GUERNSEY—They’re in the state football playoffs and the Guernsey-Sunrise Vikings feel like they really earned this one.
After scoring a pair of touchdowns to take the lead well into the fourth quarter, they held the Hulett Red Devils scoreless and slipped by with a 36-32 win to claim the fourth seed from the Class 1-A Six Man East Conference. Hulett ends their season with a 4-4 record.
Although Hulett was in a win or go home situation in Friday night’s final regular season game, the Vikes were in a somewhat better situation as a tie-breaker coin flip would still have afforded them a chance to make the post-season had they lost. But the Vikings came to the field prepared to settle for nothing less than a win and leave no doubt that they deserved to make the playoffs.
The first points of the game came at the 6:47 mark in the first quarter as the Red Devils’ Josh Stevens completed a seven-yard pass to Dalton Butler. The kick by Ethan Dykes was good for two points and Hulett was up 8-0.
The Vikings answered just four minutes later when Viking junior Austin Albrecht hit the end zone from three yards out. Albrecht also ran the conversion in and the Hulett lead was cut to just one, 8-7
Hulett’s next score came just a minute later as Stevens went in on a four-yard run. Dykes’ kick was good and the Red Devils were up 16-7.
Guernsey fired back just a minute into the second quarter as Gage Koeteman took the ball in from the three-yard line. His conversion attempt failed but the Vikings were down by just three, 16-13.
The with 6:38 to go in the first half, the Vikings took the lead when Viking quarterback Alex Delgado completed a 12-yard scoring strike to Garret Oneyear. Koeteman completed the conversion run and the Vikings took a 20-16 lead to the locker room for halftime.
Just when it seemed the Vikings had things figured out though, the Red Devils scored back to back touchdowns in the third quarter. The first came on a 48-yard run and the second, a nine-yard run, both by Stevens. Dykes was good on both extra-point kicks and Hulett and reclaimed the lead 32-20 with 2:42 to go in the third quarter.
With an uneasy feeling, the Guernsey-Sunrise faithful knew it was now or never. They would not be disappointed.
With just 39 seconds to go in the third quarter, the Vikings had worked their way all the way down the two yard line. Albrecht charged through the line and crossed the goal line to get his second touchdown of the game. Oneyear carried on the conversion but failed to get in, but the Red Devils’ lead was now just six points.
The Vikings managed to keep Hulett backed up over the next several series of downs and with 4:29 to go in the game, Oneyear got his second score of the game on an eight-yard run. Hulett kept Koeteman from getting the conversion and the score was tied at 32.
With the entire stadium tension level high, the Vikings held the Red Devils on the next series and got the ball with about three minutes to go. It was all they needed as Delgado connected with Dale Mote on a 66-yard catch and run. The Vikings went for the one-point conversion but the Hulett defense was able to keep Oneyear out of the end zone, putting the Guernsey-Sunrise lead at six points, 38-32.
It would all come down to the wire as the Red Devils completed a long third down pass play to put them well into Viking territory with a first and 15. The Vikings held them to very short yardage on the next two plays but on second down, the Vikings were whistled for encroachment, putting the Devils another five yards closer to the goal line. But the Vikes regained those five yards as Hulett returned the favor, jumping offside prior to the next snap.

With the time now down to under 30 seconds and the Red Devils down to two plays, the outcome was still in doubt. And on the next play, Hulett seemingly hit pay dirt as Stevens connected with a receiver wide open in the end zone. But just as quickly as the celebration began, it ended when a penalty was called for an illegal forward pass. The Vikings accepted the five-yard penalty and the subsequently held on to take over on downs with just six ticks remaining on the game clock. Delgado took a knee on the final snap and this time, the celebration was for real as the Vikings claimed the playoff spot outright.
The Vikings ran 50 plays in just a little over 26 minutes. They rolled up 411 offensive yards, 174 in the air and 237 on the ground.
They were penalized five times for 40 yards and turned the ball over three time—twice on fumbles and one pass interception.
They made 16 first downs and converted seven of 12 third down attempts and one of five fourth down attempts.
Delgado completed eight of 11 passes for 174 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Koeteman led the ground attack with 152 yards in 20 attempts and one touchdown. He had one pass reception for 13 yards.
Oneyear finished with nine carries for 58 yards, and one rushing touchdown, and caught two passes for 30 yards and a touchdown.
Albrecht carried nine times for 27 yards and scored twice. He also had three catches for 55 yards.
Mote caught two passes, including the 66-yarder for a touchdown.
Koeteman led the defensive charge with seven unassisted tackles and four assists.
Mote finished with six solo stops and four assists, including a pair of tackles for losses.
Albrecht had three lone tackles and six assists, including two for lost yardage.
Justin Malcom had three solo tackles and three assists.
Oneyear finished with three lone stops and two assists including on tackle for lost yardage.
Preston Elmore had two solo stops and two assists; Ryan Harms had a pair of solo tackles and an assist and Delgado finished with one lone stop and a pair of assists. He had one tackle for lost yardage.
Hulett ran 52 plays in 21:31 and had 272 total yards of offense.
They completed 11 passes for 121 yards and carried 27 times for 151 yards rushing.
They were penalized twice for 10 yards. They punted four times averaging 35.8 yards per punt.
They picked up 13 first downs—six rushing, six passing and one on a Viking penalty.
They converted two of 12 third downs and two of seven fourth down attempts.
The Vikings are the fourth seed from the 1-A Six Man East Conference and will face Farson-Eden, the top seed from the West Conference.
The Vikings’ overall record stands at 5-3 with losses to Kaycee, Farson-Eden and Midwest. They won over Lingle-Fort Laramie, Normative Services Academy, Hanna-Elk Mountain, Rock River and Hulett.
Farson-Eden’s overall record is stands at 7-1. They only loss was to Little Snake River. They have wins over Guernsey-Sunrise, Burlington, St. Stephens, Ten Sleep, Dubois, Meeteetse and Riverside.
The first-round playoff game between Guernsey-Sunrise and Farson-Eden will be played Friday in Farson. Kick-off is set for 2 p.m. The winner will play in the semi-final against the winner of the Hanna-Elk Mountain-Little Snake River game on November 3rd.
In other first-round games, Kaycee will host Meeteetse and Burlington will host Midwest.
The Class 1-A Six Man state championship is set for Saturday, November 11 at 10 a.m. All state championship games for all classes will be played at the University of Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium in Laramie November 10 and the 11.