Mountain West High School Football: Who’s Up, Who’s Down Across the Region (Nov. 2, 2026)

All across the Mountain West region, there were some impressive playoff performances that took place on high school football fields in six states from Idaho to the Dakotas.

High School On SI wanted to look at some of the highs and lows from the region that took place this weekend. Here are some of the highlights we found.

Three Up

Woods Cross (UT)

At one point, the Wildcats lost five in a row to drop to 2-5, and they entered the 5A playoffs as the No. 14 seed with a 4-6 record. However, none of that mattered as they traveled to Brigham City and upset 3-seed Box Elder 29-26 in overtime.

Woods Cross led 16-0 entering the fourth quarter and 23-7 with 2:13 to play before giving up a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Josh Pugsley and a 1-yard TD run by Kadyn Reyes with 1 second left in regulation.

The Bees took the lead in overtime on Tytan Hupp’s 32-yard field goal, but the Wildcats answered with Sam Bahr’s 2-yard touchdown run to advance out of the first round for the fourth straight year.

Cheyenne Central (WY)

The Indians are getting good at avenging regular-season defeats in the first round of the 4A playoffs. Last year, it was Natrona County that beat Central in their regular-season finale, only for Central to go on the road and beat the Mustangs.

This time, it was Laramie that defeated the Indians 20-9 on Oct. 9 to earn home-field advantage for Round 1. However, the rematch again went to Central by a 27-20 score to send the Indians into a semifinal with top seed Natrona County.

Kimball/White Lake (SD)

Since last playing for a state championship in 2018, the Wildkats hadn’t won more than six games in a season until this fall, when they pulled off their biggest victory since eight years ago when they toppled Class 9A top seed Timber Lake 38-0 in the quarterfinals to improve to 7-3.

Now, they face a similar Cinderella team in the semifinals — Bennett County, which hasn’t finished with a winning record since 2016 or won nine games in a season since 2008, but after a 28-22 victory over Sully Buttes is 9-1 and seeking its first trip to a state final.

Three Down

Stansbury (UT)

The Stallions had advanced out of the first round of the playoffs every year since 2015, and when Brighton Reutzel hit Kegan Morris on a 6-yard touchdown pass with 1:23 left in their 4A matchup with Provo to go ahead 23-20, it looked like their streak would continue.

Except the Bulldogs had other plans. Just 40 seconds later, Drevin Christensen connected with Brexton Hunter on a 71-yard touchdown, and Provo pulled out a 26-23 victory to send Stansbury to an early postseason exit.

Nampa Christian (ID)

A year ago, the Trojans won their final seven games, including three as the No. 6 seed in the 3A playoffs to win just the second state championship in program history. This fall, they again needed to emerge from the first round to get into the main bracket, but this time, midnight struck on their chances to repeat courtesy of Logos, which knocked them out 30-19.

Ellendale/Edgeley/Kulm (ND)

The Thunder earned the top seed in the Division A playoffs and were well-positioned to reach their first state final since 2016, when they won their only title. However, after a closer-than-expected first-round win over Grafton, they fell to unseeded Ray/Powers Lake 20-18 in the quarterfinals — the Panthers’ first semifinal appearance since moving to the classification in 2023.

Who rises and falls next? High School On SI will return each week with Three Up, Three Down from around the Mountain West high school football scene.

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