Road to redemption

Even with suffering heartbreak at the end of back-to-back seasons, FEHS came back better than ever this season.

The team and coaching staff have been motivated by an “unfinished business” attitude, according to head coach Trip Applequist, and the Pronghorns put their dominance on display during an 8-0 regular season. They were beating opponents by more than 50 points per game through eight weeks and didn’t slow down a bit once playoffs arrived.

GOING ALL THE WAY

Farson started its postseason march with a 90-22 thrashing of Hulett High School and then proceeded to run through rival Little Snake River 62-19 to reach its third straight state title game. Although the Pronghorns have been many people’s title favorites from the start of the season, they’re not taking this opportunity for granted.

“We’ve been working really hard for it, but at the same time, opportunities like this don’t come very often,” senior Cody Sloan said. “We’re very fortunate to be able to go to state three times in a row.”

Fans from Farson-Eden Valley are hoping that the third time is the charm, as enthusiasm for this Pronghorn team has almost reached its bursting point. Applequist has heard from several community members, some he didn’t even realize were football fans, saying “We’re headed to Laramie on Friday!”

“We’ve never had a football title and that would be something pretty special,” Applequist said. “Everyone is super excited and hopefully we can bring home that trophy.”

State championships can be wildly unpredictable, but if the core group of seniors can come up with one more outstanding game, FEHS has every chance of beating Burlington High School Friday. There are six of them who’ve been playing together since day one — Clancy Gines, Lain Mitchelson, Cortland Barker, Hagan Jones, Michael Gribowskas, along with Sloan — and they have been the heart and soul of this football team.

Offensively and defensively, it starts with the two-headed monster of Gines and Mitchelson. Two of the best athletes in the state, they have combined for over 50 rushing touchdowns. While Gines is the power runner, Mitchelson has been a terrific double-threat option for FEHS, throwing for nearly 750 yards and 12 touchdowns and running for over 1800 yards with 26 touchdowns on the ground.

While Gribowkas may be an afterthought to some with the two heavy hitters in front of him, he’s had a heck of a season as the third option. The senior ranks third in about every statistical category for the Pronghorns — scoring, rushing, defensive points — and had a massive semifinal game against LSRV with 221 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

Although Cortland Barker’s stats or individual rankings won’t raise many eyebrows, he’s the type of player that every great team needs. Whether it’s lead blocking, plugging holes in the middle of the defense, or plowing into the endzone from a few yards out, he seems to keep the Pronghorns on an even keel.

Jones and Sloan are also two-way players. Jones’ responsibility lies mainly in the long passing game, as he is Farson’s best deep threat and is asked to stay on his toes at safety. Much like Barker, Sloan is another one of those players that doesn’t get his number called often, but makes his present felt on both the offensive and defensive lines.

Applequist has six seniors that have all bought into their roles and are on the exact same page as their head coach. After two years of coming up short, they’ve all been dreaming of getting one more chance before this class graduates.

“That feeling that we finally did it, that would be the most satisfying part,” Applequist said. “Especially with this group of seniors and how hard they’ve worked, the best part would be to see them have success.”

The special groups of seniors have twice witnessed a state-championship celebration from the wrong end of the field and are hell bent on not letting it happen a third.

“We’ve been so close the past two years, and to bring it home would be super exciting,” Gribowskas said. “For us seniors, this is it. Before, there was always ‘we can try again next year,’ but this is the last shot.”

BUILDING A CULTURE

When Gines, Mitchelson and the rest of this senior class reached high school, FEHS was coming off its first winning football season since six-man football was reinstated in 2009. When the Pronghorns were playing 9-man football in the 80’s, they could only put together one winning season, but a lot has changed in the Farson-Eden Valley when it comes to football.

“When we started it was a little painful, because they hadn’t played it before and didn’t have much success,” he said. “But to see football grow into a sport that the community supports and the kids like to play has been great.”

Applequist has been right in the middle of the turnaround for FEHS football, as the Pronghorns have gone 45-22 since he took over in 2012. He loves seeing the growth of the football culture, and the biggest evidence for him, has been the progression of his players.

“There’s some really good athletes in this senior class, but they’ve become football players,” Applequist said. “They’ve really started to take an interest to football and learn the game, so that’s been the most interesting part for me... to see them develop a love for the game.”

In the last three years, FEHS has put together a resume that boasts 29 wins and only three losses, but it’s still lacking the crucial component. The six seniors would love to be the group that keeps pushing the next generation of Pronghorn football players and they know how far a state title would go in that effort.

“If we win, it would bring, not the arrogance, but the confidence we need as a football town,” Mitchelson said.

Kids around the valley are already wearing the No. 55 Gines jersey, “wanting to be just like him,” according to Mitchelson. The effect of a winning culture is already taking hold, but he thinks a title would raise the level of expectations at FEHS.

Coach Applequist is well-aware of what a trophy could do for Farson-Eden, too.

“Success breeds success, but it can go the other way too,” Applequist said. “Little kids see success and they want to be part of it. They want to get on that field in Laramie and be a part of that whole deal, too. It’s a big deal for our community.”

There is still a game to be played before any banners can be hung, though, and the Pronghorns will be facing the only team that has given them a scare this season. Burlington gave FEHS all it could handle with two weeks to go in the regular season, as it took a Gines touchdown with a second on the clock to break the 41-41 deadlock.

“We beat them once, but that was by a hair. It was a touchdown,” Barker said.

Talent wise, the Pronghorns have the edge on anyone in the state, but many of them think that keeping their heads straight will be a bigger difference than X’s and O’s. Even with all the different motivating factors that go into a big game like this, Barker thinks that the whole team has the same vision going in.

“We’re playing for each other out there and we all have the same goal. If we bring it home, it’s not just for us, it’s for everyone in this valley,” he said. “To be the first one ever, to be part of this team that brings home the first football title to Farson — being part of that is everything... that’s something to be proud of.”