Sheridan High School’s varsity football team experienced something it hasn’t for nearly five years Friday night in Casper — the Broncs lost.
The longest football winning streak in Wyoming high school athletics history — and the nation’s second-longest active streak — came to an end with a 38-0 loss to No. 1-ranked Natrona County High.
“All things happen for a reason, it just wasn’t meant to be,” Sheridan coach Jeff Mowry said about the loss to the Mustangs.
How It Happened
Mowry pointed to Sheridan's inability to stop the Mustangs’ rushing attack as the Broncs' primary struggle Friday night.
He also credited Natrona coach Steve Harshman for having his team fired up for the battle of undefeated teams that went into the game sharing the Wyopreps.com No. 1 ranking for Class 4A.
“They got us on our heels,” Mowry said. “The last five years, we haven’t played from behind very often.”
After blowing out so many teams over the years, Sheridan got a little taste of being on the other end of the score.
The Mustangs scored early and often on Friday, taking a 10-0 lead with 5:07 left in the first quarter after Sheridan fumbled a kickoff, giving Natrona prime field position.
By halftime, the Mustangs were up 17-0.
In the second half, the Mustangs kept pouring it on.
The Broncs forced a Mustangs turnover early in the third quarter to give Mowry hope they could build some momentum on their next drive, but it was to no avail.
They punted it away and Natrona quickly responded with a 17-yard rushing touchdown from Brodey Wilcox with 6:27 left in the third, breaking multiple tackles before he got to the end zone to make it 24-0.
Wilcox and fellow running back Patton True combined for five rushing touchdowns.
“They’re a downhill running team,” Mowry said. “They went straight at us and we couldn’t stop the run.”
Mowry hadn’t looked at stats from the game as of Saturday morning, but estimated the Mustangs finished with more than 250 rushing yards. Entering Friday’s contest, the Mustangs were averaging a 4A-best 292 yards per game on the ground.
What It Means
Mowry said his players are disappointed after their loss and seeing their streak come to an end.
It was their first loss since Sept. 24, 2021, almost exactly five years ago. To put that timeframe into perspective, there are sophomore players for the Broncs who haven’t seen the program lose since they were in fifth grade.
“It was hard for them,” Mowry said. “There was some confusion about how to handle it.”
But Mowry said nothing changes for the program and what the Broncs will do to get prepared for their next test against Laramie next weekend, the same commitment he also made to Cowboy State Daily before Friday’s game.
“The sun came back up today just as I thought it would,” he said with a chuckle.
Mowry said he and the coaches will scout film just as they always do every Sunday, and then the team will hit the practice field again on Monday.
“Losses like that can fragment a team or bring it together,” Mowry said. “Coming Monday, we’ll just start anew and focus on the next game.”
The good news is the Broncs are still 4-1, an impressive record under almost any other scenario considering the younger team lost 25 seniors from last season and only has 12 seniors on the roster this year, less than half of whom were starters last year.
They still have four regular season games left and can still win a sixth straight 4A state championship.
The bad news is they still have to play Thunder Basin and Cheyenne Central, two teams that played Natrona closer than the Broncs. They’ll also likely have to go through Natrona again at some point to get the 4A title.
“It’s not going to be a cakewalk moving forward,” Mowry said.
