A dominant performance on Friday night gave the Powell Panthers football team a guaranteed playoff berth after a 51-6 victory over Jackson on the road. The victory ensured a top three seed for Powell and will set up a key Park County rivalry game in Cody on Friday.

POWELL 51, JACKSON 6

Heading into the matchup the Panthers (7-1 overall, 3-1 3A West) knew they would have to be strong defensively in the pass game to slow down the Broncs (3-5 overall, 1-3 3A West).

Jackson averaged 285 yards a game through the air and had the top five passing performances in 3A this season heading into Week 7.

Powell stopped the first drive, got the ball and starting working its way down the field.

The Panthers pounded the ball on the ground to start the first drive, only attempting one pass.

A promising drive stalled in the red zone, and Powell kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 3-0 with 5:29 left in the first quarter.

Despite dropping an interception on the next drive, the Panthers got the ball back quickly and appeared to break the game open on the second play of the next offensive drive after a long injury timeout for a Jackson player.

Jhett Schwahn rushed his way to the end zone on a 39-yard run, but a personal foul penalty brought the ball back.

Powell eventually was forced into a fourth down on the 33 yard-line, and Schwahn found Trevon Abraham on a big completion to put Powell at the 12-yard line.

After a few plays, Abraham finished off the drive with a run from inside the 1 to give Powell a 10-0 lead with 1:28 left in the first quarter.

“We had a slow start,” coach Chase Kistler said. “We were kind of trucking pretty good but I thought we came out a little lethargic. The game was really choppy.”

Powell continued to defend the pass well, and got good field position early — starting inside the Broncs’ territory twice in the first three drives.

The lead looked likely to grow early in the second, but Keona Wisniewski fumbled on a third and goal that was recovered in the end zone to give Jackson the ball at the 20.

Another quick defensive series gave Powell the ball near midfield, and a big 44-yard touchdown run by Schwahn extended the lead out to 17-0 with 7:40 left in the first half.

“When you play in Wyoming it is really hard to sustain the kind of passing attack that they do,” Kistler said. “When they are throwing that much you get more comfortable as a secondary.”

Jackson appeared to be driving on its next sequence, but Wisniewski forced a fumble and recovered it to give Powell the ball in plus territory.

Another fourth down conversion helped Powell find its next score, when Trey Stenerson caught a 35-yard touchdown pass from Schwahn on a post route to make it 24-0 with 4:42 left.

Jackson finally got in the end zone, scoring on a 15-yard pass with 47 seconds left in the first half to make it 24-6 after a blocked PAT by Schwahn.

A screen to Abraham got Powell to its own 46, and a spectacular grab by Stenerson over a Bronc defender followed by a run to the end zone gave Powell a touchdown in just 28 seconds to extend the lead to 31-6 at half.

Opening the third quarter the Panthers moved the ball down the field effectively, capped off by a 15-yard run by Schwahn to make it 38-6.

Jackson was inside the Powell 35-yard line on its next drive before a bad snap and a personal foul on the same play dropped the Broncs back to thier own 38-yard line.

Time flew by, and the Panthers had to wait until the fourth to get on the board again.

Schwahn found Wisniewski wide open up the seam from 21 yards out to give Powell a 45-6 lead with 10:10 left in the game.

Special teams played their role after a stop, when Jordan Loera broke loose on a 48-yard punt return and took it all the way to give Powell a 51-6 lead after a missed PAT.

That was enough over the final eight minutes to give Powell a running clock, getting one more turnover on a Caden Nelson interception to seal the game.

The big lead and the turnover allowed Powell to get some backup legs in, finishing off the 51-6 win.

It was the first win for Powell in Jackson since 2017, which was also the last time the Panthers defeated the Broncs.

“Last year that game we played against Jackson left a bad taste in our mouth. We didn’t play well most of the game. Still had an opportunity and came up 1-yard short from winning that game, it just feels good to get another win,” Kistler said.

Final stats were not available as of press time.

PARK COUNTY PLAYOFF PUSH

Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Panthers are knotted in a tie for second in the 3A West with their Park County rivals — the Cody Broncs (7-1 overall, 3-1 4A West).

“For us against Cody we have to be really disciplined,” Kistler said. “They are spreading things out more and starting to do more wide sets … They are always well coached and very disciplined. This week as a team we have to be disciplined defensively and everybody has to do their job.”

Both teams head in with only one loss this season, each to Star Valley in consecutive weeks when Powell lost on the road to Star Valley 24-21 in week five and Cody lost at home to the Braves 41-14 in week six.

The winner will secure the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and host a game next weekend in the first round, while the loser will be the No. 3 seed and head on the road for the opening round.

POTENTIAL MATCHUPS

Currently in all of 3A there is only one team that has a locked-in position heading into the final week, and that is Star Valley with the No. 1 seed in the west.

Rawlins and Lander have been eliminated in the east, but every other playoff position is up for grabs heading into the final week.

In the west, Evanston is in the driver’s seat for the No. 4 seed and will be in with a victory over Green River.

If Green River pulls the upset and wins by at least 12 points it will go to a coin flip between Evanston, Green River and Jackson — as long as Jackson loses to Star Valley.

If Jackson wins and Green River wins, then Jackson will be the No. 4 seed.

In the east, Riverton upset Buffalo 25-14 and took over the top seed due to tiebreakers as all teams are tied with a 3-1 record.

The Wolverines hold the point differential tiebreaker over Buffalo and Douglas, finishing with a positive three point differential while Buffalo has a points differential of minus-one and Douglas has a minus-two differential after all three teams split matchups.

The point differential tiebreaker goes to a maximum of positive 12 points and a minimum of minus 12 points.

That means if all three teams win then Riverton will be the No. 1 seed in the east, but if Worland defeats Riverton then Buffalo will be the top seed after a head-to-head victory over Douglas.

In the most likely scenario where all three teams win, Riverton will be on top, but in the case of an upset or two then tie-breaking scenarios will be needed.

Worland is in the playoffs, and likely will be the No. 4 seed, but has the opportunity to move up to the No. 3 seed with an upset.

3A WEST STANDINGS

* Standings in both conferences are based on if season ended today

1. Star Valley — 7-1 overall, 4-0 3A West

T2. Powell — 7-1 overall, 3-1 3A West

T2. Cody — 7-1 overall, 3-1 3A West

4. Evanston — 3-5 overall, 1-3 3A West

5. Jackson — 3-5 overall, 1-3 3A West

6. Green River 1-6 overall, 0-4 3A West

3A EAST STANDINGS

1. Riverton — 3-5 overall, 3-1 3A East

2. Buffalo — 5-2 overall, 3-1 3A East

3. Douglas — 5-2 overall, 3-1 3A East

4. Worland — 3-4 overall, 2-2 3A East

5. Rawlins — 3-5 overall, 1-3 3A East

6. Lander — 0-8 overall, 0-4 3A East