Big Horn storms back, stuns Lovell to win 2A title

Nov. 12—LARAMIE — Dawson Richards would be lying if he said there wasn't any doubt.

Down 7-0 with 1:41 left in the Class 2A state title game Friday at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie, Richards, a senior on the Big Horn High School football team, lined up with his teammates for their final offensive drive of the season. The Rams had been held scoreless all afternoon, and faced 97 yards of turf in front of them with no timeouts left.

"There was, for sure, a sense of doubt," Richards said. "There was a lot of doubt going on, because it seemed impossible."

Against the odds, the Rams put together an eight-play, 97-yard drive to cut Lovell's lead to 7-6 with 11 seconds left on the clock. But Big Horn didn't stop there.

After scoring its first points of the game in the final seconds, coach Kirk McLaughlin kept the offense on the field for a two-point conversion. Regardless of the outcome of the conversion attempt, overtime was not on the docket.

The Rams called a reverse on the conversion attempt, with backup quarterback Avon Barney taking the second handoff and rolling to his left before finding starting quarterback Cooper Garber wide open in the back corner of the end zone.

"Every week, we practiced that," senior Wyatt Brown said. "Every single Thursday, we practiced that play. We give the kid that threw it crap all the time because he usually just runs it, but he threw it, and Cooper caught it, and that sealed us the game. It was a crazy feeling to just watch it all happen."

As the Rams' starting quarterback, Garber wasn't expecting to be on the receiving end of a game-winning pass in the end zone. But as soon as he saw the Bulldogs' defense react to the reverse play, Garber knew the state title belonged to the Rams.

"I saw Avon roll out, and I thought to myself, 'It's working,'" Garber said. "I got a little nervous at the end because I still had to catch the ball, but I did, and it was incredible."

Lovell led for nearly 41 minutes of the title game. Big Horn led for just 11 seconds, but it happened to be the final 11 seconds of the game.

After the two-point conversion, Big Horn recovered a squib kick to maintain possession and kneel out the rest of the clock.

"Our team has faced adversity all year long," Garber said. "We responded so well all season long. This is a team that has a lot of strength and a lot of courage. We just do whatever it takes to get a win. We never give up."

Lovell went into the championship game with a perfect 10-0 record. Big Horn was 9-1, with its only loss coming to the Bulldogs in the first week of the season.

Garber and his teammates knew they had to do everything they could Friday to avenge the heartbreaking 14-7 loss in the regular season.

"It was almost the exact situation as our first time playing Lovell," Garber said. "We were down by a score, backed up inside our own 5-yard line, and we needed a big drive. Last time, we fumbled at the goal line right when we were about to score. This time, we executed.

"The whole time, I just knew. This was our chance to get back at them, and this was our chance to redeem ourselves."

Lovell's only score of the game came on a 3-yard touchdown run by Ben Nicholls with 4:40 left in the first quarter. Jared Mangus led the Bulldogs' backfield with 117 rushing yards on 23 attempts, followed by Nichols with 111 yards on 28 attempts.

Lovell quarterback Davin Crosby attempted just five passes, completing three for 19 yards and throwing one interception.

For the Rams, Garber finished 18 of 35 for 266 yards and one touchdown. Big Horn ran for just 25 yards as a team, with Drew Heermann leading the way with 16 yards on seven carries.

Richards and Dylan Greenough-Groom both had big days for the Rams. Greenough-Groom had seven catches for 100 yards, and Richards finished with four catches for 111 yards and one touchdown.

On the Rams' game-winning drive, Richards hauled in three catches for 106 yards, which was made possible by a pair of Bulldogs sacks on Garber. Richards' last catch was a 61-yard touchdown down the right sideline, which wound up being the game-winner.

"It felt amazing to have that last drive, because I dropped a slant route earlier in the game that could have given us a touchdown," Richards said. "It felt great to get that one back."

On the defensive side, Brown led the team with 15 tackles, followed by Kiefer Dunham with 14, A.J. Moline with 12 and Greenough-Groom with 10. For the Bulldogs, Nichols had eight tackles, including two for a loss.

For Brown, what sealed the deal for the Rams winning their eighth state title in school history was belief. Despite trailing practically the entire game, Big Horn never once laid down and accepted defeat.

"Our defense was playing hard all game, but the offense wasn't executing how we wanted to," Brown said. "We knew we could do it because no team can stop us if we get our execution going. Clearly, the score says it all. We finally started executing, and we got in the end zone when it mattered the most."

For Brown, getting payback for the loss in the regular season made Friday's title that much sweeter for the Rams.

"Our whole motto this whole season was about the revenge tour," Brown said. "These guys beat us Week 1, but we came back and beat them when it mattered most, in the state championship. It feels like a good end to our revenge tour."

Friday's win was the Rams' fifth state championship since 2013. The loss for Lovell was its second consecutive runner-up finish at state.

BIG HORN 8, LOVELL 7

Big Horn...... 0 0 0 8 — 8

Lovell.......... 7 0 0 0 — 7

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

L: Nichols 3 run (Magnus kick), 4:40

Fourth Quarter

BH: Richards 61 pass from Garber (Garper pass from Barney good) 0:11

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Lovell: Magnus 23-117, Nichols 28-111, Corsby 3-9, Collins 1-4. Big Horn: Heermann 7-16, Richards 1-7, Garber 10-5, Butler 2-(minus-2)

Passing

Lovell: Crosby 3-5-1 19. Big Horn: Garber 18-35-0 266, Herman 0-0-1 0

Receiving

Lovell: Snyder 1-8, Wilson 1-8, Collins 1-3. Big Horn: Greenough 7-100, Richards 4-111, Stafford 3-25, Heermann 2-7, Gibson 1-12, Barney 1-11.

Alex Taylor covers the University of Wyoming for WyoSports. He can be reached at ataylor@wyosports.net or 269-364-3560. Follow him on Twitter at @alex_m_taylor22