Author Archives: Patrick

From 1962 to 1967 in all classes, and from 1962 to 1974 in Classes A and B-C, postseason football was shut down in Wyoming. No playoffs, no state championship games, nothing. Only an unsatisfying mythical championship that, in the end, was just opinion. The next several days, wyoming-football.com is taking a look at the title games and playoff brackets we missed out on in the “dead era” of the 1960s and 1970s.

Today, we examine the year 1962.

Class AA: Laramie (9-0) vs. Sheridan (5-4-1). Sheridan did not have a great season, but won enough games to win the AA North title. However, one of the Broncs’ losses was a 24-0 loss to Laramie — a Plainsman team that was dominant, as Laramie teams tended to be in the 1960s.
Class A: Lusk (9-0) vs. Greybull (8-0) OR Star Valley (9-0). Greybull went unbeaten the hard way, beating five Class AA Big Horn Basin teams (Powell, Cody, Riverton, Worland, Lander), while Star Valley went unbeaten in the Southwest round-robin. Lusk was just as good in the East, with only one conference foe coming within 26 points of the Tigers.

–patrick

From 1962 to 1967 in all classes, and from 1962 to 1974 in Classes A and B-C, postseason football was shut down in Wyoming. No playoffs, no state championship games, nothing. Only an unsatisfying mythical championship that, in the end, was just opinion. The next several days, wyoming-football.com is taking a look at the title games and playoff brackets we missed out on in the “dead era” of the 1960s and 1970s.

Today, we examine the year 1963.

Class AA: Natrona (9-0) vs. Riverton (8-0-1) OR Lander (7-1-1). Natrona put a brief end to the Laramie dynasty in 1963 and piled up a solid undefeated season, including a 26-6 victory over Lander. Lander and Riverton both finished unbeaten in AA North play and tied each other 9-9 on the final day of the regular season, which would have forced the WHSAA to break out the tiebreaking guidelines.
Class A: Lusk (8-0-1) vs. Green River (10-0). Green River notched seven shutouts and allowed just seven points in each of its three other games — in case you’re counting, that’s only 21 points allowed all season. Lusk had a 13-13 tie with Douglas ruin its perfect season, but the Tigers were otherwise strong and won close conference games with Wheatland (13-7), Gillette (7-0) and Torrington (6-0).

–patrick

From 1962 to 1967 in all classes, and from 1962 to 1974 in Classes A and B-C, postseason football was shut down in Wyoming. No playoffs, no state championship games, nothing. Only an unsatisfying mythical championship that, in the end, was just opinion. The next several days, wyoming-football.com is taking a look at the title games and playoff brackets we missed out on in the “dead era” of the 1960s and 1970s.

Today, we examine the year 1964.

Class AA: Laramie (9-0) vs. Sheridan (6-3). This may have been one of the most monumental mismatches in state title game history, if it had actually happened. Laramie was a juggernaut; Sheridan won its two close games with conference rivals Worland (12-6) and Natrona (14-13) to eke out the North title. Oh, and Laramie just happened to beat Sheridan 59-0 on Oct. 23, 1964, in Laramie.
Class A: Gillette (9-0) vs. Evanston (9-0). Both squads were defensive-minded: Gillette shut out its first five opponents and gave up just 39 points all season, while Evanston shut out six of its foes and allowed only 20 total points in its nine games. The first one to score may have won.
Class B East: Upton (5-4) OR Tongue River (7-1) vs. Glenrock (7-1-1). The 1964 season was the last of the hodgepodge Northeast B conference schedule, which is good because neither Upton nor Tongue River lost to a B Northeast team and they didn’t play each other. Oddly enough, Glenrock’s one tie came courtesy of a third B Northeast team (Moorcroft); the Herders’ one loss came via St. Stephens.
Class B West: Pavillion (5-1-1) OR Byron (7-1) OR St. Stephens (6-2) vs. Mountain View (5-0-1). The Northwest was split into two divisions in 1964, one north and one south, but being in the same division did not guarantee that your team played every team in the division. Byron won the north, even with a 13-7 upset loss to Manderson. In the south, Pavillion’s lone tie and lone loss both came courtesy of the Lander JV and St. Stephens, which was transitioning to Class A, had two losses to Class A schools Lovell and Jackson. However, the schools did not play each other. Mountain View, meanwhile, didn’t have to worry about ties after winning the Southwest title even with a tie with Hanna on its record.
(Note: Class B in 1964 was the final year of disorganized conference play, which is also why it is the last year that there is no mythical champion for the classification. Once conferences became more formally organized around 11-man in 1965, as schools transitioned away from six-man and eight-man, state polls became possible. Hence some of the multiple options posted here. This is the final year that possible Class B pairings will be listed; the disorganized conferences that existed in 1963 and 1962 make piecing together a possible playoff slate all but impossible.)

–patrick

From 1962 to 1967 in all classes, and from 1962 to 1974 in Classes A and B-C, postseason football was shut down in Wyoming. No playoffs, no state championship games, nothing. Only an unsatisfying mythical championship that, in the end, was just opinion. The next several days, wyoming-football.com is taking a look at the title games and playoff brackets we missed out on in the “dead era” of the 1960s and 1970s.

Today, we examine the year 1965.

Class AA: Cheyenne Central (9-0-1) vs. Worland (9-0). Both the Indians and the Warriors posted solid seasons in 1965. Although the Indians were more statistically dominant, the Warriors showed a ton of moxie in winning some tight ballgames late in the season.
Class A: Lusk (7-2) vs. Star Valley (8-0-1). The East was a real mumble-jumble in 1965, and no real champion emerged. Even Lusk at 7-2 had conference losses to St. Mary’s and to Torrington. Star Valley left no such drama hanging out West, as a tie with Green River late in the year was the Braves’ only non-win.
Class B East: Midwest (7-1) vs. Glenrock (7-1). In another case of a regular-season meeting helping us project a possible playoff matchup, Glenrock beat Midwest 28-26 late in the season in Midwest. Glenrock, meanwhile, lost to Tongue River, but Tongue River lost 20-12 to Midwest — in Dayton, no less — to give the Oilers the Northeast title.
Class B West: Byron (6-1) vs. Mountain View (6-1). Both teams had losses the couldn’t explain — Byron 32-27 early to a decent but not great Deaver-Frannie squad and Mountain View 19-13 at home to a fair Saratoga squad — but both teams recovered in time to win their respective conferences.

–patrick

From 1962 to 1967 in all classes, and from 1962 to 1974 in Classes A and B-C, postseason football was shut down in Wyoming. No playoffs, no state championship games, nothing. Only an unsatisfying mythical championship that, in the end, was just opinion. The next several days, wyoming-football.com is taking a look at the title games and playoff brackets we missed out on in the “dead era” of the 1960s and 1970s.

Today, we examine the year 1966.

Class AA: Cheyenne Central (8-2) vs. Powell (8-1-1). With losses only to Denver Regis, Colo., and Scottsbluff, Neb., Central had won the AA South by winning most of its league games with ease — the exception a 14-9 squeaker over Rawlins. Powell had a similar run of domination, but had two outliers on the season schedule: a surprising early season 38-21 loss to Worland and a 6-6 tie with Riverton.
Class A: Wheatland (8-1) vs. Star Valley (8-0). The cardiac Bulldogs won each of their first four games by a combined 26 points and had only a 37-32 loss to Torrington mar the season tally. Star Valley, though, was unbeaten and grew only stronger as the season progressed.
Class B East: Tongue River (8-1) vs. Glenrock (8-1). These two teams actually met halfway through the 1966 season, with the Eagles pulling out a 6-0 victory in Glenrock — a victory that likely swung the mythical title to TR. A 26-25 loss to the Sheridan JV was the source of Tongue River’s only loss.
Class B West: Basin (7-1) OR Cowley (7-2) OR Byron (7-1) vs. Mountain View (10-0). The Northwest was a mess at the top in 1966, as Basin, Cowley and Byron all went 1-1 against each other, with Basin beating Byron 13-6 and losing to Cowley 13-12 and Byron beating Cowley 26-6. (Cowley also lost in a non-conference game to Midwest.) Mountain View, meanwhile, was a buzzsaw through the Southwest, as only one team came within 24 points of  the Buffalos.

–patrick

From 1962 to 1967 in all classes, and from 1962 to 1974 in Classes A and B-C, postseason football was shut down in Wyoming. No playoffs, no state championship games, nothing. Only an unsatisfying mythical championship that, in the end, was just opinion. The next several days, wyoming-football.com is taking a look at the title games and playoff brackets we missed out on in the “dead era” of the 1960s and 1970s.

Today, we examine the year 1967.

Class AA: Cheyenne Central (6-4) OR Laramie (6-3) OR Cheyenne East (7-3) vs. Powell (9-0). Central, East and Laramie all finished with 4-1 records in AA South play, all round-robining each other (East beat Laramie 14-13 but lost to Central 18-12, while Laramie beat Central 26-13). Powell did not have similar troubles in the North, plowing through the competition to finish undefeated.
Class A: Lusk (8-1) vs. Star Valley (10-0). Star Valley posted six shutouts and allowed the other four opponents only 45 combined points. Lusk had similar success in the East with a high-powered offense led by future UW quarterback Steve Cockerham; the Tigers’ only loss came in the season finale to Hot Springs, S.D.
Class B East: Tongue River (9-0) vs. Glenrock (9-0). Another classic in the making. Both the Eagles and the Herders had won every single game by at least 19 points. TR had beaten Class A Greybull by 20; Glenrock won its final four games by a combined 219-8.
Class B West: Byron (7-0-1) OR Basin (7-1-1) vs. Cokeville (7-0). A take-no-prisoners Panthers team beat all but one team on its schedule by at least 43 points. Byron and Basin, meanwhile, tied for the Northwest crown after tying their game 34-34 in one of the most controversial finishes ever. (Basin originally won 40-34 by scoring in the final minute of their game on Oct. 27, but Byron protested the game’s final 2 minutes, 24 seconds. The WHSAA upheld the protest, and the two teams met three days later to play the final 2:24. No one scored and the game finished as a 34-34 tie, officially.)

–patrick

From 1962 to 1967 in all classes, and from 1962 to 1974 in Classes A and B-C, postseason football was shut down in Wyoming. No playoffs, no state championship games, nothing. Only an unsatisfying mythical championship that, in the end, was just opinion. The next several days, wyoming-football.com is taking a look at the title games and playoff brackets we missed out on in the “dead era” of the 1960s and 1970s.

Today, we examine the year 1968.

Class A: Gillette (7-1-1) OR Lusk (8-1-1) vs. Star Valley (6-2-1) OR Evanston (8-2): There would have been all kinds of tiebreakers exercised to fill out the Class A title game in 1968. In the East, Gillette and Lusk had tied 19-19 early in the season in Lusk; both squads had lost to AA teams prior to the tie, Gillette to Powell and Lusk to Laramie. Meanwhile, Evanston and Star Valley split the Class A West title after splitting with each other in the regular season (Star Valley won 7-0 in Afton; Evanston won 13-0 in Evanston). Both teams also lost conference games to other league foes, coincidentally, both on Oct. 11: Star Valley to Jackson and Evanston to Green River.
Class B East: Sundance (8-1) vs. Glenrock (9-0). Glenrock was a Class B juggernaut in ’68, with its closest victory by 19 points. Sundance’s only blemish was a 21-20 loss to Newell, S.D., in the season finale.
Class B West: Byron (9-0) vs. Cokeville (7-1). In a rare case of a regular-season meeting between these two powerhouses, Byron beat Cokeville 40-32 in Cokeville to start the 1968 season for both teams. Even so, Byron had to eke out a 14-13 victory over Basin in the season finale to win the Northwest; Cokeville’s closest victory in a season of dominance was a 40-14 whitewash of North Rich, Utah.

–patrick