Class 1A six-man season preview: A rare test of parity?

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Note: This is the first of five classification previews for the 2020 season at wyoming-football.com. Previews will run every Thursday for the next five weeks.

Since its reintroduction to Wyoming in 2009, six-man football has seen nothing but dominant champions.

The combined record of the 11 six-man champs since 2009 is 115-2. Only one champion (Kaycee in 2015) had an in-state loss during its championship season.

For comparison, the champs in 4A, 2A and 1A 11-man have a combined nine losses in that span; 3A champs have a combined 12 losses.

Domination isn’t just an expectation in six-man. It’s a requirement.

This year’s dominant team is a bit tougher to find, as four teams leave for the new nine-man division, one team comes back to varsity play for the first time in almost 30 years and another returns after a couple years away.

While the conversation starts with last year’s champs, it doesn’t end there — not in a year where parity could actually be part of the season in a classification that rarely sees it.

Four questions to answer

Can Snake River make another shutout run like last year’s? No. Snake River’s nine consecutive shutouts last year is a feat we’ll likely never see again in six-man. And the Rattlers graduated six all-state players, leaving opportunities for several other teams to fill the void left by those departing seniors.

But can Snake River repeat as champs? Ask the coaches, and they’ll give you the standard answer — they’re the champs until someone beats them, that makes them the favorites, and so on. But six-man should have parity at the top this season, and several teams are capable of making a title run.

So who’s the favorite? Dunno. One of the challenges in assessing the preseason prospects is that of the 40 players selected all-conference last season, only 14 return, thanks to graduation and teams moving to nine-man. Farson and Burlington have three returners apiece, and Hanna and Kaycee two apiece, so pencil them in at the top for now.

What’s new this year? With a little luck, two “new” teams. Encampment played a mix of varsity and sub-varsity teams last year and finished 5-2, and the Tigers will be a fully-fledged West Conference team this year. Meanwhile, Ten Sleep has missed the past two seasons due to low numbers but is scheduled to return in 2020.

Four (OK, five) players to watch

Parker Clawson, Farson. Clawson was incredibly valuable on a balanced Pronghorn team last season, leading them in receiving (30 catches, 436 yards) and finishing second in tackles. He’s also Farson’s only returning all-state pick.

Devon Grosstick and Jase Smith, Hanna. They’re not twins, but they put up similar numbers in 2019. Grosstick, a senior, caught 25 passes for 376 yards and had 202 defensive points; Smith, a junior, caught 22 passes for 290 yards and had 208 defensive points. As Hanna’s two returning all-state picks, they’ll be key in getting the Miners back to Laramie.

Zander Risner, Snake River. The Rattlers’ only returning all-stater has a lot on his shoulders as a junior. He’s Snake River’s only returning player who had more than 20 tackles last year — and he had 78. That total included 19 tackles for loss and 11 sacks.

Dalton Peterson, Encampment. Even though the Tigers didn’t play a full varsity season last year, Peterson made his presence known. As a junior, he led 1A six-man in defensive points per game with 33.4 and was one of only three six-man players with at least 100 tackles; the other two played deep into the playoffs, while Peterson accomplished his feat in only seven games.

Four key games

Snake River at Hanna, Sept. 5. Both the Rattlers and Miners are going to look drastically different than they did when they met for the state championship last season. And if either wants to be a contender to return to Laramie again this season, a victory here in this non-conference but intra-county contest will be mighty helpful.

Farson at Burlington, Sept. 11. The West Conference is always competitive in six-man, and both the Pronghorns and Huskies should be near the top again this fall. Winning this one — the conference opener for both squads — will go a long way in reaching the goal of a conference championship.

Snake River at Encampment, Sept. 12. The Tigers’ first official conference game comes at home against the defending state champions. What an opportunity for Encampment to prove it belongs in the discussion as something more than a novelty.

Hanna at Kaycee, Oct. 23. On paper, the Miners and Buckaroos should be near the top of the East Conference again this season, so when they meet in the regular-season finale, it’ll likely be for way more than just pride.

Predicted order of finish

East Conference: Hanna, Kaycee, Hulett, Guernsey-Sunrise, Midwest, NSI Academy. West Conference: Farson, Burlington, Snake River, Encampment, Dubois, Meeteetse, Ten Sleep.

Preseason top five: 1. Farson; 2. Burlington; 3. Hanna; 4. Snake River; 5. Encampment.

Way-too-early title game score prediction

Farson 44, Burlington 38. The West Conference will be top-heavy, and that’ll prepare those teams for postseason play. That said, though, six-man appears to have more balance than usual, so don’t look for one team to dominate the season like we’ve traditionally seen.

What do you think about the potential goings-on in six-man this fall? Leave a comment, or drop a line on Twitter or Facebook.

Next Thursday: Class 1A nine-man.

–patrick

Wyoming-Nebraska Six-man Shootout set for Thursday

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The ninth version of the Six-man Shootout all-star football game between Wyoming and Nebraska will be this week.

The game will start at 5 p.m. Thursday at Sioux County High School in Harrison, Neb.

Team Wyoming includes:

GUERNSEY: Alex Delgado, Preston Elmore.
HANNA: Conor McGraw, Shane McGraw.
HULETT: Dalton Butler, Dawson Butler, Jhett Letellier.
MEETEETSE: Asa Eldredge.
ST. STEPHENS: Trenton Friday, Salem Ynostrosa.
SARATOGA: Menphis Smith.
SNAKE RIVER: Wyatt Duncan, Tony Enriquez, Karter Evans, Oscar Herrera, Taylor Otte.

Wyoming’s head coach is Jack Cobb from Snake River, the defending state champion. Assistant coaches are St. Stephens’ Billy Brost, Hanna’s Zack Scott and Snake River’s Sam Weeldreyer.

Nebraska’s roster was not yet available but will be posted here when shared publicly.

The game was pushed back from June 6 and moved from Chadron, Neb., to Harrison.

Wyoming won last year’s game 52-50 and leads the all-time series 5-3.

Also of note, the Can-Am Bowl, a six-man all-star game between players from across America and from Saskatchewan, was canceled for 2020. Wyoming has had representatives in the Can-Am Bowl every year since 2014.

–patrick

2020’s top returning Wyoming high school football players, by uniform number

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About this time last year, I posted something fun: Wyoming’s top returning high school football players by uniform number.

You all liked it. Like, a lot. Only one other post got more views all year long than the one I’ve linked above.

I hear you. So we’re back at it again.

The gist of this is that rather than looking by team or position, we’re picking out Wyoming’s best returning players by the number you’ll use to identify them on the field.

For some numbers, that’s exceedingly difficult. For most single-digit numbers, and for some reasons several numbers in the 20s, it was hard to pick just one player. For other numbers, it was easy — because only one returning player in the state wore that number last year.

The result is that this list recognizes a variety of players, from schools large and small, across all kinds of talent spectrums. Of course, a list like this has no right or wrong answers. It just has my answers. If you disagree with my selections, that’s awesome! After all, that’s why we play the game. And I’d love to hear your comments about who you think belongs in the spot belonging to a specific uniform number.

A quick note: I can’t guarantee that the numbers players wore last year will be worn again by them this year. I can’t even guarantee that they’ll go out, or that they haven’t moved since the end of last year. I used last year’s stat listings to determine what jersey number players wore; if your team didn’t compile stats, I didn’t (moreover, couldn’t) include those players. Also, a few of these players wore more than one number last year; they’re noted with asterisks.

All that said: Here it is, Wyoming’s top returning high school football players by jersey number for 2020.

NumberNameSchool
1Carson BatesBig Horn
2Jackson HesfordCheyenne East
3Hyrum HatchBuffalo
4Cooper HillLingle
5Brant NelsonStar Valley
6Tyler NicholsLovell
7Kieser WolfeTorrington
8Sadler SmithJackson
9Andrew JohnsonCheyenne Central
10Nate BarnesCokeville
11Izak AksamitSheridan
12Harrison TaubertNatrona
13Graedyn BuellCheyenne East
14Tryston TruemplerShoshoni
15Collin MadsenRock Springs
16James WoodCheyenne South
17Jake RaylCheyenne East
18Cason JamesLovell
19Preston BrewerLyman
20Carter LobatosCheyenne Central
21Liam HughesBig Piney
22Jess ClaycombUpton-Sundance
23Tyler BanksRocky Mountain
24Dylan TaylorGreen River
25Kade GuentherGlenrock
26Christian WalkerBig Horn
27Hunter KramerGillette
28Jaxon PikulaThunder Basin
29Rylan WehrDouglas
30Dominick BradachNatrona
31Grant MillsWright
32Jack SweeneyLander
33Cord HerringSoutheast
34Tate ClutterRiverside
35Nate LundbergCheyenne Central
36Triston LamorieFarson
37Connor BrownMountain View
38Julien GuinaLander
39Tony PerfettiTongue River
40Drake LampLusk
41Dominic GrayKelly Walsh
42Gabe BormanDouglas
43Dayne LampLusk**
44Colter DawsonJackson
45Tiger BullenNSI
46Bradyn StroufBuffalo
47Kolby BroederlowBurlington
48Kobe BartoCheyenne South
49Nic TalichCody
50Cordell ForknerLingle
51Dylan MolzahnLusk
52Ethan ZancanellaWright
53Noah RimmerSaratoga
54Trey BowerCheyenne East
55Julian VigilCheyenne East**
56Dakota HeckmanCheyenne East
57Ethan WeissBig Horn
58Joey KosteleckyCheyenne Central
59Chris LarsonSheridan
60Jimmy KoenigCheyenne Central
61Derek JohnsonEvanston
62Sawyer AndersonSoutheast
63Aaron OriaDouglas**
64Remington FerreeThermopolis
65Mason WellsLusk
66Quinton MangusSheridan
67Kannon ProchnowKelly Walsh
68Ethan BirdCokeville
69Nick CarlsonKemmerer**
70Gabe NieldStar Valley
71Sam HendersonKelly Walsh
72Mason HutsonLander
73T.J. WilsonCheyenne Central
74Jake MartinezGreen River
75Kale CorleyNewcastle
76Hunter MeeksMountain View
77Trey WrightWorland
78Jacob KnoblochTongue River
79Tim PeckKemmerer
80Jake HicksWheatland
81Jared LucasRiverton
82Rhys StaffordKaycee
83Rodee BrowWheatland
84Brock StoreboCheyenne Central
85Caleb CockrumKelly Walsh
86Jaret TaylorCheyenne East
87Brady StoreboCheyenne Central
88Broden MathesRiverton
89Lucas EngleRiverton
90No returners identified
91No returners identified
92No returners identified
93No returners identified
94No returners identified
95No returners identified
96No returners identified
97No returners identified
98No returners identified
99Kevin GunhammerTorrington**

**-Last year, Lamp also wore #70; Vigil also wore #87; Oria also wore #99; Carlson also wore #54; Gunhammer also wore #74 and #84.

Feedback? Leave a comment, or consider following along with what I do on Twitter or Facebook.

–patrick

More game films added to the Midwest High School football archive

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Thanks to former Midwest Oiler Phil LeMaitre, I’ve added some more Midwest football game tapes to my playlist on YouTube:

1979 vs. Southeast (Class B semifinals)

1979 vs. Big Piney (Class B championship, but the last half of the fourth quarter is missing)

1984 vs. Guernsey

1984 vs. Sundance (first quarter and first part of the second quarter only)

1984 vs. Upton

The full playlist of Midwest game tapes, totaling 119 games from 1979 to 2007, is here. Thanks to Phil for sharing these videos with me!

If anyone else, or if anyone at any other schools, has a game tape library they’d like archived, let me know: pschmiedt@yahoo.com.

–patrick

Riverside prepares to change head coaches

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The Riverside football program will have a new head coach for the 2020 season.

Greg Mendenhall, the Rebels’ junior high head football coach the past two years, will be recommended to be the high school program’s head coach when the Big Horn County School District No. 4 board meets on July 14.

Mendenhall takes over for Sam Buck, who resigned after seven seasons as head coach to take a special education teaching position in Cody.

In an interview Monday with wyoming-football.com, Mendenhall said his coaching experience is mostly with six-man football; he was the head coach in Terry, Mont., for three years before coming to Riverside three years ago. He also spent four years as an assistant coach at Terry and also coached track.

He teaches science at Riverside Middle School.

Buck took over as Riverside’s head coach midway through the 2013 season. Buck’s teams finished a combined 26-33, qualifying for the playoffs in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2016, the Rebels moved to six-man, but were ineligible for the playoffs each of the past four seasons.

Riverside finished 5-3 last season. Only one senior graduated from that team.

In an interview last week with wyoming-football.com, Buck said he also resigned his position as Riverside’s head girls basketball coach. Buck held that position position from 2011-13 and again from 2017-20. He said he will not be coaching in Cody but would like to return to coaching eventually.

Four Class 3A programs — Green River, Powell, Riverton and Worland — and Class 1A six-man Midwest have also hired new head coaches since the end of last season. If you know of other head coaching changes statewide, please email me at pschmiedt@yahoo.com.

–patrick

WHSAA sets COVID-19 contingency plans for football schedule

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The Wyoming High School Activities Association has built several different schedules to accommodate varying start times for a 2020 football season.

Right now, games are scheduled to begin on Aug. 28. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic sparking postponements and cancellations of events across the country, and with schools themselves trying to figure out how to best accommodate students, an on-time start to the football season is not certain.

The different contingency plans established by the WHSAA, shared with wyoming-football.com by WHSAA Commissioner Ron Laird, depend on when a safe start to the season can take place. For each week lost, the plans change.

Laird said Monday that each sport has its own potential contingencies set up for the fall if the start of the season is delayed or if time is lost during the middle of the season.

“We’re trying to play,” Laird said. “That’s the key. We want kids to be able to participate, and we’re going to do everything we can to make that happen.”

Football’s contingency plans

For football, the ramifications of late starts range widely. On one of the spectrum, a week or weeks of the schedule may be canceled. The later the start to the season, though, the more challenging the changes become, including eliminating playoff rounds, changing the date and location for championship games, and finding new ways to seed teams for playoffs.

The football season would start no later than Oct. 16. Scheduling championship games for the week of Friday, Nov. 20 — which would happen if the season starts any later than Sept. 18 — is also complicated by the University of Wyoming’s home football game scheduled with Boise State on Saturday, Nov. 21. In contingencies where championships are moved to the week of Nov. 20, the higher-seeded team will host the championship game. In Class 3A and 1A six-man, the East Conference champions will be the higher seeds, while in Class 2A and 1A nine-man, West Conference champions will be the higher seeds. However, if the two teams played each other during the regular season, the winner of the game will host the championship.

Class 4A could also move to a North-South conference schedule, with Sheridan, Campbell County, Thunder Basin, Natrona and Kelly Walsh in the North and Cheyenne Central, Cheyenne East, Cheyenne South, Laramie and Rock Springs in the South. However, a move to conference play for playoff seeding is the decision of the 4A schools, not of the WHSAA, and may not come until after the season starts, Laird said.

Playoff qualification; uneven cancellations

More broadly, Laird said, if chunks of the conference schedule are lost, and teams can’t complete the conference schedule, the coaches themselves will meet to decide which teams will qualify for the playoffs.

Laird said the WHSAA members looked at a variety of power-rating or RPI methods to seed teems, including the one Wyoming used in the 2000s. Ultimately, they decided a coach seeding meeting would work best, similar to what coaches do for seeding for regional wrestling meets.

Laird said some arguments may develop — most likely between teams tied for a playoff spot — but said the coaches “would know best the teams in their conferences.”

Laird also said teams may need to prepare for uneven cancellations affecting the schedule; one district, or one county, deciding to suspend school or activities due to an outbreak does not mean other schools would follow suit. Consequently, some teams may play more games than others.

“There’s a good chance we’re not going to have competitive equity this year,” he said.

If such cancellations happen, Laird said any scheduled games would be counted as no-contest games, not as forfeits. Playoff seeding would still remain with coaches.

“We don’t want to penalize the school over something they have no control over,” Laird said.

Rescheduling games in such circumstances could also be a possibility, Laird said.

Also, schools that don’t reach the playoffs in a shortened season can schedule games with other non-playoff teams during playoff weeks.

Other considerations: Midseason changes, UW

While the contingency plans outline what would happen with late starts to the season, Laird said the WHSAA is also looking into steps to take if one week or a group of weeks midseason is lost.

“We’ve tried to ‘what-if’ it as much as we could,” Laird said.

Laird also acknowledged that if the University of Wyoming can’t play its football season as scheduled, “it’s going to be pretty tough for us to play.”

Football is not alone

Other fall sports will also feel ramifications of contingency scheduling, Laird said. For volleyball, cross country, golf and swimming, he said schedules may need to be shifted to avoid large invitational meets, where large numbers of people could mean a higher likelihood of contagion transmission.

Moving fall sports to the spring also remains a possibility, but Laird said “it isn’t as clean as that sounds. … It is basically the last, last resort. It will be a trickle-down if we move that, and then we’ve got to move other things.”

Particularly, Laird said moving fall sports to the spring would affect track and soccer for a second consecutive year, something he said he wants to avoid.

Laird said the WHSAA’s overall goal was to return students to activities “and do it safely for everybody.”

A breakdown of football’s plan

The WHSAA’s full contingency plan for football is here. Here’s a quick breakdown of how the schedule changes with each week pushed back:

  • Season starts Week 1 (Sept. 4): Zero Week contests are canceled, no make-up.
  • Season starts Week 2 (Sept. 11): Zero Week contests and Week 1 games are canceled, no make-up.
  • Season starts Week 3 (Sept. 18):
  • For 4A and 3A, Zero Week, Week 1 and Week 2 games are canceled, no make-up.
  • For 2A, 1A nine-man and 1A six-man, Week 2 games are moved to the week of quarterfinal playoffs, and no quarterfinal playoff round is played.
  • Season starts Week 4 (Sept. 25):
  • For 4A and 3A, Week 3 games move to the original week of the quarterfinal playoffs (Oct. 30). Playoff games are all shifted back one week, with championships scheduled for Nov. 20.
  • For 2A, 1A nine-man and 1A six-man, Week 2 games are moved to the week of Oct. 30 and Week 3 games to Nov. 6. There would be no quarterfinal playoffs, with semifinals on Nov. 13 and championships Nov. 20.
  • Season starts Week 5 (Oct. 2):
  • For 4A and 3A, all games are pushed back one week and week 3 games are moved to the original week of semifinals. Quarterfinal playoffs are eliminated, and semifinal games would be played Nov. 13 (the original week of championships) and championships Nov. 20.
  • For 2A and 1A nine-man, a six-game regular season, as the schedule would go Week 5-Week 6-Week 7-Week 8-Week 2-Week 3, with Week 4 games eliminated. Again, there would be no quarterfinal playoffs, with semifinals on Nov. 13 and championships Nov. 20.
  • For 1A six-man, a six-game regular season, as the schedule would go Week 5-Week 6-Week 7-Week 8-Week 2-Week 4, with Week 3 games eliminated. Again, there would be no quarterfinal playoffs, with semifinals on Nov. 13 and championships Nov. 20.
  • Season starts Week 6 (Oct. 9):
  • For 4A and 3A, a five-week regular season (with possible rescheduling in 4A), with the schedule going Week 6-Week 7-Week 8-Week 4-Week 5. Semifinals would be Nov. 13 and championships Nov. 20.
  • For 2A and 1A nine-man, a six-week regular season with a schedule of Week 6-Week 7-Week 8-Week 2-Week 3-Week 5. No quarterfinal or semifinal playoffs; conference champions would meet in the state championship on Nov. 20.
  • For 1A six-man, a six-week regular season with with a schedule of Week 6-Week 7-Week 8-Week 5-Week 2-Week 4. No quarterfinal or semifinal playoffs; conference champions would meet in the state championship on Nov. 20.
  • Season starts Week 7 (Oct. 16):
  • For 4A and 3A, five-week regular season (with possible rescheduling in 4A), with the schedule going Week 7-Week 8-Week 4-Week 5-Week 6. No quarterfinals or semifinals; conference champions would meet in state championship games Nov. 20.
  • For 2A and 1A nine-man, a five-week regular season with the schedule going Week 7-Week 8-Week 2-Week 3-Week 5. Again, no quarterfinals or semifinals, with conference champs playing in the title game Nov. 20.
  • For 1A six-man, a five-week regular season with the schedule going Week 7-Week 8-Week 5-Week 6-Week 4. Again, no quarterfinals or semifinals, with conference champs playing in the title game Nov. 20.

–patrick

Winning record, no playoffs in Wyoming high school football

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Usually, the math is pretty simple: When you win more games than you lose, you go to the playoffs.

Occasionally, though, that simple math doesn’t quite work the way it should.

Since 2000, the number of playoff-eligible teams to finish with a winning record but still miss the playoffs is short: Saratoga in 2013 (5-3), Greybull in 2011 (6-4) and Sheridan in 2007 (5-4). (Riverton finished 6-4 in 2002 and did not make the playoffs, but was 4-4 in the regular season before winning the consolation playoffs. Remember those?)

Prior to 2000, missing the playoffs with a winning record was more common, in part because many classifications still only had four teams reach the postseason. However, some programs still finished with winning records in classifications with eight-team brackets only to miss the playoffs, usually because of a poor conference record but a strong nonconference stretch. That included two programs in 1999, Sundance (6-3) and Meeteetse (4-3), the last time two teams with winning records missed the playoffs in eight-team brackets in the same year.

But 1999 has nothing on 1994, when four teams with winning records in classifications with eight-team brackets — Tongue River, Greybull, Lingle and Guernsey-Sunrise — all missed the playoffs. All four finished 4-3.

The last team to be victimized two years in a row in this way was Ten Sleep, which finished with winning records in 1996 (5-2) and 1997 (4-3) but missed the playoffs both times in eight-team brackets.

The last two-loss team to miss the playoffs was Lyman, which went 6-2 in 1998 but missed the playoffs in the four-team Class 2A bracket. The last one-loss team to miss the playoffs was Wright in 1988; the Panthers were 7-1 but did not make the four-team 2A playoffs.

(Note that Lusk finished 7-0 in 1991 and 8-0 in 1992 but did not qualify for the playoffs, as the Tigers were not eligible for the playoffs those years.)

–patrick

Updates: Powell, Star Valley, Evanston, Torrington, Worland, Newcastle, Lovell, Greybull, Sundance, Meeteetse, Hulett, Midwest, Basin, Byron, Cowley, Sunrise, Deaver, and track

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I’ve subscribed to an online database that has granted me access to some more newspaper archives, particularly for papers outside of Wyoming. With that access, I knocked 22 games off the missing games list and found incomplete, but helpful, info for one more:

Found the score for Hulett’s 16-8 loss to the Spearfish, S.D., JV on Oct. 17, 1981, in Spearfish.

Found the location for the Sept. 13, 1957, game between Vale, S.D., and Hulett; it was in Vale.

Found the score for Cowley’s 38-26 loss to Belfry, Mont., on Sept. 17, 1954, in Cowley.

Found the location for the Sept. 15, 1951, game between Byron and Colstrip, Mont.; it was in Colstrip. Noting this game’s location increased Byron’s road winning streak over this time to 19 games, which moved it into a tie for fourth all-time.

Found the score for the Nov. 4, 1949, game between Deaver-Frannie and Meeteetse; Deaver won 45-6. This increased Meeteetse’s losing streak to 22 games over the time period from 1947-51.

Found the date for Torrington’s 13-0 loss to Mitchell, Neb., on Oct. 11, 1946. Kept it on the missing games list because I still don’t have the location for the game yet.

Found the date for the Sept. 14, 1945, game between Powell and Laurel, Mont.

Found the date and location and fixed the score for Byron’s 58-8 victory against the Lovell third team on Oct. 5, 1945, in Byron.

Added the score for Star Valley’s 8-7 victory against Malad, Idaho, on Oct. 10, 1941.

Found the score for the Oct. 17, 1941, game between Sundance and Sturgis St. Martin’s, S.D.; St. Martin’s won 53-0. Also noted that the Oct. 31, 1941, game between the same two teams was canceled.

Found the score for the Oct. 24, 1940, game between Sundance and Sturgis, S.D.; Sturgis won 20-6.

Affirmed the score for Newcastle’s 20-14 loss to Edgemont, S.D., on Oct. 28, 1938.

Found two scores for Sunrise’s 1934 season: a 33-0 loss to Scottsbluff, Neb., on Sept. 21 and a 55-0 loss to Mitchell, Neb., on Oct. 5.

Added the score for Torrington’s 14-0 loss to Gering, Neb., on Nov. 2, 1934.

Found the location for Sunrise’s 20-0 victory against Mitchell, Neb., on Oct. 6, 1933; it was in Sunrise.

Found the location and date for Torrington’s 41-6 loss to Scottsbluff, Neb., on Oct. 21, 1932, in Scottsbluff.

Found the location for Lovell’s 6-6 tie with Cowley on Nov. 21, 1930; it was in Lovell.

Noted that the Oct. 25, 1929, game between Worland and Midwest was canceled.

Added the score for the 0-0 tie between Greybull and Basin on Nov. 24, 1927.

Found the score for the Nov. 24, 1927, game between Cowley and Lovell; Lovell won 41-6.

Added the number of points scored by Park City, Utah, in its 40-0 victory against Evanston on Sept. 22, 1923.

All the updates have been made on all the relevant pages.

Track

Using these archives, I’ve also added Green River as the 1942 state champion and Thermopolis as the 1923 champ. I’m planning on doing some more with some track archives pre-1973 soon; keep an eye on the track champion listings for occasional updates there.

–patrick

Updates: Several all-state teams found!

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A single tip sent me down a huge rabbit hole — and from that, I’ve posted seven new all-state listings to the site.

I’ve added the Class B all-state teams from 1971 and 1970 in addition to the Class AA all-state team from 1950 and the all-class all-state teams from 1939, 1936, 1933 and 1929.

The last four teams listed above don’t have first names — for now.

The 1970 and 1971 Class B all-state teams have always been a mystery. A few years ago, I found an article that said those teams weren’t picked due to the regional loyalties of the coaches who selected the teams; research help from friend of the site Jim Craig had helped me uncover the 1970 and 1971 Class B all-conference teams, which I had posted here before:

1970 and 1971 Class B all-conference teams: When all-state doesn’t mean all-state

But friend of the site Mike Ragan also alerted me to the fact that there was indeed all-state teams chosen then — he had the 1971 team cut out from the Casper paper to prove it. As it turns out, the Class B all-state teams ran in late December, after Christmas, well after I had given up looking for them (and maybe after the coaches came to their senses and voted for all-state teams after the whole regional rivalry thing got out to the public?).

Regardless, those teams are now listed as part of the site’s all-state listings.

Then I really headed down a research rabbit hole. Using a subscription I recently acquired, I uncovered the other all-state teams from 1950, 1939, 1936, 1933 and 1929 from various sources.

I also found the only missing first name I couldn’t find since 1945. For the 1969 Class B team, I found the first name for Mountain View’s Joe Aimone, who had always been listed only with his first initial.

I also added Rawlins’ Gary Eyre to the 1951 all-state team. I unintentionally left him off the original list.

In exploring all-state selections, I also corrected some spellings of some names: Cody’s Darren Wehrer (1985); Big Horn’s Nolan LaMeres (2000); Cokeville’s Kalvin Watson and Kaylan Grandy (2004); Cokeville’s Jared Watson (2002), Cokeville’s Kent Cassels (1990); Douglas’ Jon Schroeder (1984); Douglas’ Brent Plumb (1976); Guernsey’s Forest Foos (2015); Guernsey’s Greg Putnam (1972); Hanna’s Conor McGraw (2018); Kemmerer’s John Corra (1983); Kemmerer’s Curt Waisath (1982); Laramie’s Ralph Barkey (1951); Lovell’s Keith Grant (1997); Lusk’s Damien Molzahn (2017); Natrona’s Marcus Bielefeld (2005); Rawlins’ Larry Jebens (1974); Rawlins’ Floyd Rummel (1974); Southeast’s Justin Burkart (1997); Star Valley’s Todd Spencer (1982); Torrington’s Mike Cruickshank (1970); Wheatland’s Steve Loyd (1985); and Wright’s Erin Knight (1985). As always, if you spot a misspelling in my all-state listings, please let me know and I’ll get it fixed!

I’m exploring some other research regarding all-state teams, now that I’m confident that I have basically all of them from the 1940s forward — although the Class 1A nine-man all-state team from 1994 is still proving to be incredibly elusive. I still haven’t found a full listing for that team yet.

I’m still not sure if Class A or Class B all-state teams were chosen in the early 1950s, particularly 1950-54. I’m also still missing all-state teams from 1932 and 1926, which I can’t seem to find anywhere — and I’m not even sure if they were selected.

Still, it was fun to put a big dent in the research needed here to make the all-state listings complete. Thanks to Mike for the inspiration!

–patrick

Midwest finds its new head football coach

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Joe Campbell, who has spent several years as a youth football coach in Casper, will be the new head football coach at Midwest.

The school announced Campbell’s selection on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

Campbell, a Casper native, has spent 12 years coaching as part of the Casper Midget Football Association, the school’s post said.

Campbell replaces Dean Kelly, who was the Oilers’ head coach for one season.

Midwest, a Class 1A six-man program, finished the 2019 season 1-7 after forfeiting its final four games due to low numbers.

Four Class 3A programs — Green River, Powell, Riverton and Worland — have also hired new head coaches since the end of last season. If you know of other head coaching changes statewide, please email me at pschmiedt@yahoo.com.

–patrick