A second straight conference title was capped off with another undefeated season for the Powell Middle School eighth grade football team, as the Cubs went 7-0 once again to go undefeated in middle school.

Starting out the year the Cubs dominated their first two opponents, defeating Riverton 38-0 and Lovell 62-26 before facing one of their more difficult opponents of the season.

That game came against Sheridan, as coach Bryan Bonander said that Sheridan typically splits its team in two and sends one part of the team to Cody while the other half comes to Powell.

“We called Sheridan and asked them if they could bring their hammers, if they could just make one good team just to give our kids a run for their money,” Bonander said. “That’s what they did, and that was fun.”

That game came down to a last stand for the Cub defense at the goal line, as they held off the visitors after Sheridan had reached first and goal with 30 seconds left to hang on for an 8-0 victory.

“We held them four straight plays without letting them in the end zone,” Bonander said. “That was pretty cool to watch the boys hold strong on defense that game.”

After the victory over Sheridan the Cubs played their second close game of the season, hanging on to defeat Worland in overtime.

The Cubs came out on top after getting the ball first in overtime, scoring a touchdown before holding off the visitors on their possession to earn a 30-23 win.

“Worland had a couple of hammers too. A couple of running backs that kind of chewed us up a little bit. They definitely gave us a run for our money,” Bonander said. 

Powell got back on track in its final three games of the season, defeating Laurel 28-6, Cody 70-38 and Lander 44-6 to cap off the second consecutive 7-0 season for the team.

Throughout the season the Cubs relied on their many strengths, with Bonander noting that the team had one of the best offensive lines he had seen come through the middle school.

“Our offensive line was really phenomenal,” Bonander said. “We had big kids, probably the biggest line I’ve ever had. Not only did we have a great line, we had lots of depth, and that’s rare for just one grade level to have depth like that.”

That allowed for the Cubs to have a strong running game and strong production out of the backfield, as the running backs consisted of Justin Marquez, Trevin Morton, Forest Kleinfeldt and Russell Goolsbey, who led the rushing attack alongside quarterback Ethan Ely.

Defensively Bonander said that the Cubs were strong at every level, bringing another strong set of players top to bottom to help Powell hold four teams under 10 points, including two shutouts.

“We had a lot of depth,” Bonander said. “On defense our line was good, our linebackers we just had some good hitters. Kids that could hit hard, and they had good technique. Our corners were really good. We just had a lot of kids that could play well, and that kind of helped at practice. When you have kids who are really good and are competing for a starting position, that just made practices a little more intense, a little more enjoyable.”

Bonander attributed the strength in football to the group’s strong wrestling background, noting that a significant majority of the team wrestles as well.

“It’s probably the strongest class I’ve ever had in 11 years. They just fly to the football — quite a few of them have a good wrestling background,” Bonander said.

Helping Bonander coach the Cubs throughout the season were Nate Urbach and Carson Kleinfeldt — both also wrestling coaches — who he said helped the team a ton throughout the year.

“Carson was a great addition, he helped us a ton,” Bonander said. “Urbach as well. We’ve been doing this, I think this was our 11th year. I think we’ve won eight conference titles now in 11 years. We’re putting through some good teams, I think the future is looking bright again.”

Moving forward Bonander said that this group of Cubs already has the ability to work as a unit, but said they need to continue working hard in the offseason to take that next step to become Panthers next year.

“They’re just gonna have to learn to keep working hard in the off season,” Bonander said. “I think these kids will help the [high school] program, I really do.”

He said that the team had 28 kids at one point in the year, and is hopeful that at least 20 of them will continue playing in high school. He’s hopeful that trend will continue to the point where the Panther football program has 80 kids going out each year.