Fall sports success sends 2011 out on a high

[Editor’s note: This is the final installment of a three-part series looking back at the highlights of the 2011 year in sports. This installment covers the months  of September through December.]

Sports fans in Powell and the surrounding area were treated to a wild and successful ride over the latter months of 2011 as sports teams were showered with success.

The biggest victory parade came following the Powell Panthers’ late-season dash through the 3A football playoff bracket. After a disappointing year-end loss at Green River cost the team a possible number one seed for the postseason, the Panthers responded with a magical trifecta of victories to claim the state championship trophy.

In the quarterfinals, the Panthers shook free from a slow first quarter to force 10 turnovers on their way to a lopsided win, 45-6, over Lander. Contrary to the final score, Powell actually trailed throughout the game’s early minutes, but picked up a key momentum boost just before halftime with a touchdown pass that put Powell in front 17-6.

From there, the defense took over. Powell senior Olie Olson produced four of the Panthers’ seven interceptions in the game and senior Keithen Schwahn grabbed the football out of a Lander ball carrier’s hands and raced in for a second-half Powell touchdown to help advance the team into the semifinals.

There, Powell traveled to Green River for a rematch of the regular season finale against the Wolves. The regular-season 3A West champs jumped ahead of Powell early, but a persistent defense and some big plays in the second half lifted Powell into a lead with less than five minutes remaining.

It appeared disaster had struck when Green River nearly returned a kickoff for a touchdown following the Panthers’ go-ahead score. A brilliant defensive stand inside the Wolves 20 appeared to preserve Powell’s lead, but a controversial flag for pass interference gave the Wolves a new lease on life. With 41 seconds remaining, Green River regained the lead with a touchdown pass.

That’s when the fun started.

Panther fans watched as Josh Cragoe came within one tackle of returning the kickoff for a touchdown, finally getting tripped up just shy of midfield. After a short pass play, Cragoe found Olson, mysteriously all alone on the visitor’s side of the field on a wheel route. From there, Olson did the rest, running over the only Wolves defender between himself and the endzone, scoring the Panthers’ winning touchdown and advancing the team to the state title game.

Olson’s postseason heroics weren’t done. Facing off against three-time defending state champion Douglas, the Panthers found themselves up by a point, but facing a potential go-ahead two-point conversion try by the Bearcats.

As the Douglas quarterback rolled to his right, attempting what appeared to be a mirror image of the play the team had scored a touchdown on seconds earlier, Olson drifted out in coverage to record his biggest interception of the season and deny the conversion attempt.

When the Panthers successfully dove on the football following Douglas’ attempted onside kick, Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie erupted in a celebration of Panther players and fans. In the wake of the title game, Olson would go on to be named the state’s defensive player of the year, eight players from the roster earned all-state accolades and head coach Jim Stringer was named the coach for the North team in the Wyoming Shrine Bowl.

Olson wasn’t the only Powell athlete to have an amazing postseason though. Northwest College Trapper Leonardo Mederios provided his own drama at the Region IX soccer tournament in Rock Springs.

The Trapper men’s soccer program, playing in just its second season, recorded back-to-back wins over ranked opponents to raise the Region IX championship trophy. Mederios played no small role in both wins.

In the semifinals against Laramie County Community College, Mederios responded to a late game-tying goal by the Golden Eagles with a shot that beat both the LCCC keeper and the game clock. With only seconds to spare in regulation, Mederios tucked a shot into the top corner of the net to advance Northwest to the championship contest.

Against Otero, the Trappers fell behind by a goal, but Mederios assisted on the game-tying goal midway through the second half. Minutes later, Mederios found himself on the receiving end of a cross, beat an Otero doubleteam and then blasted a ball past the keeper to the far post for the game-winning goal.

After 15 nerve-wracking minutes as the game clock ticked down, head coach Rob Hill was able to bask in the glow of Northwest’s first regional soccer title. The team advanced to Arizona, losing in the District tournament to fall just shy of a national tournament appearance.

Then there was the championship that few, if any, saw coming. The Powell High School golf team hadn’t won a tournament all season, but rallied from five strokes back at the end of Day 1 to capture a 12-stroke victory in Rawlins.

Bowen Prestwich finished as the state individual champion by a stroke and teammates Pax Mitchell and Brian Morse also finished in the top 10 to help deliver Powell’s first-ever state title in boys’ golf.

On the tennis courts, the doubles team of Marshall McArthur and Justin Lynn narrowly missed a state title, going three sets before having to settle for state runner-up honors. Eric Curtis placed third at No. 1 singles, wrapping up a career that head coach Ray Bieber described as “one of the best singles players Powell High School has had.”

As a team, the Panther boys placed fourth overall at the state meet and second among 3A teams in the field.

Also placing fourth this fall was the Panther girls’ cross country team. Entering the year as the defending state champion, the Panthers were unable to overcome a loaded 3A West field that included a team entry from Cody, as well as a Star Valley side reassigned from the Class 4A ranks for this season.

On the boys’ side of the cross country ledger, the season was defined by a school record race from Andrew Feller. Running at Worland, the course the Panthers judge their school performances on due to its consistency over the years, Feller shattered the previous school mark by 22 seconds, clocking in at 17:17. Two weeks later, Feller crashed through the 17-minute barrier as he ran to all-conference honors at the Powell Golf Club as the Panthers played host to the 3A West regional meet.

Sports fields were in the spotlight in the late months of 2011. A new soccer field was dedicated just west of the NWC campus. The aptly named Trapper Field replaced the familiar soccer venue at Trapper West as the home site for Northwest College soccer contests.

For Powell High School, it was a goodbye as hundreds of fans gathered to watch Powell stage a rally with five second-half touchdowns and defeat Park County rival Cody in the final game played at Panther Stadium. The Panthers will begin play this fall on the school’s new artificial turf field adjacent to the high school practice facility.

With conference realignment all the rage nationally, one local sports team was no exception. The Yellowstone Quake junior hockey team opened 2011-2012 play in a new-look NORPAC that lacked many of the familiar Montana opponents Quake fans had come to identify with. The league underwent further shakeup as the Butte Roughrider franchise withdrew shortly after the season opened.

As the year came to a close, the Powell High School boys’ basketball team held a No. 2 ranking in the state while the Northwest College men’s basketball team was flirting with a spot in the national rankings, hinting that the start of 2012 might follow in fall’s footsteps.