Hanson named new head coach at Tongue River

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Steve Hanson will be the new head football coach at Tongue River, the Sheridan Press reported.

The Press reported Hanson was Tongue River’s defensive coordinator. Tongue River finished as the Class 1A 11-man runners-up each of the past two years, losing to Upton-Sundance in the 2015 title game and to Pine Bluffs in last year’s championship.

Hanson takes over for John Scott, who stepped down at the end of last season.

Hanson is the second new head coach to be hired this offseason, joining Trent Pikula at Thunder Basin in Gillette. Jackson and Snake River are also seeking new head coaches.

–patrick

Pikula takes over as Thunder Basin’s first head coach

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Trent Pikula will be the first head coach in Thunder Basin football history.

Pikula, a former head coach at Rapid City (S.D.) Central, will lead the new Class 4A high school in Gillette, the Gillette News-Record reported this morning and the Casper Star-Tribune also reported Wednesday.

Pikula, a Gillette native who graduated from Campbell County High School in 1988, led Rapid City Central from 2007-13 and was on the Cobbers’ staff as an assistant in 2006. The Rapid City Journal reported after Pikula’s resignation that in seven years as head coach, Pikula was 21-50 at Central. Before that, he was a head coach in Hot Springs, S.D., and assistant in Belle Fourche, S.D.

The ‘Bolts will take the field for the first time in 2017, playing at the 4A level as Gillette’s second comprehensive high school.

–patrick

Updates: Coaching, Newcastle, Powell, standings

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A couple of updates to share:

Coaches: (1) Found the first name (and corrected the spelling of the last name) of Shoshoni’s coach in 1932-33; he was Robert Outsen. … (2) Updated records to Natrona and to Wheatland and Thermopolis to differentiate between two different Bill Hilemans; one, William H., was the head coach at Natrona, while the other, Bill W., coached at Wheatland and Thermopolis. (And I believe this was a father-son pair. Anyone who can verify that?) … (3) Corrected the spelling for Torrington’s coach in 1970 to Tim Gottberg.

All-state: (1) I fixed a couple names on Newcastle’s 1970 Class A all-state listings. I fixed the incorrect names I had for Bob Dilts and John Halsey. Thanks to fellow Dogie Bill Lunney for catching the errors! … (2) I also corrected the spelling of Powell’s Randy Waln on the 1970 Class AA all-state listings; thanks to him for letting me know!

Season standings: Thanks to the help of friend of the site Jim Craig, I have also posted standings for 1950, 1949 and 1948 seasons. A side note: The 1948 season was the first to use district records for playoff qualification at multiple classification levels. Prior to this, the state basically had just one classification of football, and district records were part — but not all — of the playoff qualification method. Therefore, standings prior to 1948 weren’t really a big deal, and basically no press outlets ran full statewide standings. Also, some schools didn’t even try to fit in a district and played whichever opponents they could at whatever level they could; Hanna, for example, rarely played a district schedule and bounced between 11-man and six-man play, sometimes in the same season. That inconsistency, coupled with the haphazard starting and stopping of programs around World War II, has made piecing together districts and levels of play prior to 1948 much more challenging. I hope to post standings prior to 1948 soon, but they won’t include district records.

–patrick

The amazing high school football connections to Wyoming’s 1943 NCAA basketball champions

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The 1943 NCAA champion Wyoming Cowboy basketball team had 15 members. Of those 15, six became head high school football coaches in Wyoming — an amazing ratio considering the total number of former UW basketball players to end up as head football coaches in the state.

The members of the 1943 national champs who went on to be head football coaches in the state were:

  • Vernon Jensen, of Lyman, was the head football coach at Lyman from 1948-51, going 10-9.
  • Antone “Tony” Katana, of Rock Springs, was the head football coach at Superior from 1948-53, going 26-24.
  • Earl “Shadow” Ray, of Casper, was the head football coach at Midwest in 1944, going 4-4.
  • Kenny Sailors, of Laramie via Hillsdale, was the head football coach at University Prep in 1942, going 0-1.
  • Jim Weir, of Green River, was the head football coach at Green River from 1947-52, going 38-18-3.
  • Donald Waite, of Scottsbluff, Neb., was the head football coach at Huntley in 1967, going 1-9.

Katana and Weir faced each other nine times while the coaches at their respective schools from 1948-51; Weir’s Wolves went 7-2 against Katana’s Dragons, with the biggest win a conference championship tiebreaker game in 1950 that helped propel Green River to the Class A title that year.

+++

Not all of the 15 members of the 1943 team lettered for the Cowboys that season. In all, though, 18 more Cowboy basketball lettermen beyond those on the 1943 team ended up as head football coaches in the state. However, it’s been a while since a Cowboy basketball player ended up as a head football coach; the last to do so was Ralph Winland, who lettered for the Cowboy basketball team 48 years ago, in 1968. Reverse chronologically by last letter date, they were:

  • Ralph Winland (lettered 1968, coach Cowley 1976, North Big Horn 1977-78)
  • Mike Harris (lettered 1961, coach Riverton 1974)
  • Nick Eliopulos (lettered 1952-54-55, coach Basin 1956)
  • Morris Samuelson (lettered 1950-51-52, coach Evanston 1956-57)
  • Robert Porter (lettered 1945-46, coach Shoshoni 1947-49)
  • Warren Capellen (lettered 1945, coach Pinedale 1950-54 and Kemmerer 1955-58)
  • Bill Strannigan (lettered 1941-42, coach University Prep 1941)
  • Jack Smith (lettered 1940-41, coach Reliance 1946-54)
  • George Dorrington (lettered 1938-39-40, coach Hanna 1950-52, Gillette 1953-60)
  • Lew Young (lettered 1936-38-39, coach Lingle 1942, Gillette 1944-46)
  • Willard West (lettered 1932-33-34-35, coach Green River 1935-37, Thermopolis 1938-40 and 1945)
  • Joe Schwartz (lettered 1930-31-32-33, coach Rawlins 1942-43, Natrona 1944-46, Rawlins 1949-52)
  • Jim Jiacoletti (lettered 1928-29-30, coach Superior 1932-36, Kemmerer 1937-42)
  • Robert Outsen (lettered 1926-27-28-29, coach Shoshoni 1932-33)
  • Oscar Erickson (lettered 1924-25-26-27, coach Sheridan 1929-31)
  • Don Harkins (lettered 1926-27, coach University Prep 1929)
  • Fred Layman (lettered 1918-19-20-21, coach Natrona 1925)
  • Andrew Willis (lettered 1915-16-17, coach Cowley 1921-23 and 1925, Lovell 1927-28)

The number of former Cowboy football lettermen who ended up as head football coaches in the state is much higher; that will be detailed in a future post.

–patrick

Tongue River’s Scott resigns as head coach

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John Scott, the head football coach at Tongue River who helped rebuild the program from nonexistent to state runners-up at Class 1A 11-man the past two seasons, has resigned.

Scott confirmed his resignation Wednesday via email to wyoming-football.com.

In the email, Scott said he would stay at Tongue River as the school’s activities director and teach.

“I believe there are many ‘energies’ a head coach must possess in building and sustaining a program,” Scott wrote. “Building this program the past five years was as demanding as any position I have held in my career.”

In 2011, the Eagles did not field a team due to lack of interest. Scott came on in 2012 and took the team from 0-8 to 2-6 to 5-4 to back-to-back 8-3 seasons and back-to-back Class 1A 11-man runner-up finishes.

The Eagles lost the 2015 championship game to Upton-Sundance and this year’s title game to Pine Bluffs.

Scott went 23-26 as Tongue River’s head coach. Scott previously was the head coach at Kemmerer and Gillette — winning state championships at both schools — before eventually moving out of the high school ranks to be the coach at Black Hills State, where he stayed for six seasons. In his Wyoming head coaching career, Scott is 91-42.

A replacement has not yet been named. Scott is the third coach in the state to step down this offseason, joining Jackson’s James Howell and Snake River’s Michael Bates.

–patrick

Jackson’s Howell resigns as coach

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Jackson coach James Howell has resigned after seven seasons as the Broncs’ head coach.

The resignation was first reported by Clark Forster of the Jackson Hole News & Guide on Twitter.

Howell went 29-36 in seven years as Jackson’s head coach. The Broncs’ best year under Howell came in 2016, when they went 9-2 and reached the 3A semifinals. The Broncs went 1-8 last season.

He is the second coach in the state to step down this offseason, joining Snake River’s Michael Bates.

–patrick

Bates steps aside at Snake River

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Michael Bates, the only head coach Snake River football has known since its rebirth in 2009, is stepping down as the program’s leader.

Bates went 58-18 in his eight years as the Rattlers’ head coach. He led the team to back-to-back state titles and undefeated seasons in 2010 and 2011. In his eight years, his teams finished with a losing record only once — in 2009, his first year. At one point, his teams won 22 consecutive games.

Snake River also advanced to the title game in 2012. The Rattlers have made the playoffs in each of their eight seasons under Bates.

Bates, who also teaches history at Snake River, said he wants to continue coaching: “I would like to be as productive at another school if given the chance,” he said via email to wyoming-football.com this week.

He said his wife is finishing her degree in nursing this year while he is wrapping up his master’s degree.

“We want to move to a location where we can both utilize our skills,” he wrote.

Bates is the first coach in the state to step down this offseason.

–patrick

Spriggs named new Rock River coach

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Doug Spriggs will be the football coach in Rock River this year, wyosports.net has reported.

Rock River has had three coaches in the past few weeks, as Terrance Reese resigned in July and new coach Brandon Barba stepped down after the first week of practice.

Spriggs previously coached in Casper and at Riverside, Wyosports’ story said.

–patrick

Last-minute coaching changes in Moorcroft, Rock River

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Both Moorcroft and Rock River will open their seasons with different coaches than the ones who were anticipated.

Moorcroft will have activities director Randi Faeth leading it on the sidelines after coach Dusty Petz took some time away to deal with health issues, the Casper Star-Tribune reported.

Meanwhile, new Rock River coach Brandon Barba stepped away after about a week due to some unforeseen circumstances, he told wyoming-football.com.

Rock River’s new coach is still to be determined.

Other offseason coaching changes in the state include:

Burlington: Trent Aagard replaces Aaron Papich
Cheyenne South: Dan Gallas replaces Tracy Pugh
Guernsey-Sunrise: Curtis Cook replaces Chris Link
Lingle: Matt Cornelius replaces Kevin Derby
Pinedale: Mitch Espeland replaces Allen Johnson
Rocky Mountain: Richard Despain replaces David Hayes
Saratoga: Kegan Willford replaces Scott Bokelman
Star Valley: McKay Young replaces Chris Howell
Ten Sleep: Jake Zent replaces Andy Ray
Thermopolis: Matt McPhie replaces Rob Anderson
Wheatland: Tom Waring replaces Dusty Hudson

–patrick

Barba hired as Rock River football coach

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Brandon Barba has been hired as Rock River’s new football coach.

Barba and Rock River principal Wade Fiscus verified the hiring via email this week to wyoming-football.com.

Barba, originally from Mesa, Arizona, has spent the last three years coaching at Verrado High School in Buckeye, Arizona, he said via email. His role at Verrado was as a coach for the freshman team, but he also coached varsity offensive line and varsity scout.

He said he has applied for a teaching job in Laramie and came to the area with his wife, who is pursing a doctorate at the University of Wyoming.

Dakota Anderson, a student in UW’s teaching program, will be Rock River’s assistant coach.

Barba replaces Terrance Reese, who resigned in July after leading the Longhorns during their first two seasons of varsity play.

Rock River went 1-6 in both 2014 and 2015.

–patrick