EVANSTON — The second-ranked Star Valley Braves proved they were worthy of being one of the top two teams in 3A football with a convincing 50-21 road win at Kay Fackrell Stadium on Friday night, Oct. 19. The Braves made a clean sweep of the 3A West Conference with an unblemished 5-0 mark and are 7-1 on the season. The loss dropped the Red Devils to 2-3 in conference play and 5-3 in 2018. 

The Red Devils are the fourth-seed from the 3A West and will travel to Torrington to face the top-ranked Trailblazers in the opening round of the playoffs this Friday. The Braves will host Worland, Lander travels to Jackson and Douglas will host Cody.

Star Valley scored on the opening possession on a seven-play,80-yard drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown run by RJ Cazier with 9:08 remaining in the opening quarter.

The Red Devils looked as though they were set to answer the score on back-to-back first down runs by Tyus Cornia and Pablo Escalante, but the drive stalled at the 30-yard line after beginning from the Evanston 6.

The Red Devil defense forced a three-and-out but a fumble on the punt return for Evanston gave the Braves the football on the Evanston 41.

Angel Rodriguez picked off a Brant Nelson pass, but the play was whistled dead due to an infraction by the Red Devils. A pass interference penalty moved the ball to the Evanston 13. The Braves scored with four minutes remaining in quarter number one on a Tanner Thompson 3-yard run to go up 14-0.

The second Red Devil drive began from their own 26-yard line and advanced the ball into Star Valey territory, but a bobbled snap resulted in a fumble recovery for the Braves at their own 48-yard line. A Cazier run would set up a 40-yard scoring strike from Nelson to Chase Merrell to put the Braves up by three scores, 21-0 with 11:51 left in the second quarter.

Nineteen seconds later, Cornia scampered 79 yards to put Evanston on the board. Following the point-after-touchdown kick by Escalante, the Red Devils trailed 21-7 at the 11:32 mark of the second quarter.

The Braves returned the ensuing kickoff to the 38-yard line and Rigden Wagstaff tackled Thompson for a 10-yard loss. Facing a fourth and 20, the Braves punted to Evanston.

With 9:46 left to play in the half, Evanston had the ball at their own 44. The Red Devils would reach Braves territory, but a penalty moved the ball back to the 50. A David Baxter pass was intercepted by Merrell and the Braves were in business from the Star Valley 44 with 7:37 left in the second. A big run by Cazier placed the ball at the Evanston 17-yard line and the 210-pound back would score his second rushing touchdown from 10 yards out. The Braves opted for a two-point conversion on a pitch to Merrell and with 4:41 remaining in the half the Braves led 29-7.

The Red Devils again started deep in their own territory at the Evanston 9 and could not establish their offense and booted the ball back to Star Valley. On the first play from scrimmage, Nelson again found Merrell on a touchdown pass covering 52 yards and the Braves upped their advantage to 29 points, leading 36-7 at the 3:24 mark of the second quarter.

Evanston started from their own 36 on their next possession. Cornia picked up a first down at the Braves’ 44, but penalties worked against Evanston. Evanston would rely on Cornia’s legs although Baxter connected with Rylie Griggs to advance the ball to the Star Valley 10. Cornia would take it to the 1 and then take it in for his second score of the night 34 seconds before intermission. The Braves took the 36-14 lead into the locker room at the half.

Evanston started from their own 24 and a combination of Cornia runs and pass completions to Griggs and Cris Periman moved the ball to the Braves’ red zone where Escalante would contribute to the drive. The Red Devil scoring drive was culminated by a 4-yard Cornia run, his 20th touchdown of the season with 7:54 left to play in the third quarter, but it would be Evanston’s last score on the night. 

Neither team would score in the remaining minutes of the third quarter, but Star Valley fullback David Castillo would score twice in the fourth and the Braves won going away.

In other 3A matchups,  No. 1 Torrington defeated Rawlins, 41-20, third-ranked Jackson blasted Powell, 34-13, No. 4 Cody outlasted Green River, 24-20, Lander handled Worland, 23-9, and Douglas took care of Riverton, 42-14.

Elsewhere, the second-ranked Mountain View Buffalos secured the top seed in the 2A West by rolling over No. 5 Greybull, 42-14. The 7-1 Buffs, winners of seven in a row, will host the Thermopolis Bobcats to open the playoffs on Friday, Oct. 26 at 1 p.m.

The Lyman Eagles got knocked out by the Big Piney Punchers, 55-6, to finish the season 2-6 and will miss the playoffs.

The Rich Rebels picked up a 9-6 road win at Altamont on Thursday, Oct. 18, and will open quarterfinal playoff action with a home game against the Monticello Buckaroos on Friday at 2 p.m. Monticello got by Rich, 13-7, on Sept. 7 in Monticello.