LARAMIE – It had been 33 years since Torrington High School hoisted a state championship football trophy – 12,053 days, to be exact. 

Thirty-three years and five state championship game appearances later, the Trailblazers ended that drought Friday with a 28-26 victory over defending 2A state champion Big Horn at War Memorial Stadium in Laramie. Coincidently, Torrington’s last state championship was on November 10, 1990. 

‘It feels awesome,” Torrington fifth-year head coach Russell Stienmetz said. “I’m proud of this team and these boys. We have seven seniors and I’m excited for them, this team and this town.

“I remember when I was in high school, Torrington was always a powerhouse,” he added. “You always heard about them, so it was surprising to me they didn’t have one and I am excited for this community.”

“I don’t think it’s fully set in yet,” Torrington senior Bryce Hager said. “We knew what we needed to do and the guys did their job”

Torrington got on the scoreboard first Friday when Kaiden Riggs finished off an 8-play, 84-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 1:44 remaining in the first quarter. Holden Hackett’s point-after gave the Blazers a 7-0 lead. Two big plays in the passing game on the drive – a Hager connection to Nathaniel Stull for 27-yards and a third-down screen pass to Riggs for 41-yards helped set up Torrington’s first score. 

“We were hoping we’d be able to run the ball,” Stienmetz said. “Their front is a little bit different and non-traditional, but we just had to talk about assignments and stay on those assignments. They did and we were able to run the ball, and also pass the ball.”

Big Horn answered on the very next play from scrimmage when Avon Barney hit Caleb Gibson on a 79-yard pass. The Rams’ point-after was blocked and Torrington maintained a 7-6 lead with 1:33 left in the first.

The Blazers pushed their lead to 14-6 when Hager found paydirt on a 7-yard run early in the second quarter. The senior quarterback carried four times for 28 yards on the drive and also connected with Greysen Shields on a 26-yard pass to set the Blazers up inside the Big Horn 10-yard-line. 

After teams exchanged three-and-outs, Torrington punted back to Big Horn with 8:54 remaining in the first half and the Rams used a 12-play drive to go 80-yards, capped off by a Barney 12-yard touchdown run. Big Horn’s two-point conversion failed, and the Blazers held a 14-12 lead. 

Torrington added a big score at the end of the first half, to push their lead to 21-12 at the break.

With less than a minute to go in the first half, Torrington was forced to punt from its own 43-yard-line, but Big Horn’s Gavin Stafford mishandled the punt and the Blazers recovered at the Ram 11-yard-line. One play later, Hager found Riggs on an 11-yard pass. 

“It was a game changer,” Hager said of the turnover and touchdown. “It completely set the tone and it was good to have the momentum going into half.”

Torrington opened the second half with possession and established the ground game to move the ball into Rams territory, but their drive stalled at the Ram 41, and the Blazers were forced to punt. Torrington’s snap got past Hackett and Big Horn took possession at the Blazers’ 30-yard-line. 

The Blazers defense stepped up to the challenge. 

Two plays into the drive, Big Horn was set up with a first down at the Torrington 16-yard-line, but the Blazers held and forced an incomplete pass on fourth down to regain possession with 3:48 left in the third.

After stopping the Blazers on a fourth and short one from the Torrington 20-yard-line, Big Horn cut the Blazers lead to 21-19 on the first play of the fourth quarter. 

Torrington looked to put the game out of reach when they took possession at their own 22-yard-line with 11:43 showing on the clock. 

Torrington used a 13-play, 78-yard drive that took more than eight minutes of the clock, capped off by a Riggs 8-yard touchdown run to push the Blazers lead to 28-19 with 3:39 left. A 20-yard screen pass to Riggs on a third-and-nine from their own 23-yard-line got the Blazers near Big Horn territory, and the Torrington offensive line took over, opening holes for Riggs and Hager to find running room. 

‘The three linemen who are seniors, Trey Parriott, Ty Bennick and Brayden Frazier are never missing weights, they’re never missing school and they’re always doing what they can to better themselves,” Stienmetz said. “You talk about an unselfish position. They’re never getting their names in the paper when so-and-so runs for 159 yards, but it’s because of those three guys of front, including the other lineman.”

Riggs echoed much of the same for the Torrington big men up front.

“I mean, those guys are the reason I have the yards I have,” he said. “Without those five lineman, I wouldn’t have the yards I have.”

Big Horn answered with a Cruz Hernandez 2-yard touchdown run with 2:38 left to cut the Torrington lead to 28-26. 

The Blazers recovered the ensuing onside kick, but then faced a third-and-two from the 50-yard-line. After a Big Horn timeout, Hager took the snap and faked a handoff to Riggs before getting the edge against the Rams defense and running for 5-yards to seal the victory. 

“The line did a great job,” Hager said. “We emphasized establishing the line of scrimmage and worked on it all through the first half and pretty much had it in the second half to open up everything.”

Torrington finished the contest with 352 yards of total offense. Hager completed 9-of-14 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown, while Riggs rushed for 131 yards on 24 carries and two touchdowns. 

“Bryce commanded our offense well all season,” Stienmetz said. “We used him more for running at times, but he was able to throw the ball as he showed today.”

Torrington’s three other seniors, Jacob Durrant, Shields and Adam Bartlett drew praise from Stienmetz as leaders for the Blazers. 

“Jacob Durrant, we used him as a lead blocker most of the time, and again, he’s not getting his name in the paper, but he’s the lead blocker at the point of attack,” he said. “Greysen Shields was a huge weapon for us out at receiver. He’s able to get open and make plays for us when he can and Adam Bartlett joined us late after tennis and did the kicking for us down the stretch.

“I’m just excited for those boys (the seniors),” Stienmetz added. “What a way to end a career at THS, going out on top, with a win at the War.”

Despite beginning the season 0-2, Torrington won nine of its final 10 games. 

“The guys stuck with it,” Stienmetz said. “We had a philosophy to run the ball for the most part and these guys, week after week, came ready to practice, to get better and make the team better. We started out with two touch Nebraska schools and I think it paid off in the end.”

“It feels amazing,” Riggs said. “The fact that we went 0-2 in non-conference, the coaches didn’t give up on us, players didn’t give up on each other and we kept each other accountable for what we did in practice and games. In the end, it paid off.”