A stout defense and a strong offense helped lead the eighth grade Powell Middle School football team to a conference title, but a late injury derailed a shot at an undefeated campaign as the Cubs finished the season 6-1.

Jumping out the gate the Cubs stormed past their opposition in the first two games, shutting out Riverton 22-0 before dominating Laurel 44-8.

A closer contest against Sheridan had the Cubs giving up the most points of the season, but still winning 28-16.

Another shutout moved the eighth grade team to 4-0 after a 26-0 game against Worland, setting up two key matchups against Cody and Lovell.

Powell was able to escape with a 14-6 win against Cody, and earned a 28-14 victory against Lovell to give the Cubs the conference championship with one game to go.

“That Cody one was a tight one, we were up 14-0 at half but shot ourselves in the foot in the second half. They were getting ready to score again towards the end of the game and kind of escaped,” coach Bryan Bonander said.

In that final game, an early injury to quarterback Karcher Foley derailed the Cubs’ hopes of an undefeated season, with Powell falling in its final contest 7-0 to Lander.

“It didn’t help that Karcher got hurt two plays into that game,” Bonander said. “Things kind of snowballed after that on that day … Undefeated is awesome, but sometimes when you get a hiccup in the road like we did at the end it can be a lesson learned.”

Bonander said these players had finished 4-3 in seventh grade, while this year the team of 25 improved throughout the season and the whole team stayed for the entire campaign.

He said that typically he passes a lot at the eighth grade level, but this year the strength of the team offensively came in the run.

In that running game, he said that Keaton Bennett and Kooper Apanashk were the team’s running backs that featured alongside Foley in the backfield.

One of the featured plays out of the offense this season included passes with Foley rolling out and finding tight end Braxton Nelson.

“He (Nelson) caught a ton of passes and a number of touchdowns out of that position,” Bonander said.

He added that offensively the offensive line was a strength, having solid linemen tackle-to-tackle across the entire front.

“It all starts with your linemen. If you don’t have a line to help create holes or get pass protection it can make for a long season,” Bonander said.

From left to right the Cubs offensive linemen were Kamea Wisniewski, Levi Cox, JW Faulkner, Gabe McMillin and Connor Farwell.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Cubs ran a traditional front four for most of the campaign, which featured the likes of Farwell, McMillin and Cox along the line and Wisniewski at middle linebacker.

“They got a lot of pressure and caused a lot of havoc up front,” Bonander said. 

Bonander also noted that Brayden Benander made some big tackles on defense while Carter Fauskee had a few interceptions including a pick-six.

One surprise on the roster this season came when manager Gianreye D’Alessandro transitioned from his role on the sideline to becoming the kicker for the Cubs after it was discovered he played soccer.

“He did well,” Bonander said. “He didn’t kick any field goals but he was pretty solid and consistent for extra points this year.”

Bonander said that the hard work at the start of the season paid off in a lot of ways throughout the season, with the Cubs competing strongly against teams in the third and fourth quarter of games and being able to close them out.

“I think those guys believed in the system and their hard work got them there,” Bonander said.