Kelly Walsh-Cheyenne East preview, Natrona-Laramie preview and games of the week (Casper Star-Tribune). … Powell-Riverton recap (Powell Tribune). … Buffalo-Worland recap (Northern Wyo Daily News, click today). … Big Piney-Burlington recap and Riverside-Pinedale recap (Basin Republican Rustler). … Big Horn-Greybull recap (Greybull Standard). … Lusk-Burns recap (Lusk Herald).
–patrick
In the short but storied history of Rocky Mountain High School football, no Grizzly team has done what the squad did last week.
The 72 points Rocky put up on Normative Services last week was a single-game school record. The 72-point margin of victory was, then, an obvious record for the Grizzlies’ largest margin of victory in school history, too.
And that fact is all the more impressive when you consider what the Grizzlies have accomplished since Byron, Cowley and Deaver joined forces in 1983 — four state championships, three undefeated seasons and, at one point, 13 consecutive playoff berths.
Meanwhile, another Class 1A 11-man West Conference team was putting up some impressive numbers of its own last Friday.
The 48 points Dubois scored last week in its shutout victory over Upton matched the total points scored by the Rams in their first seven games last fall and topped the team’s 2008 eight-game season point total of 45. The last time the Rams scored that many points in a game was early in the 2006 season when they beat Wyoming Indian 71-0.
This week, the two teams that combined to beat their opponents 120-0 meet in the first conference game of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday in Dubois.
Last week’s results make for some interesting questions this week: Are the Rams really back? Are the Grizzlies ready to break through to 1A’s upper echelon? How does a Week 1 blowout victory affect a team’s mentality for Week 2?
We’ll know the answers to most of these questions by about 6 p.m. Friday. For now, I’ll take the Grizzlies on the road — even though it’s Rocky Mountain’s first trip to Dubois since the program’s inaugural season in 1983. (Remember, the Griz started last season by winning three consecutive games by shutout, including a 39-0 victory over Dubois.)
What both programs did in Week 1 was impressive. But no one ever won a championship the first week of the season. It’s what they can both do from here on out that will be the true test of both squads.
Here are the rest of this week’s picks, with projected winners in bold:
Thursday
Class 1A 11-man
Wind River at Shoshoni: I think the Cougars are thinking they are better than you might think. What does everyone else think? 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Evanston: This pick is tough because of both teams’ inconsistency through the first two games. Both teams lost to Natrona by similar scores, but right now Evanston’s one victory is more impressive than Central’s one W. 7 p.m.
Gillette at Rock Springs: The Tigers are game, but the Camels are back. 7 p.m.
Kelly Walsh at Cheyenne East: Both teams have shown just how good they could be this fall. But they’ve also both shown that, for now, neither one can hang with Sheridan — which makes this game incredibly intriguing to see who can keep pace in chasing the Broncs. 7 p.m.
Laramie at Natrona: This one’s pretty simple: 2-0 vs. 0-2. 7 p.m.
Sheridan at Green River: I think the Broncs have proven that last year was no fluke. They have the talent and the coaching to make another run at a championship. Are we seeing a dynasty in the making? 7 p.m.
Class 3A
Buffalo at Lander: Both teams were impressive in their respective season openers last week. This week we find out just how well they stack up against each other. Intriguing…. 7 p.m.
Douglas at Jackson: The only thing that might trip up the Bearcats is the long bus ride to Teton County. Don’t be surprised if Jackson hangs with Douglas for the first quarter or so, but once the Bearcats get their legs under them, watch out. 7 p.m.
Rawlins at Cody: The Broncs won last year’s matchup 72-8. I don’t think it’ll be that bad this year, but I do think it’ll be tough for the Outlaws to close a 64-point gap in the span of one year. 7 p.m.
Star Valley at Riverton: Oddly enough, the Braves have never beaten the Wolverines in Riverton in school history (only four tries, though). That should change this week — the Braves are for real. 6 p.m.
Torrington at Worland: Honestly, I was surprised at the margins of the scores of the games that both these teams played last week — one in a good way (Torrington hanging close to Chadron) and one not as much (Worland getting torched by Buffalo). I think the Blazers get this win on the road. 7 p.m.
Wheatland at Powell: I really, really like both of these teams. Week 1 was good to both of them it wouldn’t be surprising to see either team win this week. As I usually do in these cases, I’m taking the home team simply because they’re at home; if this game was in Wheatland, I’d go with the Bulldogs. Should be a great game. 7 p.m.
Class 2A
Big Piney at Wyoming Indian: The Punchers can’t get caught napping against the Chiefs — but I don’t think BP will overestimate anyone, especially now that conference play is here. 6 p.m.
Burns at Big Horn: The Rams were downright impressive in last week’s victory over Greybull. The key now is to keep that momentum rolling against a Burns team that proved last week it has what it takes to be a contender in 2A, as well. 2 p.m.
Glenrock at Tongue River: The Herders have Thermopolis next week. But that’s next week. The Eagles could surprise the Herders if they catch them looking ahead to next week… but don’t count on that from Glenrock. 2 p.m.
Greybull at Mountain View: The northern Buffs are eager to show last week was a fluke. The southern Buffs have the advantage of being at home, but even that might not be enough to overcome a Greybull team that should be fired up. 4 p.m.
Lyman at Kemmerer: The Rangers are 14-0 the past three years against their 2A Southwest brethren (Pinedale, Big Piney, Lyman and Mountain View). Until some team steps up to break that run, I’m always going to go with the Rangers — even though I think Lyman has what it takes to challenge Kemmerer in this one. 4 p.m.
Moorcroft at Newcastle: This game is really hard to get a read on. I’ll go with the Dogies, because they’re at home. I am actually really interested to see the final score on this one — this could be a fantastic game. 7 p.m.
Pinedale at Lovell: The Bulldogs pulled off an impressive road victory last week. Now, their task is to keep that momentum rolling at home and to send a message early in conference play. 7 p.m.
Wright at Thermopolis: The Bobcats fall into the same trap as Glenrock does this week — they can’t get caught looking ahead to next week, not when they’ve got a team in front of them this week that’s capable of pushing them and maybe even beating them. 7 p.m.
Class 1A 11-man
Cokeville at Riverside: The Panthers appear to be back on the fast track to the top of the 1A West again this year. The Rebels might end up being some of Cokeville’s strongest competition, though. 2:30 p.m.
Pine Bluffs at Normative Services: Pine Bluffs proved last week that it has what it takes to be one of 1A’s better teams this year. 6 p.m.
Saratoga at Burlington: In short, I don’t know what to expect out of this game. Both teams had tough losses last week to good teams, and both want to rebound ASAP. Once again, I think it’s a toss-up, so I’ll go with the home team. 2 p.m.
Southeast at Sundance: For what it’s worth, the Cyclones are 6-1 all-time against the Bulldogs. That’s not the reason I’m picking Southeast this time, though. 4 p.m.
Upton at Lingle: One of these teams won handily last week. One lost handily. 7:30 p.m.
Class 1A six-man
Farson at Hanna: The Miners were quite impressive in beating Ten Sleep last week. Look for that momentum to keep rolling at home. 4:30 p.m.
Kaycee at Midwest: Speaking of impressive season openers, the Oilers looked good last week against Guernsey. And they want revenge against Kaycee for the brutal way in which the Oilers’ 2009 season ended. 7 p.m.
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Meeteetse at Ten Sleep: The Pioneers won last year’s matchup by 50. While I think the Longhorns are better, I don’t think they’re 50 points better. 1 p.m.
Snake River at Guernsey-Sunrise: Are we seeing a changing of the guard in six-man football? Not really. Just parity — the type that disappeared from six-man last year but will likely run rampant this fall. Don’t be surprised to see the Vikes pull this one out, either. 3 p.m.
Interclass
Hulett at Kaycee JV: I think after a couple weeks of practice, the Red Devils should have a better grip on the six-man game this time around. Either way, it’s just good to see Hulett on the field. Mad props for making the best of the situation. 4 p.m.
Off: Lusk.
Thoughts? Ideas? Criticism? Compliments? They’re all welcome here. Let me know what you think of this week’s picks by posting a comment below.
–patrick
Buffalo-Worland recap and Snake River-Kaycee recap (Buffalo Bulletin). … Cody-Hardin recap and Cody breaks in new turf (Cody Enterprise). … Kelly Walsh-Green River recap (Green River Star). … Glenrock-Kemmerer recap (Kemmerer Gazette). … Rocky Mountain-Normative Services recap (Lovell Chronicle). … Chadron-Torrington recap, Southeast-Newcastle recap and Lingle-Saratoga recap (Torrington Telegram).
–patrick
Lang has big day for Pine Bluffs (Wyoming Tribune Eagle). … Natrona-Evanston recap (Uinta County Herald). … Douglas-Belle Fourche, S.D., recap (Douglas Budget).
–patrick
School: Farson
Nickname: Pronghorns
Colors: green and yellow
Stadium: Unknown
State championships: None
Times worth remembering: The Pronghorns’ best season came in 1989, a 5-2 campaign that was one victory away from a playoff berth. The Pronghorns won four straight at one point in that season, but a 40-28 loss to Hanna — a team Farson had beaten 24-12 earlier in the season — kept them out of the playoffs.
Times worth forgetting: The 1990 season was the Pronghorns’ last gasp. After losing five games — four on the field, one by forfeit — Farson gave up the ghost. The Pronghorns forfeited their final three games and opted not to return to the field until coming back with a six-man program 2009.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
School: Goshen Hole
Nickname: Spartans
Colors: green and yellow
Stadium: Unknown
State championships: None
Times worth remembering: The four years from 1972-75 were the best in the Spartans’ brief history. In those four years, the Spartans never had a losing season and finished with a program-best 7-1 record in 1974.
Times worth forgetting: After finding some early success in the infancy stages of the school, the Spartans hit some tough times in 1969-71, suffering three straight losing seasons, including a bottoming-out 1-7 season in 1970. Only a 20-14 win over Glendo kept the Spartans from a winless season.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
School: Rozet
Nickname: Mustangs
Colors: red and white
Stadium: Unknown
State championships: none
Short history: Rozet had football just twice — a practice/sub-varsity squad in 1952 that never played an official game, and a varsity team that went 0-4 in 1953. The Mustangs’ best effort came in their final game, a 45-19 loss to Big Horn on Oct. 30, 1953, in Rozet.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
School: Snake River
Nickname: Rattlers
Colors: purple and yellow
Stadium: Unknown
State championships: None
Times worth remembering: The 3-4 2009 season, Snake River’s first in 52 years, gave the Rattlers more victories than all their other years combined. Only two victories are on the books for the Rattlers before then — a 37-0 win over Big Piney in 1952 and a 32-0 win over Farson in 1953.
Times worth forgetting: The available records have five consecutive winless seasons for Baggs — 0-3 in 1954, 0-4 in 1955, 0-2 in 1956 and 1957 and 0-1 in 1958 — before the school hung up the helmets for more than 50 years after ’58.
Gillette bounces back against Laramie, Kelly Walsh’s Drinkwalter improves as Trojans win, and players of the week (Casper Star-Tribune). … Gillette-Laramie recap (Gillette News-Record). … Hanna-Ten Sleep recap (Northern Wyo Daily News, click today).
–patrick
Class 2A just got a whole lot more interesting.
Or a whole lot more predictable, depending on who you ask.
Big Horn’s big-time 37-14 victory over Greybull — in Greybull — is the type of game that sends shock waves through a classification. Greybull figured to be one of the best teams in the 2A West. The Buffs might still be. Yet the Rams left little doubt as to which team was the better team on the field Friday night.
It’s not surprising to me that Big Horn won. With all the starters the Rams have back this fall, beating Greybull was entirely possible. But 37-14? That’s more than a victory. That’s a statement.
But for Big Horn, the journey has only begun. The Rams face Burns and Wright the next two weeks before back-to-back showdowns with Glenrock and Thermopolis.
The Rams will be ready, though. Friday’s performance proved that.
Second mad props to a pair of Carbon County six-man teams, Snake River and Hanna. Snake River pulled one of the bigger upsets of the day, thumping preseason No. 1 Kaycee 68-44 in Baggs, while Hanna barely eked past Ten Sleep 34-32. I’ve been saying for quite a while now that six-man is much more unpredictable this fall, especially now that teams have a year of practice under their belts and, on paper, the teams match up more evenly. It’s hard to choose one from the pack because they match up so well. I think this is just the proof of that; Kaycee and Ten Sleep are no more out of it than Snake River and Hanna are now. Nevertheless, Kaycee and Ten Sleep figured to be two of the better teams in the classification, and Snake River and Hanna flipped that logic around convincingly.
Third mad props to the two Casper teams, Natrona and Kelly Walsh, for their convincing victories over Evanston and Green River, respectively. NC went on the road and flogged Evanston 34-10, while KW stopped Green River in its tracks 21-7. The 4A hierarchy was shaped a ton by these two games — NC as a title favorite thanks to two straight big victories, and Kelly Walsh as a legit contender, even despite last week’s loss. Obviously the fun is just getting started as these two teams face each other in the Oil Bowl next week… but for now, both teams can enjoy solid victories and appreciate their place.
Fourth mad props to Powell, which proved that zero week doesn’t mean too much by overcoming Riverton 13-10. Powell had a rough go of it last week before its game with Miles City, Mont., was stopped; Riverton had no trouble with Jackson. But coaches say all the time that the biggest improvement a team makes in a week is in the week between the first game and the second game. Powell improved, then won. And the 3A West looks a whole lot tougher.
Fifth mad props to another northwestern Wyoming squad, Lovell, which made the long trip to Wright and came away with a one-point victory. I don’t know much about what happened in this game (little help?), but I do know that (1) making a long trip like that, then playing well, often don’t go together, and (2) both teams had potential to be tough teams to stop this fall. Lovell found the way to win, on the road, against a good team. That HAS to bring confidence to a team.
Sixth mad props to another northwestern squad, Riverside, 23-20 winners on the road over Pinedale. In another game involving a long road trip for a pair of evenly matched teams, the road team again came out on top. Again, I don’t know much about what happened in the game, but going on the road, against a school three times your size, and coming back with a victory is not an easy task to do. The Rebels accomplished it and head into the conference schedule a scary team.
Seventh mad props to Dubois, which put the smack down on Upton by the tune of 48-0 in Casper. It was 41-0 at halftime. It’s a big win for the Rams, who are building a bit of momentum now. They won last year’s season finale and this year’s season opener — the first time they’ve won two in a row as a program since early in the 2006 season. Don’t look now, but the 1A West just got a whole lot more convoluted.
Eighth mad props to Wind River, which continued its domination over Wyoming Indian in a high-scoring shootout in Pavillion. The Cougars beat the Chiefs for the 14th time in a row, a streak that dates to 1987. I thought the Chiefs might have the edge this year, but the Cougars proved that notion wrong and also proved that they have that scary word — potential — and could be a threat again this year.
Ninth mad props to Star Valley, which not only beat but beat down Snake River, Idaho, 49-21. The Panthers have one of Idaho’s more consistent programs, but Friday’s game in Afton wasn’t even close. The Braves took control early, rolled up a big lead and then let the JV take some snaps. Wow — that is an impressive performance from the Braves. Like I said before, the 3A West looks a whole lot tougher.
Obviously, we see a lot of changes from year to year, and the first full week of the season gave us a glimpse of those changes. Sheridan and Natrona have set the pace for 4A teams; the 3A West looks like the toughest conference in the state; Douglas keeps on winning; Big Horn has 2A scurred; the 1A West is in a relationship and it’s complicated; didja see Southeast, Lingle, Lusk and Pine Bluffs all won; six-man has parity.
The unfolding of a fantastic season has begun. … So what did you think? What were some of your favorite moments from Week 1? Post your thoughts below and let’s chat.
This week: 23-11 (68 percent). This season: 35-14 (71 percent)
Kelly Walsh-Green River recap, Dubois-Upton recap, Natrona-Evanston recap and Gillette-Laramie recap (Casper Star-Tribune). … Cheyenne Central-Rock Springs recap (Wyoming Tribune Eagle). … Gillette-Laramie recap (Laramie Boomerang). … Star Valley-Snake River (Idaho) recap (Star Valley Independent). … Lander-Rawlins recap and Lingle-Saratoga recap (Rawlins Times).
–patrick
Class 3A preview and capsules, Natrona-Evanston preview, Kelly Walsh-Green River preview and games of the week (Casper Star-Tribune). … Cheyenne Central-Rock Springs and Cheyenne East-Sheridan previews (Wyoming Tribune Eagle). … Laramie-Gillette preview (Laramie Boomerang). … Greybull-Riverside recap (Basin Republican Rustler). … Kemmerer-Glenrock preview (Kemmerer Gazette). … Lusk jamboree recap (Lusk Herald).
–patrick