Butts, Quigley earn NFF Wyoming Chapter’s top honors

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Winners of the 2017 football scholar-athlete awards presented by the Wyoming Chapter of the National Football Foundation pose for a photo Saturday, March 22, 2018, during the awards ceremony in Laramie. Photo courtesy Ernie Over.

Upton’s Dawson Butts and Newcastle’s Cameron Quigley earned the honor of the state’s top football scholar-athletes from the Wyoming Chapter of the National Football Foundation.

The pair shared the honor during a ceremony Saturday in Laramie. Other finalists for the award included Sheridan’s Blayne Baker; Natrona’s Brett Brenton; Snake River’s J.D. Corson; Sheridan’s Kyle Custis; Pine Bluffs’ Wyatt Fornstrom; Green River’s Chance Hofer; Kaycee’s Mark Largent; Glenrock’s Hezekiah (Kia) Sexson; and Torrington’s Jake Wamboldt.

UW’s Dalton Fields and Drew Van Maanen were also honored.

Other award winners were:

Courage Award: Kaden Malm, Southeast; Kaiden Burk, Wind River.

Perseverance Award: Clayton Auzqui, Buffalo.

Greatest UW Football Fan: Warren Benson, Laramie; Tom and Jill Bramlet, Wheatland.

Greatest High School Football Fan: Stan Thompson, Cokeville.

Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football: Trish Williams, Casper; David Anderson, Lingle.

Ox Zellner Football Official Career Achievement Award: Joe Doak, Thermopolis; Joe White, Lovell.

Football Coach Career Achievement Award: Jeff Barnett, Douglas; Pat O’Connor, Torrington; Bruce Keith, Montrose, Colorado (formerly of Wyoming).

Together, more than $20,000 in scholarships was awarded Saturday. Keynote speakers were UW defensive line coach Pete Kaligas and former Sheridan coach Don Julian.

–patrick

NFF’s Wyoming Chapter names 2017 scholar-athlete award finalists

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Fourteen Wyoming high school football scholar-athletes, including 11 in the running to be named the state’s top football scholar-athlete, will be honored Saturday during the Wyoming Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s annual banquet in Laramie.

The finalists for the chapter’s award recognizing Wyoming’s top football scholar-athlete are Sheridan’s Blayne Baker; Natrona’s Brett Brenton; Upton’s Dawson Butts; Snake River’s J.D. Corson; Sheridan’s Kyle Custis; Pine Bluffs’ Wyatt Fornstrom; Green River’s Chance Hofer; Kaycee’s Mark Largent; Newcastle’s Cam Quigley; Glenrock’s Hezekiah (Kia) Sexson; and Torrington’s Jake Wamboldt. These 11 were chosen from a group of 99 nominees from across the state.

One winner from this group will represent Wyoming for regional and national honors. Each wins a $1,200 scholarship for being a finalist, while the winner wins an additional $1,200 scholarship. Awards are weighted 40 percent football ability; 40 percent academic achievement and 20 percent community service.

Three other players — Southeast’s Kaden Malm, Wind River’s Kaiden Burk and Buffalo’s Clayton Auzqui — will also be recognized. Malm and Burk will be recognized with the chapter’s Courage Award, while Auzqui will be recognized with the chapter’s Perseverance Award.

UW’s Dalton Fields and Drew Van Maanen will also be honored with scholar-athlete awards.

–patrick

Updates: Ranchester, Big Horn, Dayton, Clearmont, Meeteetse, Deaver-Frannie

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A hidden stash of yearbooks from Ranchester uncovered these gems, which I’ve added to the site:

1940: Fixed the score of Ranchester’s game with Big Horn on Oct. 16, as Big Horn won 26-6, not 69-6; added a 69-6 loss to Lodge Grass, Mont., on Oct. 22 in Lodge Grass; added a 32-0 loss to Lodge Grass, Mont., on Oct. 29 in Ranchester; added a 54-7 loss to Dayton on Nov. 18 in Dayton.

1941: Changed the result of the Dayton-Ranchester game on Oct. 1. The game was originally noted as canceled; however, the game actually was played, and Ranchester won 40-0. Added Dwight Burch as Ranchester coach.

1942: Added Ranchester’s 32-6 victory against Lodge Grass, Mont., on Oct. 9 (added to the missing games list because I couldn’t find a location); added Ranchester’s 69-16 victory against Dayton on Nov. 13 in Dayton.

1943: Added the date for Ranchester’s victory against Lodge Grass, Mont., on Oct. 8; added Ranchester’s 45-0 victory against Dayton on Oct. 1 (added to missing games list because I couldn’t find a location); added Ranchester’s 8-7 victory against Lodge Grass, Mont., on Oct. 29 in Ranchester. Added Dwight Burch as Ranchester coach.

1944: Previously, this was listed as an unplayed season for Ranchester. But that wasn’t true, as they played two games: Beat Big Horn 66-22 on Oct. 13 in Ranchester and beat Lodge Grass, Mont., 61-20 on Oct. 27 in Ranchester. Added U.J. Korhonen as Ranchester’s coach.

1945: Added the score to Ranchester’s 60-6 victory against Clearmont on Sept. 28; added U.J. Korhonen as Ranchester’s coach.

1948: Added two missing games with Big Horn, one on Oct. 8 in Big Horn and one on Oct. 22 in Ranchester; added a Nov. 11 game at Clearmont, a game Clearmont won (added to the missing games list because no score was available). Noted that Ranchester’s coach was Silas Lyman.

1950: Noted that Ranchester’s coach was Levi Ironhawk, not Silas Lyman.

1951: Noted that the last two games of the season, against Big Horn and Dayton, were canceled because of polio.

I also added a game between Deaver-Frannie and Meeteetse on Nov. 4, 1949, in Meeteetse (added to missing games list because a result couldn’t be found).

In all, 13 games were added to the database. The updates have been made on all the relevant pages.

–patrick

Sheridan promotes Mowry to head coach’s spot

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Sheridan assistant coach Jeff Mowry will take over as the program’s head coach next season, the Sheridan Press has reported.

Mowry takes over for Don Julian, who stepped down in December after leading Sheridan to three consecutive Class 4A championships and five overall in 11 years. Julian went 102-22 in those 11 years.

A release from the school district said Mowry’s hiring was approved by the Sheridan County School District No. 2 on Monday night.

“I feel fortunate that for the past eleven years, my family and I have been a part of such a wonderful community, school district, high school, and football program,” Mowry said in the release. “As I move forward as head coach for the Broncs, I look forward to giving back to a community and school district that has provided so much to my family.”

Mowry played for Julian when Julian coached at Riverton. Mowry was a Casper Star-Tribune Super 25 first-team selection as a senior in 1999, helping lead the Wolverines to three consecutive Class 3A championships. He played football at Mesa State (Colo.) and joined Julian in Sheridan as an assistant when Julian joined the Broncs in 2007.

“I have known and worked with Jeff since he was a freshman in high school,” Julian said in the release. “He was a great player for me in Riverton and has been a huge part of our success here in Sheridan as an assistant coach for the past 11 seasons. Jeff is excited and ready to get started as head coach and will provide an immediate and smooth transition for our program and our student-athletes.”

Since 2011, Mowry has been an assistant principal at Sheridan High; prior to that, he taught math.

–patrick

Scott named head coach at Lander

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John Scott, who previously coached at three different Wyoming high schools, will be the new head football coach at Lander.

Scott confirmed his hiring Thursday via email to wyoming-football.com. The Casper Star-Tribune first reported the hiring on Twitter.

In his email, Scott said he accepted the offer last week and that the Fremont County School District No. 1 board approved his hiring on Tuesday. Scott wrote that he was “very humbled by the opportunity to coach again in Wyoming.”

Most recently, Scott was the head coach at Tongue River for five seasons, from 2012-16. He stepped down after the 2016 season, having led the Eagles to back-to-back Class 1A 11-man runner-up finishes.

From 2003-08, Scott was the head coach at Black Hills State University. Prior to that, he led Gillette from 1995-2000, leading the Camels to their first two state championships in 1998 and 2000. He also was the head coach in Kemmerer from 1992-94, winning Class 2A titles in both 1993 and 1994.

Overall, Scott’s record in the Wyoming high school ranks is 91-42.

Like Tongue River was when Scott took over in 2012, Lander is a rebuilding project. The Tigers are 2-31 over the past four seasons, including 1-7 last season, and they’ve had one winning season since 2005.

Scott replaces John Rounds, who resigned in November after four seasons as Lander’s head coach. Other Wyoming schools searching for new coaches this offseason include Sheridan, Cheyenne Central, Green River, Lovell and Wheatland. If you know of other coaching changes for 2018, please email pschmiedt@yahoo.com.

–patrick

2018 Wyoming high school football schedule, kickoff times, dates and more

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Here it is, the Wyoming high school football schedule for 2018, complete with dates and kick times for every program in the state. Every school except Lander sent wyoming-football.com its schedule, including kickoff times, for the 2018 season, and they’re compiled by week here. Bookmark the page now; that’s where scores will be posted throughout the season.

–patrick

Six-man Shootout rosters set for Wyoming squad

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The Wyoming rosters are set for the annual Six-man Shootout all-star football game against Nebraska’s top six-man talent.

This year’s game will be June 23 in Albion, Neb.

The game is in its seventh year. Wyoming won the first three games, while Nebraska has won the last three, including 58-38 last year.

Coaches for the Wyoming team will include head coach Tony Rouse of Kaycee and assistants Trent Aagard from Burlington, Ken Swieter from Midwest and Jason Humble from Kaycee. Wyoming’s roster includes:

BURLINGTON: Dallin Davison; Tallon Wiles.
DUBOIS: Matt Codevilla.
FARSON: Cruz Lucero.
GUERNSEY-SUNRISE: Garret Oneyear.
HULETT: Josh Stevens.
KAYCEE: Brice Austin; Hunter Elmer; Atticus Garrett; Mark Largent; Danny Ramirez.
MEETEETSE: Braenn Smith.
MIDWEST: Kayden Best; William Chapman.
RIVERSIDE: Justen Miller.
SNAKE RIVER: J.D. Corson; Kameron Evans; Trenton Jeannerett.

–patrick