Three Tigers Shoot-out In Nebraska

Encampment graduates Quade Jordan, Ryon Miller, and Kaben Pickett have officially closed the chapter on their time as teammates. The three former Tigers represented Encampment as they played for the Wyoming All-Stars in the Wyoming-Nebraska Six-Man Shootout. The All-Star game took place on May 31 in Chadron, Nebraska.

The Wyoming All-Stars lost to the Nebraska All-Stars 48-14. The Encampment alumni wanted the game to go differently, but they gave their all and then some. All three Encampment players also had the great opportunity to have former opponents as their teammates.

Trent Aagard, head coach of the Burlington Huskies took the honor of being the head coach for the Wyoming All-Stars. Aagard led his team to become the 2023 Wyoming 1A Six-Man Champions last fall. He said despite the loss to the Nebraska All-Stars, it was a great experience to coach kids he coached against.

“Overall I thought our guys had a fun week at Chadron,” Aagard said. “The kids from Wyoming did a good job of blending. The game was rough for us, but the boys kept battling and working hard. You never really know how these kinds of games will play out. It’s hard to get a lot done in the amount of time you have.”

Aagrad said having three of Encampments' best players on his team was a lot of fun. He said he has been going up against Jordan, Pickett, and Miller for a long time. Aagrad said it was nice to know them and to have the great opportunity to coach them.

“As far as the Encampment guys, they were a blast to be around,” Aagard said. “After coaching against them for years, It's great to know them better. All three were a great asset to the team. They are all athletic and hard workers. It’s easy to see why they have had so much success in their careers. No stats were kept for Kaben and Ryon. Both were able to score receiving touchdowns. Quade had some good runs and catches. He had a great run but was unfortunately called back and I felt like it would be a real momentum shift. Hopefully going away the guys had a memorable week that they can look back on and enjoy.”

In an interview with WyoPreps’ David Settle, Pickett said he had fun having kids he had played against since middle school as his teammates. He said the Nebraska All-Stars would be tough and no strangers to them.

“I have competed against these 1A kids since they were in 5th and 6th grade,” Pickett said. “We have gone to Chadon camp every year and I have played with the Nebraska kids before so I knew what would happen.”

Despite the tough loss, Pickett said he was able to make friends with kids he had as his opponents. He said the scoreboard may show a loss for Wyoming but the score does not define a team. ~

“I made a lot of friends,” Pickett said. “The score doesn’t reflect this game because we are way better than it [the score] was. Nebraska has a good squad but we have a lot more heart so no one should judge a team based on the scoreboard.”

Pickett said he looks forward to continuing these friendships. He said having them on his team is better than butting heads with them.

Jordan is now preparing for his next challenge in playing eleven-man football at Wyoming Shrine Bowl. In a WyoPreps interview with Frank Gambino, Jordan said he has had a great experience meeting kids he has played against. Jordan said it is great to know other kids around the state.

“It has been a lot of fun,’ Jordan said. “I had the chance to spend time with kids throughout the state and to get to know them well.”

In the same interview, Jordan was asked about the adjustment from playing six-man football to eleven-man. Jordan said he has learned a lot from this new adjustment, but it is a challenge to go from six-man to eleven-man.

“As far as playing running back, it is not a huge adjustment,” Jordan said. “I am slowly getting it and I have messed up a lot in practice but I think by game time I will be ready”.

The Shrine Bowl was held on June 8 at Natrona County High School in Casper.