WyoPreps Game of the Week: #5 Thunder Basin at #4 Central

A rematch from Week 3 of the season has No. 5 Thunder Basin at No. 4 Cheyenne Central in the first round of the Class 4A football playoffs on Friday at 6 p.m.

Cheyenne Central is 6-3 on the season, and Thunder Basin enters the playoffs at 5-4.

The Indians won 41-28 in Gillette on Sept. 16.

WyoPreps’ David Settle spoke to Bolts’ head coach Trent Pikula and Central head coach Mike Apodaca before the big game. Both discussed how they feel about their team entering the playoffs, reflected on the first meeting six weeks ago, what they think of their opponent, and some keys to having success in this game.

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Thunder Basin has the top offense in Class 4A. The Bolts average 454 yards and 41.6 points per game.

Cheyenne Central counters with the No. 2 defense in the classification. The Indians give up only 258 yards and 14.1 points per game.

The big match-up will be Thunder Basin’s top-rated passing offense at 280 yards per game against the Central’s top pass defense that allows 132 yards per game.

The Bolts have the top passer in 4A in QB Alonso Aguilar and the top receiver in Kayden LaFramboise. Nic Black is fifth in rushing. Their defense is anchored by Logan Loftus, who is No. 2 in defensive points in 4A.

The Indians have Keagan Bartlett. The QB is third in rushing and fifth in passing. Bartlett has accounted for almost 240 yards per game and 26 touchdowns. Alex Fernandez and Jack Miller lead the defensive charge. Both are in the top 17 of 4A in defensive points.

Friday night will be the second playoff game between the two teams. Thunder Basin won the first match-up in 2018, 34-0. That was also a quarterfinal. This is the eighth meeting in the series. The Bolts are 5-2 against the Indians. The series' history is courtesy of wyoming-football.com.

In the postseason, Central is 21-28, while Thunder Basin is 5-5 in their short existence.