A year ago, Blaine Allen was at home watching game film over and over. It wasnt in preparation for the next week, it was an attempt to figure out what happened the week before.
He was watching Thunder Basins 14-7 Class 4A state football semifinal loss to Sheridan, a game in which the Bolts were the home-field favorites. A win would have meant a chance to play for a state title.
I watched that semifinal game three or four times, said Allen, a senior receiver and safety for the Bolts. That game was so hard. We were the 2 seed. We beat them in the regular season. We thought we were going to the state championship.
The agony resonated throughout the whole team, but few took it harder than Tanner Richards. It was his man who scored the game-winning touchdown for Sheridan.
After we lost to Sheridan, I kind of locked myself in my room for a couple days, Richards said. I felt like I let my team down.
The 14-7 loss soon turned from a painful reminder to a rallying cry for the Bolts. They watched as their senior teammates ended empty handed. Nobody wanted to feel that again.
When the Bolts showed up for the first practice of the 2019 season Aug. 12, sheets of paper with 14-7 emblazoned on them were hanging from the walls in the locker room and halls. Richards has had the reminder hanging in his room since the semifinal loss.
Ive had a 14-7 score in my room all year long since the semifinal. It really drove me, said Richards, a TBHS senior receiver and defensive back.
Now a year later, that loss still motivates Thunder Basin as the now No. 1-ranked Bolts prepare to play Sheridan, ranked No. 2, in the Class 4A state title game Saturday in Laramie.
Still hungry
The loss that ended their season last year has pushed the Bolts to be a better team, and hitting the weight room played a big part. Erik Shepherd, Thunder Basins strength coach, said it was a total team effort to dedicate the offseason to conditioning.
This was just a great group in the weight room, Shepherd said. Everyone pushed each other to higher levels and didnt let each other slack off. The coaches didnt have to force feed anything. The kids wanted to be in there and wanted to be getting better.
During the summer evenings, it wasnt unusual to see senior quarterback Mason Hamilton and a group of receivers at the TBHS football field. Every chance he had he was throwing to Allen, Richards and Warren Carr to get ready for their final seasons.
If it were up to Mason, we would have been throwing every single day, TBHS coach Trent Pikula said.
Sheridan was the team that lit the fire under the Bolts. However, as the season progressed, the goal became all about Nov. 16 the date of the 4A state championship in Laramie.
A 1-0 start quickly blossomed into 5-0 at the midpoint, and then 9-0 at the end of the regular season. At each of those points, senior linebacker Caleb Driskill would say, This is step 1, and later, This is step 9 in the process.
Step 11 was crossed off the list last week when Thunder Basin beat Cheyenne East 27-21 in the semifinal. Seniors Allen and Richards, who both took the previous years semifinal loss hard, were two of the games heroes.
Richards had a dream performance. He caught three touchdowns from Hamilton on three straight drives, while Allen put the win on ice with a diving interception on Easts final drive.
Now the process has come full circle and the Bolts have the opportunity to win the schools first state football title Saturday.
I feel super blessed to have another chance, because last year we were so close to the state championship (game), Allen said. This time we have a chance to win it all.
Inside the game
While Sheridan handed the Bolts the painful semifinal loss last year, this isnt a redemption game, Pikula said. Now that theyre here, playing for a state championship is all the motivation they need.
After we played them (in the fourth week of the season), I thought, If we get to the championship, its going to be Sheridan, Pikula said. I havent said a single thing about the fact that they beat us out last year. The kids know it. We have the 14-7 signs all over the school.
But to me, and hopefully to them, its not a revenge game. We want to go win a state championship and thats just the team we have to beat.
Sheridans postseason success has been well documented. The Broncs have played in 16 state championship games since 1982 and won 12 of them. This will be their fifth straight trip to War Memorial Stadium for the title game and theyll be looking to win the schools fourth title out of the last five.
The Broncs are coming off a 62-35 thrashing of Cheyenne Central in their semifinal game and have outscored opponents 363-107 since TBHS beat them in week 4 their only loss of the season. As usual, Sheridan seems to be peaking at the right time.
For Thunder Basin, its been a different week of practice as the team tries to prepare for the possibility of playing without one of the states top quarterbacks in Hamilton. Hes been day-to-day with a shoulder injury suffered in the semifinal. Sophomore Ryan Baker has seen a lot of first-team reps in practice.
The game plan would certainly change if Hamilton cant play, but he still has not been ruled out for the title game.
If Mason doesnt play, were obviously going to run the ball more, Pikula said Wednesday. But if Mason can throw, it just goes back to the regular game plan that weve been doing all year long.
The team has rallied around Baker in practice to make sure hes ready for the big moment if he needs to be. One of the biggest priorities was getting used to the speed of No. 1 receivers.Allen said Baker has improved a lot in that area.
Baker started one game this season, a 68-13 win over Cheyenne South, but as Pikula said, thats different than a state championship.
If the Bolts have to rely on the run game, junior Jaxon Pikula will likely see a heavy load. Hes been one of the most consistent pieces for the TBHS offense this season, piling up 1,165 yards and 16 touchdowns.
Hes been especially effective in the last three weeks with 493 yards and five touchdowns. Looking at Sheridans defense, Jaxon Pikula sees super active linebackers that can fill the holes well. But he likes his chances running behind a much-improved offensive line.
I feel pretty good about it. Our O-lines clicking and just making big holes for me to run through, he said.
That offensive line will have to contend with a quick and athletic defensive front from Sheridan. Alec Ehrhard, Thunder Basins most experienced lineman, thinks that composure and physicality will be key.
Their linebackers are fast, their linemen are fast, he said. A big part of their defense is speed. Well just to try to get off the ball fast and put them in the linebackers laps.
Defensively, the Broncs are No. 1 in the state in rush defense, ahead of Thunder Basin by a fraction. However, the improvement on the offensive side of the ball has stood out the most to coach Pikula.
Sheridan has added a weapon named Izak Aksamit to the backfield since losing to the Bolts 37-31 in week four. Garrett Coon is still the Broncs undisputed No. 1 running back. He leads 4A with 1,459 yards and 27 touchdowns, but Aksamit gives the TBHS defense one more thing to worry about.
Theyve moved some guys around offensively, so that theyre not just the Garrett Coon show, coach Pikula said. (Aksamit) placed in the 400 (meter dash) last year, so hes a fast kid. They moved him in the backfield and their offense became more multi-faceted.
Thunder Basins top-ranked defense was one of the few to hold Coon in check this season. He only had 76 rushing yards and a touchdown when the teams met this year, but he found other ways to hurt the Bolts, like a 96-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Since that game, the Bolts have affirmed themselves as the states No. 1 overall defense, with Driskills 135 tackles leading the way. On top of only giving up 222 yards per game, they lead 4A in touchdowns allowed (21), first downs per game (8.5) and yards per play (4). They also rank second in the state for takeaways at 24.
The 11-0 Bolts have checked every box to get to this point. Now its time to play football and let the chips fall where they may.
Weve been talking about a state championship since Aug. 12. Thats been our goal since Day One, coach Pikula said. Now when the kids get out on the field, its the old Hoosier thing. Its just a 100-yard field and its no different than our field or anybody elses.
Theres only been two undefeated seasons credited to Gillette football teams one in 1964 and one in 2000 according to Wyoming-Football. Both were completed when Campbell County was the only high school.
Now, Thunder Basin has the chance to do the same in just its third season.
The only thing standing in its way is the Sheridan Broncs and their unrelenting postseason pedigree.
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A year in the making: Bolts are in the state championship 12 months after semifinal loss - Gillette News Record
