to win the last 11 Wyoming 3A state titles including the last three for the Braves over the Broncs in the title game.
Friday Night Roundup –
In other 3A scores, #4 Lander took care of #5 Douglas 35-14 in the only match-up of ranked teams while #3 Riverton blitzed Buffalo 41-12. Jackson found a way past Green River 36-32 and Torrington blanked Rawlins 36-0.
In the 2A West, #5 Cokeville fell in their homecoming game to #3 Thermopolis, 28-13. #2 Mountain View smashed Pinedale 41-14 and Kemmerer also lost their homecoming game in a 42-0 loss to Lyman.
In the 4A ranks, Sheridan won their 49th game in a row in a 28-14 final over Cheyenne Central.
Find full scores and rankings at wyopreps.com.
