PUEBLO – The hat trick was denied in resounding fashion.
Cheyenne Wells, facing reigning two-time Class 6-man state football champ Stratton, rose to the occasion in a big way on Friday afternoon at Dutch Clark Stadium.
And Trey Scheler led the Tigers’ charge.
The junior rushed for 214 yards and scored five touchdowns, powering Cheyenne Wells to the state title with a 50-27 victory.
This was Cheyenne Wells' second state crown in the last four years as it also won in 2021. The Tigers finished the season with a perfect 13-0 record and avenged a 69-14 trouncing to Stratton in the 2023 state championship game.
“That (loss in the state championship game last year) gave us all the more motivation to come out here and beat them,” Scheler said.
CW coach Myles Smith, who has been directing the Tigers for six years, praised his team’s effort.
“It starts with our guys up front, and I’m just so proud of the effort they put in week in and week out, it is a grind, and it is hard to put into words right now,” Smith said. “I’m just so proud of the way they responded to everything this year.”
Scheler finished with 296 yards of total offense as he also had 69 yards receiving and threw a 13-yard pass. By the way, he also had a key fumble recovery.
“It is unreal,” said the 6-foot-2, 180-pound Scheler said. “The team I’m with did a great job. I wouldn’t have scored that many touchdowns if I didn’t have a good line. It was a team effort.”
The state championship mission started in Week One for Cheyenne Wells as it defeated Stratton in its season opener 53-40 on Aug. 30. That snapped Stratton’s 27-game winning streak. Stratton ended the 2024 campaign with a 12-2 record.
“That win we had (in the first game) proves that it wasn’t just one game,” Scheler said. “We came out and we were ready to go (Saturday). We just had that confidence.”
Smith acknowledged Week One was instrumental for his squad this season.
“That’s why we like to play those guys early like that because it sets the tone for the season and lets us know where we are at and what we need to work on as a team,” Smith said. “I think that confidence we gained from that week really propelled through the entire season.”
Scheler capped his brilliant outing by hauling in a screen pass and breaking a tackle on his way to a 10-yard score with 4:05 left in the fourth quarter. That TD put CW up 50-27.
CW, up 22-19 at half, responded with a 9-play, 58-yard drive, culminating with QB Zach Dickey’s 7-yard TD run at 4:36 of the third quarter giving the Tigers a 30-19 edge.
Stratton’s Von Isenbart answered by throwing a 7-yard TD to a wide-open Luis Arzaga with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.
A key play in the game happened soon after when Isenbart was injured trying to stop CW’s Cory Hill on a crossing pattern with one second left in the third quarter and did not return.
That’s when Scheler completely took over the spotlight.
Scheler countered with a 40-yard scoring run on the first play of the fourth quarter, putting CW up 38-27.
Then, running back Stockton Fye had problems on the exchange from substitute QB Judson Isenbart, in for Von Isenbart, and fumbled. The ball was recovered by Scheler.
Fittingly, Scheler had a 19-yard scoring scamper on the next play to put Cheyenne Wells up 44-27.
“That just gave us momentum and the energy we know we needed to win,” said Scheler about his two quick scores.