Author Archives: Patrick

If you look up “dynasty” in the dictionary, it does not say: “See also: Sheridan.”

But give it time.

The way things are going, Webster is going to have to make room for the Broncs.

For the 14th consecutive year, Sheridan is in the Class 4A football semifinals.

Only one other program in state history has had the same level of consistency in the playoffs. Cokeville reached 22 consecutive semifinal rounds from 1993-2014 — the only team to exceed Sheridan’s current streak of success.

But Cokeville isn’t Sheridan.

The Broncs compete at Wyoming’s big-school level, constantly facing the best teams the state has to offer. For almost a generation, the Broncs have shown they are up to the challenge.

Eight times in those 14 years, the Broncs have advanced to the state championship game. Six of those times, the Broncs have won it all.

So fortune should favor top-seeded Sheridan when it plays against Natrona in the 4A semifinals on Friday. After all, the Broncs are — get this — 41-2 at home in playoff games all-time, including last week’s 48-14 victory against Cheyenne Central in the first round of this year’s playoffs.

Read that record again. Forty-one. And. Two. Five away from a Tool song.

The “two,” though, might give Natrona some hope. The Broncs’ only two home playoff losses, ever?

• 2008: Green River. Semifinals.
• 2013: Cheyenne East. Semifinals.

The only two home playoff losses the Broncs have ever had have come in the 14-year streak, and they’ve come in the semifinals.

Natrona: I’m telling you, there’s a chance.

Against a dynasty at their place, sometimes that’s all you can ask for.

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Sheridan’s semifinal streak isn’t the only one continuing this year — for the fifth consecutive year, streaks to the championship doorstep for Cheyenne East and Cody also continue. Meanwhile, feel-good Wind River broke an 11-year streak of semifinal-less years by beating Lusk last week, and the Cougars’ semifinal road trip, just down the back road to Shoshoni, is significantly shorter than its quarterfinal trip to Niobrara County.

Meanwhile, where’s Upton-Sundance? The Patriots are out after seven straight years of semifinal berths, the longest such streak broken this year.

Six of the 10 games are rematches from the regular season, including both 4A and 1A six-man games. Meanwhile, Lovell and Torrington are facing each other for the first time ever. Rocky Mountain and Pine Bluffs are playing each other for the fourth time, but for the first time the game is in Laramie County (although Byron High did come to Pine for the 1948 six-man championship).

All that said, the semifinals shape up well this year — lots of contenders, a grand total of zero pretenders (legit, in all five classifications) and quite a bit of uncertainty.

This time of year, that’s how it should be.

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Here are the semifinal picks. If you don’t know what bold means by now, then I suggest you come here more often, get acquainted, grab a drink, settle in. We have fun here, and you should be a part of it.

Friday
Class 4A
(4) Natrona at (1) Sheridan: Natrona is tough and confident and will give the Broncs a tussle, but I think they might be a year away. Sheridan’s time is now, and it will show at Homer Scott Field.
(3) Cheyenne East at (2) Rock Springs: I love this matchup so much, and I think the Thunderbirds absolutely have the potential to knock off the Tigers on the road. But Rock Springs is rolling right now, and a 31-15 victory against the T-Birds just two weeks ago in the capital city has to give them confidence.
Class 3A
(2W) Jackson at (1E) Douglas: Douglas looked strong in its quarterfinal victory against Powell. The problem is that so did Jackson in wiping the floor with Buffalo. Any other year, 3A is Douglas’ to claim. But this isn’t any other year in 3A.
(3W) Star Valley at (1W) Cody: The Braves are the wild-card pick in 3A’s semifinal round; after starting 3-5, they’ve won three in a row and are playing as well as anyone. Cody, though, has been at that level all season.
Class 2A
(2E) Wheatland at (1W) Lyman: The annoying thing about Lyman is that the Eagles don’t do anything that stands out. Decent offense, decent defense, decent special teams. But darn if their TEAM isn’t the strongest all-around thing we’ve seen in 2A this year, and darn if they don’t know how to win.
(2W) Lovell at (1E) Torrington: Lovell’s six-game winning streak meets Torrington’s eight-game streak in the “something’s got to give” game. And after the way Cokeville put the fear of the ghosteses into the Trailblazers last week, Lovell could come down to Goshen County and win this one. Torrington’s still the fave, though.
Class 1A nine-man
(3W) Wind River at (1W) Shoshoni: I’ll admit it now: Wind River’s turnaround has been my absolute favorite story of 2021, regardless of classification. They’ve been so much fun. The Wranglers, meanwhile, don’t have time for those shenanigans.
(2W) Rocky Mountain at (1E) Pine Bluffs: If the undefeated Hornets are going to find a bugaboo, it might just be the we’ve-won-seven-in-a-row-but-somehow-we’re-still-under-the-radar Grizzlies who present it to them. In Cowley, it might be a different story, but in the air where you can smell the Nebraska corn, I like Pine.
Class 1A six-man
(4W) Dubois at (2W) Encampment: Dubois will be back — next year, and the following year — to this level. Encampment may be, too. For now, though, Encampment’s first semifinal home game in program history is theirs to take.
(3W) Meeteetse at (1W) Snake River: This scenario is exactly what the Rattlers wanted to avoid. Meeteetse was the only six-man team to actually hang with Snake River this season, eventually falling 29-23. I’ll take unbeaten Snake, but don’t overlook a Longhorn team that knows it can play, and beat, the best six-man has to offer.

For a full schedule including kickoff times, as well as results from past weeks, go here. Click on “Semifinals on the top of the page for this week’s schedule. Click here for a playoff bracket.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 17-3 (85 percent). This season: 249-47 (84 percent).

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Did you make it this far? Prove it. Leave an angry emoji on this week’s Facebook post. As always, you can leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

Now that the regular season has come to an end and the 40 teams are set in their brackets, let’s take a quick look back at the regular season and highlight some teams that surprised, frustrated and grew this season:

Three biggest surprises: Wind River, Wright, Midwest. Zero expectations followed these teams into the 2021 season. Together, they combined for four victories in 2020, and entering 2021 didn’t give much of an indication of how much better each would be. Wind River jumped from 2-5 to 6-2; Wright went from 2-6 to 4-4; Midwest went from 0-8 to 4-4 and hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2013, the longest such streak broken in the first round this year. It’s not so much the leaps forward as how unexpected they were — Wind River had good numbers but a small senior class and a decade of losing seasons, Wright lost every all-conference player from a tough season in 2020, and Midwest was set to rely on a bunch of freshmen. Yet here they are, not only in the playoffs but solid contenders.

Three biggest frustrations: Cheyenne Central, Mountain View, Kaycee. Cheyenne Central and Kaycee, despite being worlds apart, have similar 2021 stories — high expectations after a solid season in 2020 that ended with a frustrating playoff loss, a slow start to the 2021 season, a Week 8 fight just to make it to the playoffs. Neither one expected to be in that kind of situation in August. Mountain View, meanwhile, is out of the playoffs for the first time in a decade after an injury-plagued 1-7 season that just snowballed. Hopefully for each program, 2022 brings brighter days.

Biggest building seasons: Evanston, Newcastle, Kemmerer. These three teams did not make the playoffs, but each made big steps forward as programs from where they were in 2020. Evanston was the feel-good story of the first half of the 3A season before stumbling down the stretch in West Conference play, but the Red Devils still finished 5-4. Newcastle was scrappy and tough and darn near earned a playoff berth before losing by two to Wheatland in Week 8. And Kemmerer, long dormant, got a couple solid victories and played tough otherwise, big steps for a program that exorcised the weight of two consecutive winless seasons during 2021.

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Now, the third season begins.

The 2021 playoff brackets have some familiar faces: Natrona is in the playoffs for the 30th consecutive season, Cokeville the 29th, Big Horn the 23rd, Douglas the 20th. But Dubois is in for the first time in five years, the longest playoff drought broken by any team in any of the five brackets this year.

Some usual suspects aren’t around, though: In addition to Mountain View missing out for the first time in 10 years, Farson is out for the first time in eight years.

Probably the best feel-good story of the first round is in Encampment, where the Tigers are hosting a playoff game for the first time in program history. Encampment has won five in a row and is 6-1 entering the postseason. For a team that’s only three years old, you can’t ask for much more than that — except for maybe the program’s first postseason home victory?

Speaking of which: 20 teams will win this weekend, while 20 other teams will see their seasons come to a close. Which ones will it be? Well, here are some thoughts, with teams I think will win in bold:

Class 4A
(8) Cheyenne Central at (1) Sheridan: The Indians stayed close to the Broncs in the regular season and could make this one interesting, but it’s tough to go against the Broncs at home in a playoff game.
(5) Thunder Basin at (4) Natrona: Natrona did the thing two weeks ago. I don’t know if the ‘Bolts will allow such dominance this time around, but NC’s was an impressive victory, one I can’t ignore.
(7) Kelly Walsh at (2) Rock Springs: The only 4A playoff rematch that wasn’t a close game in the regular season wasn’t close for a reason. The Tigers definitely have the upper hand here.
(6) Campbell County at (3) Cheyenne East: The Camels are a program on the rise, and East knows they will be problematic (see their regular-season matchup for proof). But I still like the defending champs here.
Class 3A
(4W) Powell at (1E) Douglas: It’s too easy to forget just how completely Powell handled Douglas in Week 3 when the Panthers won 17-0. This one might be closer, but Powell should be really confident here.
(3E) Buffalo at (2W) Jackson: Buffalo has had a nice season and will be competitive. But Jackson is thinking bigger than a date with the Bison.
(4E) Worland at (1W) Cody: When these two teams played in the regular season, Worland hung around and lost 35-21. But it wasn’t really that close, and Cody will show that.
(3W) Star Valley at (2E) Lander: The Tigers closed the season strong and won three in a row to earn hosting duties. And a home playoff game will be a nice consolation prize for the third year in a row.
Class 2A
(4E) Big Horn at (1W) Lyman: I’ll be honest: I did not see a repeat of 2020’s success coming for the Eagles in 2021. To the credit of the defending champs, they haven’t repeated 2020 — they’ve been even better.
(3W) Big Piney at (2E) Wheatland: Will the real Wheatland please stand up? If the Bulldogs do, they’ll be fine. If they don’t, the Punchers absolutely have the capability of winning on the road.
(4W) Cokeville at (1E) Torrington: No one likes to see themselves opposite Cokeville in their playoff bracket, especially as the Panthers try to send coach Todd Dayton off right in his final season. Watch for an inspired Panther group to make this a heck of a game.
(3E) Upton-Sundance at (2W) Lovell: Both these teams have been tough, darn tough, all season long. I think neither will go down without a fight. And I still like the Bulldogs at home.
Class 1A nine-man
(4E) Wright at (1W) Shoshoni: The Panthers come into the playoffs having lost three of their last four. A 7-1 Shoshoni team will be ready for whatever Wright tries to throw at them.
(3W) Wind River at (2E) Lusk: Wind River was the team I least expected to see at 6-2, yet here they are. And they may very well pull off this upset. The Tigers are the favorites, though… but only if they bring their “A” game.
(4W) Riverside at (1E) Pine Bluffs: Sorry, but this undefeated train ain’t stopping for the Rebels.
(3E) Southeast at (2W) Rocky Mountain: Game of the week? Quite possibly, as the defending champion Cyclones won’t fall easy and the Grizzlies know it.
Class 1A six-man
(4W) Dubois at (1E) Hulett: Playing the same team in Week 8 as you do in the postseason is always an awkward situation, especially when you know prior to Week 8 that you’re going to play a week later. Who learned what? Rams could be a spoiler…
(3E) Guernsey at (2W) Encampment: This week’s game against Guernsey is the first time the Tigers and Vikings have faced each other, the only such game in any bracket. As noted already, the Tigers have put together an impressive run so far. Encampment should keep rolling.
(4E) Kaycee at (1W) Snake River: The undefeated Rattlers figured out the winning formula early, and they’ve kept with it all season. No reason to think it will stop now.
(3W) Meeteetse at (2E) Midwest: I did not figure the Oilers as playoff hosts this year, and this will be a great boost to their program and their young guns. But Meeteetse is the better team this year.

For a full schedule including kickoff times, as well as results from past weeks, go here. Click on “Week 8” on the top of the page for this week’s schedule. Click here for a playoff bracket.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 28-4 (88 percent). This season: 232-44 (84 percent).

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Who’s ready to pull a big first-round upset, and who’s read to leave a goose egg on the opponents’ scoreboard as they cruise on to the semifinals? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

The final week of the regular season goes by different names.

Around these parts, though, I call it Spreadsheet Week.

I spend more time on spreadsheets in Week 8 than I do in any other. The myriad playoff scenarios are dizzying, and I need the spreadsheets to make sense of it all.

But honestly, with only 46 teams alive for 40 playoff spots, it’s a little simpler than it seems on the surface.

The simplest scenarios exist for Cheyenne Central, Laramie, Powell, Evanston, Kaycee and Hanna: Win and they’re in. Lose and they’re out. It’s like a bonus playoff game, pigtail games for brackets that we know will already be filled with excitement.

However, only 12 teams — Star Valley, Torrington, Lyman, Pine Bluffs, Lusk, Shoshoni, Rocky Mountain, Hulett, Snake River, Encampment, Meeteetse and Dubois — know their seeds. That includes the entire 1A six-man West, the only place where certainty has much of a foothold. The other 28 seeds are all in question entering Week 8, and only one first-round playoff matchup (Dubois at Hulett) is certain. In Class 4A, not a single team’s seed is set for sure entering the final week of the regular season (except Cheyenne South, which has been eliminated).

With 20 games this week affecting seeding, that means there are almost 400 ways the brackets could look by the time Saturday’s three games are finished.

That’s where the spreadsheets come in. Week 8 — the one week we can mix jockdom and nerddom and it’s not only OK, it’s encouraged.

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Other games that I’ll be watching a little bit closer than usual:

The biggest game with the lowest stakes is the rematch of last year’s 3A championship between Cody and Jackson, this time in Teton County. I say low stakes because the two top-ranked teams in 3A are both playing some great football right now, and even though the winner gets a conference championship and home-field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see both of these teams in Laramie, rematching the rematch, in three weeks. A loss here wouldn’t interrupt that. …

Class 4A’s elites meet this week with Rock Springs traveling to Cheyenne East and Sheridan traveling to Thunder Basin. East, Rock Springs and Sheridan are all alive for the No. 1 seed, and Thunder Basin is still dangerous and in the hunt for the No. 2 seed. There’s a lot to sort out at the top, and these two games will do a lot of the shaking. …

For as messy as the 2A East could be (with the potential for an unprecedented four-way tie), the most intriguing game is still Upton-Sundance playing at Big Horn. Both teams have been playing well this season, and no one wants to see them on their side of the bracket in the playoffs. …

Dubois playing Hulett at Ten Sleep was a bonus game added to the schedule when Ten Sleep and NSI gave up the ghost — Ten Sleep for football, NSI for everything. Now, it also serves as a first-round playoff preview, when Dubois will travel to Hulett for the six-man quarterfinals. Safe to say that both teams will probably be holding back on the playbook this week in anticipation for saving the best stuff for next week. But I’m still interested to see who wins this week.

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Picks are here. Can you dig it? Bold means I think that team will win. Because I like to live on the edge, thinking that anything teenagers do is predictable.

Tuesday
Class 2A
Thermopolis at Big Piney (picked on Twitter before Tuesday’s game)
Thursday
Class 2A
Mountain View at Lyman
Class 1A nine-man
St. Stephens at Rocky Mountain
Shoshoni at Riverside
Wind River at Wyoming Indian
Friday
Class 4A
Campbell County at Kelly Walsh
Cheyenne South at Natrona
Laramie at Cheyenne Central
Rock Springs at Cheyenne East
Sheridan at Thunder Basin
Class 3A
Douglas at Worland
Evanston at Powell
Jackson at Cody
Lander at Buffalo
Rawlins at Riverton
Star Valley at Green River
Class 2A
Big Piney at Kemmerer
Burns at Torrington
Lovell at Cokeville
Pinedale at Thermopolis
Tongue River at Glenrock
Upton-Sundance at Big Horn
Wheatland at Newcastle
Class 1A nine-man
Greybull at Lingle
Lusk at Saratoga
Moorcroft at Pine Bluffs
Wright at Southeast
Class 1A six-man
Encampment at Burlington
Midwest at Guernsey-Sunrise
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Dubois vs. Hulett (at Ten Sleep)
Kaycee at Hanna
Snake River at Farson
Open: Meeteetse.

For a full schedule including kickoff times, as well as results from past weeks, go here. Click on “Week 8” on the top of the page for this week’s schedule.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 27-5 (84 percent). This season: 194-40 (83 percent).

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Who do you think is ready to rise up in the final season of the week and surprise us all? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

Of all the games Wheatland could have lost, the Bulldogs sure picked a good one.

Thanks to the schedule, Wheatland’s surprising 18-14 loss to Burns two weeks ago doesn’t stop the ‘Dogs from controlling their own destiny.

That destiny, though, includes this week’s rivalry game with Torrington, a game that will likely decide the top seed from the Class 2A East Conference.

While the loss to Burns ended Wheatland’s unbeaten season, it didn’t end their chances at a conference or state title. Recent history both inside and outside Wheatland’s 2021 experience demonstrates that.

Last year’s 2A champions, Lyman, suffered a similarly surprising midseason loss. The Eagles’ loss came at the hands of Big Piney, which ended up missing the playoffs entirely. But Lyman still earned the West’s top seed and toppled Torrington in the championship game.

Moreover, the last time Wheatland won a state championship — in 2015 — the Bulldogs stumbled to its first loss in Week 8, 28-14 to Big Horn.

Three weeks later, Wheatland was hoisting a state championship trophy, while Big Horn’s season ended in the quarterfinals.

This week’s game against Torrington, which has rebounded from an 0-2 start to win five consecutive games, will go a long way in saying just how much of an aberration the Burns loss was for Wheatland.

The Bulldogs rebounded last week with a closer-than-it-should-have-been 20-14 nail-biter against Tongue River, a team that’s 1-4 in 2A East play. The Trailblazers, meanwhile, have had their share of nervous moments too, beating Upton-Sundance by 10, Newcastle by 13 and Big Horn in double overtime (the same week Wheatland was losing to Burns).

Torrington has dominated this regional rivalry for the better part of a century, and the Trailblazers will be the favorites. They will also have the added incentive of knowing that if they win, they’ll be the top seed from the East, a benefit Wheatland doesn’t automatically get with a victory this week.

What the Bulldogs do have, though, is the same opportunity Torrington has: the chance to have a say in how their season ends.

Fortunately for Wheatland, one loss didn’t stop that.

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Other games that have found a way into my consciousness this week:

Sheridan and Campbell County bring up their old Energy Bowl rivalry this week, which is always fun. But Natrona playing at Thunder Basin promises to be the 4A game of the week. …

Buffalo and Douglas are both 3-0 in the 3A East, and Friday’s winner is likely to be the conference champ (and that’s definitely the case if Buffalo wins). Douglas was the one expected to be here; Buffalo, though, has played the part of a contender well all season long. …

Powell will be a dangerous team in the playoffs. Well, if they can survive long enough to make it there. The Panthers head to Jackson in yet another 3A gamut game, and I’m curious to see how they handle the road trip to the Tetons. …

Both Newcastle and Burns have made tremendous strides this season. But the path to a potential playoff berth goes through the other. The loser of this week’s game between the two programs on the rise will likely signal the end of the postseason dreams for one of them — and that’s too bad. …

Saratoga’s last, best chance to force some chaos into the 1A nine-man East comes in a long road trip to Wright, where the two Panther teams have to go through each other to stay in the race. It’s honestly the hardest game of the week to pick a winner. …

Two other 1A nine-man games will likely decide who gets home playoff games. Southeast/Lusk doesn’t have the luster it had in August (thanks a lot, Pine Bluffs!), but it will still have a lot of intensity. And Wind River/Rocky Mountain is the surprise big game of the year thanks to the Cougars’ shocking 5-1 start — something that looks less flukey by the week. …

It wouldn’t be a Patrick picks post without a mention of the biggest and best rivalry in Wyoming, Kaycee/Midwest, where the Oilers actually have a chance to win in the rivalry for the first time since 2013. Both teams are likely playoff bound, and a home playoff game is still up for grabs in the 1A six-man East. The chase between these two and Guernsey will be fun, if last week’s Guernsey/Kaycee game was any indication. …

This is a make-or-break week in the 1A six-man West, with Encampment hosting Dubois and Meeteetse hosting Farson. One of those four teams won’t be in the postseason, which is hard to believe, because they’ve all proven they can hang with anyone. …

Twelve teams are still winless entering Week 7, and two games (Laramie at Cheyenne South, and Wyoming Indian at St. Stephens) match up winless teams. The 4A matchup is the only one with a possible postseason ramification, but regardless, it gives me a weird sense of satisfaction to know at least two of those 12 teams are getting their first victory this week.

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I pick games every week. This week is no different. Bold means I think they’ll win, but I love a good upset as much as anyone:

Thursday
Class 3A
Evanston at Star Valley
Class 2A
Pinedale at Lyman
Class 1A nine-man
Wyoming Indian at St. Stephens
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Rock Springs
Cheyenne East at Kelly Walsh
Laramie at Cheyenne South
Natrona at Thunder Basin
Sheridan at Campbell County
Class 3A
Buffalo at Douglas
Cody at Green River
Lander at Rawlins
Powell at Jackson
Worland at Riverton
Class 2A
Big Horn at Tongue River
Cokeville at Big Piney
Kemmerer at Lovell
Newcastle at Burns
Thermopolis at Mountain View
Torrington at Wheatland
Upton-Sundance at Glenrock
Class 1A nine-man
Lingle at Pine Bluffs
Saratoga at Wright
Shoshoni at Greybull
Southeast at Lusk
Rocky Mountain at Wind River
Class 1A six-man
Kaycee at Midwest
Saturday
Class 1A nine-man
Riverside at Moorcroft
Class 1A six-man
Burlington at Guernsey-Sunrise
Dubois at Encampment
Farson at Meeteetse
Hanna vs. Hulett (at Midwest)
Interclass
Snake River at Natrona sophs

For a full schedule including kickoff times, as well as results from past weeks, go here. Click on “Week 7” on the top of the page for this week’s schedule.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 27-3 (90 percent). This season: 167-35 (83 percent).

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We’re getting down to the nitty-gritty of the 2021 season. Which teams have been your big surprises this fall, either direction? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

The last time Hulett started 5-0, the Red Devils were playing nine-man football.

Way back in 1994, Hulett strung together eight consecutive victories to start the season before losing the Class 1A nine-man championship game to Burlington — incidentally, the last nine-man game in Wyoming until 2020.

This year’s Red Devils, now in Class 1A six-man, have finally ended that drought, putting together victories in their first five games for the first time in almost 30 years.

Oddly enough, in 1994 after their 5-0 start, the Red Devils’ sixth game came against Midwest. The same thing will happen in 2021, as the 3-2 Oilers, on a three-game winning streak for the first time since 2017, make the visit to Crook County on Saturday for game No. 6 on Hulett’s schedule.

No matter what else happens the rest of the season, a victory against Midwest will give Hulett the top seed from the six-man East Conference. Hulett’s only remaining conference game after Saturday is against Hanna in Week 7, and even a loss to the undermanned Miners would not stop the Red Devils from holding tiebreaker victories against every other team that could tie them for the top spot.

Don’t sweat that outcome too much, though. Hulett has scored a six-man best 349 points, averaging 69.8 points per game. The defense has shored up the past two weeks, as they’ve only given up 38 points combined in their two conference games against Kaycee and Guernsey.

Victories against Midwest and Hanna — victories that must be earned, sure, but games in which Hulett will be the favorite — would give Hulett its first outright conference championship since 1999.

Then comes Week 8, when Dubois will meet Hulett halfway in Ten Sleep for the game that will be the biggest threat to Hulett’s regular-season winning streak.

If the Red Devils want to keep their 1994 comparisons going, they’ll have to beat the Rams in a year where six-man’s West Conference teams have all but dominated their East Conference foes. Hulett’s 64-58 Week 1 victory against winless Burlington marks the only time East has topped West this season. Only three such interconference six-man games remain, with Hanna hosting Encampment this week and Guernsey hosting Burlington in Week 7.

Hulett’s first priority, though, is Midwest — and 6-0.

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Some other games to watch in Week 6, at least on paper… because they’re all technically games to watch in the real world:

If Campbell County’s near-miss against Cheyenne East didn’t get your attention, the Camels’ victory against Cheyenne Central last week sure should have. The Camels and their opponents this week, Natrona, are both 3-3. Somehow, having the Camels back in the fold makes 4A fun again. …

The “old” Capital Bowl with Central and East is always interesting. I’m curious to see how the Indians rebound, because if they do, they’ll be 2021 capital city champs. …

Speaking of rivalries, the Fremont County showdown between Riverton and Lander has the makings of, well, a mystery. Riverton’s 0-6, Lander’s 1-4 and lost four in a row, but neither team is a pushover. …

This is your obligatory 3A West mention for the week, with Star Valley’s trip to Cody taking center stage in a conference that deserves all the attention it will get in 2021. …

Despite an upset loss to Burns last week, Wheatland still controls its own destiny in the 2A East. A solid Tongue River team, which is coming to Platte County, will test the Bulldogs’ resiliency. …

In a 1A nine-man East that’s suddenly quite competitive below the top rung, Saratoga’s trip to Yoder to play Southeast is maybe the most interesting game on the Week 6 schedule. Lusk’s trip to Cowley to play Rocky Mountain is, too, but doesn’t mean nearly as much to the postseason chase…

At least one really good team is going to be left out of the 1A six-man playoffs, because only four teams from the West can go. This week’s games — Farson at Dubois, Meeteetse at Snake River — will go a long way in deciding who stays home after Week 8. …

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At this point in the proceedings, I’d like to take some time out for predictions. I’ll bold the teams I think will win this week. The normal-type teams, though, will do well to know that I’m not always right. And I love unpredictability.

Thursday
Class 1A nine-man
Wind River at St. Stephens
Friday
Class 4A
Campbell County at Natrona
Cheyenne Central at Cheyenne East
Cheyenne South at Rock Springs
Kelly Walsh at Sheridan
Thunder Basin at Laramie
Class 3A
Douglas at Rawlins
Green River at Powell
Jackson at Evanston
Riverton at Lander
Star Valley at Cody
Worland at Buffalo
Class 2A
Burns at Upton-Sundance
Glenrock at Big Horn
Kemmerer at Cokeville
Lovell at Pinedale
Lyman at Thermopolis
Mountain View at Big Piney
Newcastle at Torrington
Tongue River at Wheatland
Class 1A nine-man
Greybull at Riverside
Lusk at Rocky Mountain
Moorcroft at Lingle
Pine Bluffs at Wright
Saratoga at Southeast
Wyoming Indian at Shoshoni
Class 1A six-man
Guernsey-Sunrise at Kaycee
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Encampment at Hanna
Farson at Dubois
Meeteetse at Snake River
Midwest at Hulett
Open: Burlington.

For a full schedule including kickoff times, as well as results from past weeks, go here. Click on “Week 6” on the top of the page for this week’s schedule.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 24-6 (80 percent). This season: 140-32 (81 percent).

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Cody, Lyman, Pine Bluffs, Hulett, Snake River. Five undefeated teams left. Which one(s) do you think have what it takes to finish that way? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

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–patrick