WHEATLAND – The Wheatland Bulldog Football team played their way into the 2A Football Playoffs on a chilly night in Moorcroft last Friday. The latest in a series of long road trips this past season ended in a decisive victory for the Bulldogs, who downed the Moorcroft Wolves 42-0 in a game that featured Wheatland hitting on all cylinders both offensively and defensively. Senior Waylon Milnes had another huge night, running for 178 yards on 26 carries and scoring five times. Senior quarterback Jake Hyche added another rushing touchdown as the Bulldogs cruised to a huge conference win.
The Wheatland offensive line opened up gaping holes all night long for the Bulldog running backs Milnes, Cooper Meyer, and Abad Luna. The O-Line also did a good job of protecting Hyche when he dropped back to pass, giving him time to complete several nice passes, including a 48-yard bomb from Hyche to Luna.
Wheatland Head Coach Tony Borton was pleased with his team’s effort. “This was very much a team win. We did well in all three phases of the game, which is a testament to both our coaches and our players. They knew what was on the line, you know, a playoff berth, and they got off the bus and got after it,” he said.

Defensively, the Bulldogs shut the Wolves down, allowing only 125 yards of total offense and no scores.
Wheatland scored twice in each of the first three quarters before shutting down the offense and getting some younger players on the field in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs have no time to bask in the glow of a conference road win. This week, they face Newcastle, who will come to Wheatland riding a four-game conference hot streak. If Wheatland comes away with a home win this Friday versus Newcastle, they will most likely force a three-way tie for the number two seed in the 2A East playoff picture, depending on how Burns fares against Moorcroft in this, the last week of the regular season. If the three-way tie occurs, there will be a coin toss to determine the seeding, with the second-place team securing a home playoff game, and the third and fourth seeds traveling to the west side of the state for the first round of the playoffs.
According to WYOPREPS, the following are statistical highlights for 2A football after week six. Milnes still leads all of 2A for the top individual rushing game at 219 yards on 31 attempts. Meyer is fifth for the top receiving game at 64 yards versus Glenrock. Luna is second for a 70-yard kick return versus Torrington. Wheatland is sitting third overall as a team on rush defense allowing only 98 yards per game. WHS is also third as a team for total defense allowing only 200 yards per game for total offense against. Milnes is sixth for rushing at 86.7 yards per game; Meyer is ninth with 19.5 yards per attempt on kick returns, and 10th in averaging 40.3 yards per attempt on kick offs; Hyche and Stone share the 34th spot on individual defense – each averaged 11.0 defensive points per game. Stone has 39 tackles and Hyche has a total of 33 tackles.
The Bulldogs are now 3-2 in conference and 3-4 overall.