PINEDALE – The Pinedale High School Wranglers won the Sublette County football trophy following several years of domination by Big Piney in the annual cross-county week zero scrimmage hosted by Pinedale on August 30.

The scrimmage was modified to fit both Pinedale’s 11-man offense and Big Piney’s 9-man O-line. Varsity played for three quarters while junior varsity subbed in for the fourth quarter.

When the dust settled after the first three quarters on Friday, the scoreboard favored Pinedale, 24-6.

Big Piney threw the first punch in the opening quarter when senior Caden Clifford charged 43 yards into the endzone for a touchdown, placing the Punchers up, 6-0.

The Wrangler offense found its footing in the second quarter with three touchdowns. In the first touchdown, junior Cale Dauwen took a handoff from junior quarterback Ian Rigo and churned up the remaining five yards into the endzone.

Dauwen ran the ball four yards into the endzone on the second touchdown and rushed one yard into the red zone to score six additional points for the Wranglers with 38 seconds remaining in the first half.

The halftime score favored Pinedale, 18-6.

The Wrangler offense maintained its momentum in the third quarter. Rigo completed a 12-yard pass to junior Landon Fornstrom. Fornstrom took the ball and chewed up 41 yards into the endzone for Wrangler touchdown No. 4.

Both teams demonstrated solid plays in the season-opening scrimmage once they each found their footing, PHS assistant coach Michael Gregory said.

“After a slow start by both teams that saw penalties and turnovers end promising drives, both offenses moved the ball well in the late first quarter,” Gregory added. “Big Piney found good offensive production from their outside run and deep pass game, while Pinedale relied on a run-pass mix to keep drives moving. Pinedale’s offense found a strong rhythm in the second quarter, driving into the red zone three times and capping each (drive) with a short scoring run by Cale Dauwen.”

The scrimmage provided an opportunity for the Wranglers and Punchers to test the waters in a competition setting before the regular season heats up. Big Piney kicks off the regular season with an away game against the Southeast Cyclones in Goshen County on Friday, September 6. Pinedale squares off against Rawlins on Friday at an away game.

“The priority of week zero is to evaluate offenses and defenses in live play as we prepare for week one against Rawlins,” Gregory said. “This scrimmage provided a great look at both the strengths of our early season roster as well as highlighting areas we are still working on. This scrimmage also sees the trophy back in Pinedale after a multi-year drought and provided a solid confidence boost to the team.”