TORRINGTON – Torrington’s Kaiden Riggs rushed for 159 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns as the Trailblazers knocked off Mountain View, 25-19, Friday in Bridger Valley, to advance to the 2A state championship game in Laramie Friday. 

Torrington will square off against Big Horn Friday at noon, at War Memorial Stadium.

Torrington’s defense wasted little time in setting the tone in Bridger Valley, as the Blazers forced a three-and-out on the Buffalos first possession and Torrington got a hand on the Mountain View punt to take over possession at the Buffalos 24-yard-line. Six plays later, senior Bryce Hager found paydirt on a 1-yard run to put Torrington out front, 6-0, with 7:15 left to play in the first quarter.

Adam Bartlett’s ensuing kickoff hit a Mountain View returner in the chest and was recovered by the Blazers at the Mountain View 40-yard line. Torrington was unable to capitalize on the possession and punted back to Mountain View and the Buffalos.

The Blazers defense, again, was up to the task, holding Mountain View to six total yards on their next two possessions. 

After forcing Mountain View’s third punt of the first half, Torrington took over with their fifth possession at their own 20-yard-line. The Blazers put together a six-play drive, covering 80 yards and ended with Riggs found the endzone for his first touchdown of the day from five yards out. Greyson Shields opened the drive with a 15-yard run and Riggs added the biggest play of the drive, with a 38-yards run on a pitch from Hager. Torrington’s point-after was good and the Blazers had a 13-0 lead with 7:26 left in the second quarter. 

Mountain View answered on the ensuing possession. 

After collecting their first down of the day, with 5:55 remaining in the second quarter, the Buffalos put together an 11-play drive, covering 65 yards in six minutes and three seconds, capped off by a Justus Platts touchdown run. The point-after failed, and Torrington’s lead was cut to 13-6. 

The Blazers offense was unable to move the ball with the next possession and were forced to punt it back to Mountain View with less than a minute to go in the half. 

The Buffalos took advantage, even converted on a Platts scramble on third and 15, to set Mountain View up in field goal range. The Buffalos pushed through a 42-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, cutting the Torrington lead to 13-9. 

Torrington was forced to punt on the first offensive possession of the second half, and Mountain View added another field goal, this one from 41 yards out, to get the Buffalos within one, 13-12, with 6:04 remaining in the third.

The Blazers looked to respond right away. 

Landre Greiman returned the ensuing kickoff to the Blazers’ 36-yard-line and on the first play from scrimmage, Riggs found an opening on the edge of the Buffalos defense and was eventually pushed out of bounds on the Mountain View 11-yard-line. A block in the back gave the Blazers a first-and-goal at the five-yard-line, but on the very next play, Hager had the ball slip out of his hands and right to a Mountain View defender to end the Blazers’ threat. 

Torrington’s defense managed to hold the Buffalos with just one first down on the following possession, and took advantage of two Mountain View penalties, to force a punt with 2:50 left in the third. 

The Blazers took over on their own 46-yard-line and used an 8-play, capped off by a Hager play-action pass to Shields in the back of the endzone to push Torrington out front 19-12 with 10:26 remaining in the fourth.

Torrington got a stop defensively, and the Blazers offensive line, along with Hager, Riggs, Greiman and Jacob Durrant pounded the ball on the ground, to the tune of an 11-play, 68-yard drive, capped off by a Riggs 2-yard touchdown run to extend the Blazers’ lead to 25-13, with 2:18 remaining. 

Mountain View managed to score on a Carson Eardley touchdown reception with 1:46 remaning in the fourth, but Riggs recovered the on-side kick and Torrington was able to run the clock out.  

Hager finished 5-of-9 passing for 35 yards and a touchdown. The senior also added 30 yards rushing on 14 attempts anda touchdown. Shields added 16 yards rushing on three carries and one reception for 15 yards, while Jacob Durrant had 13 yards rushing on two attempts. 

Defensively, Trey Parriot and Kaden Romig led Torrington with four tackles and one assist apiece, while Nathaniel Stull and three tackles and two assists and Hager added three tackles, an assists and a tackle for a loss.