Neutral-site games in the regular season: A Wyoming tradition unlike any other

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In a rural state like Wyoming, finding suitable opponents for high school sports teams can sometimes be a challenge.

Schools are often stuck with a difficult conundrum — they have to schedule a team that’s significantly worse (or better) but nearby, or schedule a team of nearly equal talent that’s hours and hours away.

Neither option is preferable. In Wyoming, though, they may be the only options available.

But this isn’t anything new to those born and raised in the Equality State. Long road trips are normal. The average this year was 192 miles, one way, per road trip.

For many years, Wyoming schools opted to stay close to home, even if that meant playing in the occasional 50-0 slaughter.

In the mid-1980s, though, a few far-flung but equally talented schools hit on an idea: Why not just meet halfway?

The idea of a neutral-site game wasn’t new. They were a staple of playoff games, either because schools decided to meet halfway or a host team decided to shift to a larger nearby stadium for a the larger crowd anticipated at a postseason game. And some rivalries got moved to neutral sites — like the Thunder Bowl between Big Horn and Tongue River, which was played at Sheridan off and on for years. And every once in a while, a couple of schools that weren’t too far apart just decided to meet in the middle, like Green River and Superior playing in Rock Springs (which happened in 1936).

But two teams deciding to meet “halfway” to fill a hole in both squads’ regular-season schedules? In the 1980s, this was almost completely new.

And in 1986, it took off. Two of the five neutral-site games that season involved Pine Bluffs, which in back-to-back games played Pinedale and Cokeville at Hanna.

The fad peaked in 1990, when seven neutral-site games were played. However, several schools embraced the neutral-site games and made them nearly annual events.

  • Hulett and Ten Sleep played each other in Buffalo seven times between 1988 and 1999 (and they played in 2000 in Big Horn). Ten Sleep, in fact, played four neutral-site games in just two seasons, 1988 and 1989.
  • Wright also hit the neutral-site bandwagon hard, playing four games in 1990 and 1991 and a fifth in 1992.
  • Gillette played some big out-of-state schools via the neutral site in the 1980s and 1990s: Montrose, Colorado; Hastings, Nebraska; and Oakdale Tartan, Minnesota. Sheridan got neutral-site games against Overland, Colorado, and Lincoln Pius X, Nebraska.

Although neutral-site meetings faded a bit when the WHSAA took over varsity scheduling in 2001, a few schools have revived the trend. Last year, six-man schools Hanna and Hulett met in Midwest in the state’s first true neutral-site football game — the first one where both teams traveled more than an hour to play and was pre-scheduled — since 2010.

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The list below is of the neutral-site midpoint games played since the first in 1923; this list does not include conference or state playoff games, including triangular playoffs; games played at temporary home sites (like Burns had this year while its stadium was under construction); neutral-site games in the same city as one of the teams (like Natrona and East had this year playing at South); or traditional rivalry games at neutral sites (like the Thunder Bowl in Sheridan).

S28/1923 Cheyenne Central 21 Chappell (NE) 3 at Pine Bluffs

O14/1925 Rawlins 0 Lander 13 at Casper

S30/1933 Gebo 12 Ten Sleep 21 at Worland

O3/1936 Green River 6 Superior 27 at Rock Springs

O8/1936 Ten Sleep 63 Fort Washakie 0 at Riverton

O14/1938 Lingle 19 Manville 14 at Lusk

N18/1939 Douglas 0 Midwest 46 at Casper

O4/1940 Jackson 6 Reliance 32 at Rock Springs

O16/1940 Manville 26 Upton 13 at Newcastle

O22/1947 Pine Bluffs 8 Harrisburg (NE) 6 at Albin

O13/1955 Huntley 6 Lingle 35 at Torrington

S25/1964 Guernsey-Sunrise 0 Huntley 34 at Torrington

S5/1969 Shoshoni 20 Dubois 8 at Morton

S24/1982 Byron 0 Cokeville 21 at Lander

A29/1986 Pine Bluffs 14 Pinedale 34 at Hanna

S5/1986 Natrona 7 SLC Highland (UT) 24 at Evanston

S5/1986 Pine Bluffs 20 Cokeville 40 at Hanna

S12/1986 Cody 24 Torrington 6 at Casper

S12/1986 Pinedale 13 Rocky Mountain 24 at Lander

S19/1987 Farson 0 Burlington 46 at Riverton

S25/1987 Pinedale 41 Rocky Mountain 0 at Lander

S3/1988 Kelly Walsh 15 Dickinson (ND) 47 at Spearfish (SD)

S3/1988 Hulett 12 Ten Sleep 46 at Buffalo

S10/1988 Burlington 0 Farson 42 at Shoshoni

S17/1988 Douglas 29 Rock Springs JV 12 at Laramie

O22/1988 Ten Sleep 42 Farson 8 at Shoshoni

S2/1989 Kelly Walsh 22 Dickinson (ND) 28 at Spearfish (SD)

S2/1989 Hulett 0 Ten Sleep 46 at Buffalo

S9/1989 Sheridan 0 Overland (CO) 20 at Douglas

S15/1989 Cokeville 49 Riverside 0 at Shoshoni

S16/1989 Gillette 13 Montrose (CO) 12 at Craig (CO)

21/1989 Farson 32 Ten Sleep 20 at Shoshoni

A31/1990 Wright 6 Tongue River 7 at Gillette

S7/1990 Rocky Mountain 0 Pinedale 6 at Riverton

S7/1990 Lingle 50 Hulett 0 at Lusk

S15/1990 Greybull 22 Wright 6 at Buffalo

S29/1990 Encampment 0 Burlington 21 at Shoshoni

O5/1990 Lyman 26 Greybull 7 at Lander

O13/1990 Wheatland 8 Jackson 25 at Shoshoni

S7/1991 Gillette 36 Hastings (NE) 3 at Sidney, NE

S20/1991 Burns 20 Wright 6 at Lusk

O24/1991 Hulett 32 Ten Sleep 6 at Buffalo

O25/1991 Wind River 41 Wright 24 at Casper

S4/1992 Sundance 6 Rocky Mountain 39 at Dayton

S18/1992 Wright 19 Burns 44 at Guernsey-Sunrise

S3/1993 Wheatland 28 Mountain View 12 at Rawlins

S3/1993 Pine Bluffs 24 Sundance 14 at Lusk

S18/1993 Ten Sleep 6 Hulett 54 at Buffalo

O2/1993 Moorcroft 38 Greybull 12 at Buffalo

O14/1993 Lovell 20 Kemmerer 15 at Shoshoni

S2/1994 Big Piney 18 Greybull 6 at Lander

S3/1994 Sundance 12 Pine Bluffs 42 at Lusk

S9/1994 Kelly Walsh 14 Evanston 42 at Rawlins

O1/1994 Moorcroft 0 Greybull 31 at Buffalo

O14/1994 Kemmerer 28 Lovell 6 at Riverton

S8/1995 Kelly Walsh 7 Evanston 21 at Rawlins

S9/1995 Lincoln Pius X (NE) 27 Sheridan 20 at North Platte (NE)

S15/1995 Rocky Mountain 48 Saratoga 19 at Riverton

O6/1995 Hanna 0 Upton 32 at Lingle

S14/1996 Hulett 18 Ten Sleep 32 at Buffalo

S20/1996 Wheatland 13 Kemmerer 54 at Rawlins

S20/1996 Rocky Mountain 43 Saratoga 12 at Riverton

S6/1997 Big Piney 18 Moorcroft 6 at Casper

S26/1997 Burns 6 Wright 38 at Lusk

O9/1997 Wind River 53 Custer JV (SD) 8 at Wright

S5/1998 Big Piney 34 Moorcroft 0 at Kelly Walsh

S12/1998 Gillette 24 Oakdale Tartan (MN) 7 at Mitchell, SD

S12/1998 Hulett 12 Ten Sleep 8 at Buffalo

S25/1998 Wright 20 Burns 13 at Guernsey

S11/1999 Hulett 46 Ten Sleep 0 at Buffalo

S9/2000 Hulett 20 Ten Sleep 6 at Big Horn

A31/2002 Guernsey-Sunrise 41 Riverside 14 at Casper

O20/2006 Dubois 14 Upton 28 At Casper, NCHS

A25/2007 Gillette 6 Logan (UT) 36 At Ogden UT

A25/2007 Mountain View 12 Logan JV (UT) 39 At Ogden UT

A25/2007 Star Valley 0 Park City (UT) 46 At Ogden UT

A31/2007 Upton 13 Dubois 28 At Casper, NCHS

A30/2008 Gillette 21 Sky View (UT) 55 At Green River

A30/2008 Kelly Walsh 17 Rock Springs 13 At Riverton

S19/2008 Hanna 0 Hulett 63 At Casper (NCHS)

O3/2008 Dubois 7 Upton 38 At Casper (NCHS)

O10/2008 Burns 47 Sundance 6 At Newcastle

S4/2009 Dubois 0 Upton 25 at Casper, NCHS

O3/2009 Southeast 67 Normative Services 8 at Casper, NCHS

S3/2010 Dubois 48 Upton 0 at Casper, NCHS

S17/2010 Douglas 40 Star Valley 6 at Riverton

O2/2010 Normative Services 0 Southeast 56 at Casper, NCHS

S7/2013 Wright 18 Lingle 35 at Douglas

O7/2013 Midwest 50 Hulett 40 at Moorcroft

S12/2014 Moorcroft 8 Tongue River 28 at Sheridan

S13/2014 Hulett 18 Hanna 62 at Midwest

Which of these games seems the most bizarre to you? Which ones would you like to see on the schedule again? Or should all regular-season games be played either as true home/road games? Leave a comment and we can chat about it!

–patrick

Wyoming high school football field orientations: The East-West dilemma

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When I played high school football for Midwest, we had a clear coin flip strategy: If you can, go east to start.

The strategy was based on our field’s orientation: straight east-west. Heading toward the west end zone meant staring directly into what was usually a setting sun. If we could avoid going west in the first quarter, we did it. Usually, the sun was usually down by the end of the first quarter, and if we planned it right, we wouldn’t have to go into the sun at all.

When we went out for the coin flip, we knew… if we win, defer. Kick with the sun at our back. If we lose, and the opponent wants the ball, kick with the sun at our back. If we lose, and the opponent defers… well, dang it. We’ve got to go into the sun. Better run the ball.

I loved playing on Midwest’s field. It’s at the bottom of a weathered hill that has a steep vertical drop. The area is a natural, protected park, used by the community for more than 90 years and in place as the football field since the new school was built in the early 1960s. But the setting dictates an east-west orientation, as the hill bounds the north end and an oil field service road, as well as Salt Creek, hem in the area on the south side. This only becomes a problem in those early season games that kick off at 7 p.m., but the problem was big enough to dictate our coin flip strategy.

Aerial view of the Midwest High School football field. Screenshot from Google Maps.

Aerial view of the Midwest High School football field. Screenshot from Google Maps.

Other fields I played on didn’t have this problem, either because they didn’t have lights and the sun didn’t come into play as much or because they were oriented north-south. However, as I’ve learned, Midwest is not the only school in Wyoming with an east-west orientation.

In fact, eight schools — Lovell, Midwest, Moorcroft, Saratoga, Snake River, Southeast, Ten Sleep and Tongue River — are oriented within 10 degrees of true east-west. Of those, only Lovell, Midwest, Saratoga and Southeast have lights, although Moorcroft and Tongue River are scheduled to add lights by next season.

Meanwhile, the bulk of Wyoming’s high school football fields (38 of the 65 fields in use) are oriented within 10 degrees of true north-south. The remaining 19 fields are oriented somewhere in between, with five fields (Douglas, Farson, Hulett, Kelly Walsh and Wyoming Indian) oriented close to 45 degrees in one direction or another.

 

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The field orientations of each program’s home field are listed below:

Straight N/S (within +/- 10 degrees): Big Horn, Big Piney, Burlington, Burns, Cheyenne East, Cheyenne South, Cody, Cokeville, Greybull, Guernsey-Sunrise, Jackson, Kaycee, Kemmerer, Lander, Laramie, Lingle, Lyman, Meeteetse, Mountain View, Natrona, Newcastle, NSI, Pine Bluffs, Pinedale, Powell, Rawlins, Riverside, Riverton, Rocky Mountain, St. Stephens, Sheridan, Shoshoni, Star Valley, Thermopolis, Torrington, Wheatland, Wind River, Worland

Tilted 10-35 degrees NE/SW: Evanston, Wright

45 degrees NE/SW (within +/- 10 degrees): Hulett, Kelly Walsh

Tilted 55-80 degrees NE/SW: Hanna, Rock Springs, Sundance

Straight E/W (within +/- 10 degrees): Lovell, Midwest, Moorcroft, Saratoga, Snake River, Southeast, Ten Sleep, Tongue River

Tilted 55-80 degrees NW/SE: Cheyenne Central, Dubois, Glenrock, Lusk, Rock River

45 degrees NW/SE (within +/- 10 degrees): Douglas, Farson, Wyoming Indian

Tilted 10-35 degrees NW/SE: Buffalo, Gillette, Green River, Upton

If you want to check out the locations of every school’s field, look at the stadiums page on the site.

–patrick

Wyoming football field updates for 2014

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Some short notes about updates to stadiums across Wyoming:

* Thermopolis’ school board is in the process of renaming its football stadium LeRoy Hayes Field. Hayes’ son Heath said via email that the field dedication will be at halftime of the Bobcats’ Sept. 20 game against Wright. LeRoy Hayes, who died in 2013, was a longtime coach in the Thermopolis school system.

* Moorcroft was set to install the lights that formerly shined at Okie Blanchard Stadium in Cheyenne, but delays in the take-down of the stadium in Cheyenne pushed back Moorcroft’s light installation until next year, Wolves coach Dusty Petz said via email. All of Moorcroft’s home game times have been pushed to daylight hours.

* Southeast’s installation of artificial turf was also delayed. Coach Mark Bullington said via email that the Cyclones will have their artificial surface installed next year and it will be ready in time for the 2015 season.

* As previously noted, four schools (Kemmerer, Glenrock, Cheyenne East and Big Piney) added turf over the summer, while Kemmerer and Big Horn added lights.

–patrick

Five Wyoming schools add artificial turf to football fields

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Five schools will add artificial turf to their football fields this summer, bringing the state’s total number of fields with artificial surfaces to 21.

Glenrock, Big Piney and Southeast will add artificial surfaces to their existing stadiums in time for this fall. Glenrock and Southeast gained approval for their turf fields in the past week from their respective school boards.

Kemmerer, meanwhile, built a new football stadium that will have a turf field.

One of the biggest overhauls, of course, comes at Cheyenne East, where Okie Blanchard Stadium will be rebuilt and receive an artificial surface.

In all, 21 schools have exchanged grass fields for artificial surfaces. See which ones here.

–patrick

Four schools (Burns, Kemmerer, Moorcroft, Big Horn) upgrade football facilities

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Three Class 2A schools — Kemmerer, Burns and Big Horn — and Class 1A 11-man school Moorcroft will undergo major changes to their football facilities this year.

The most dramatic changes will occur in Kemmerer and Burns.

Kemmerer will christen its new football facility this fall with something the school has never had before: night games. The new field is near the Kemmerer Middle School and west of the high school on the southern edge of the city.

Kemmerer’s new facility will include lights and an artificial surface. The Rangers’ old field, occasionally referred to as “The Pit” due to its location at the bottom of a set of steep hills, will likely continue to stay open for school and community use.

Kemmerer will be the 17th school in Wyoming to switch to an artificial surface.

Burns, meanwhile, is rebuilding its football field and may not have any true “home” games this year, as the field might remain under construction through the fall. Burns’ new facility is being built at the site of the school’s current field. Unlike Kemmerer, Burns will keep its natural grass surface. Burns’ new facility will also include an eight-lane track.

Big Horn and Moorcroft, meanwhile, will add lights to their fields for the first time this year.

Moorcroft is the first of Crook County’s three high schools to add lights.

Oddly enough, Lyman will be the opponent for the first game under the lights for both Big Horn and Kemmerer — at Big Horn on Sept. 12 and at Kemmerer on Sept. 19. Moorcroft will host Wyoming Indian on Sept. 5 in its first home night game.

With the addition of lighted facilities in Big Horn, Kemmerer and Moorcroft, only seven Wyoming 11-man schools (Big Piney, Burlington, Cokeville, Lyman, Mountain View, Sundance and Tongue River) remain without lights. However, of Wyoming’s 13 six-man schools, nine (Dubois, Farson, Hanna, Hulett, Kaycee, Rock River, St. Stephens, Snake River, Ten Sleep) don’t have lights.

If you know of any other field renovations taking place this summer, let me know: Leave a comment below, hit me up on Twitter @wyomingfootball or email me at pschmiedt@yahoo.com.

–patrick

Week 4 picks: Saratoga joins the ranks of the nighttime football

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Saratoga’s football team is trying out something new this year — night home games.

The Panthers are the latest school to add lights to their field, debuting the new lights in a 28-6 loss to Lingle in the opening week of the season. In doing so, Saratoga joined a growing trend of schools adding the night option to their schedule.

Upton added lights recently when it built its new school and field a few years ago; Pinedale added lights in a stadium upgrade that also included artificial turf; Wind River added lights a couple years ago despite some setbacks that pushed back making night football a consistent event in Pavillion.

Now, of the 63 high schools in Wyoming that sponsor varsity high school football, only 18 don’t have lights on their home field.

The no-lights schools tend to be clumped together. There’s the “Crook County Clump” of Hulett, Sundance and Moorcroft… the “Sheridan County District 1 Clump” of Tongue River and Big Horn… the “Southwest Clump” of Lyman, Mountain View, Kemmerer, Big Piney and Cokeville… the “Big Horn County District 1 Clump” of Rocky Mountain and Burlington…. and the “Six-man Clump” of Kaycee, Snake River, Farson, Hanna, Dubois and Ten Sleep (and Hulett, again; with their move to six-man last year, the Red Devils are now in two clumps).

Speaking of six-man… Guernsey, Meeteetse and Midwest are the only six-man schools with lights; however, both Meeteetse and Guernsey have no night home games this year. Midwest is the opposite, and is scheduled to play all of its home games at night — the lone torch bearer of night six-man football in Wyoming.

Of course, most of the schools without lights are fairly small — the Bridger Valley schools of Mountain View and Lyman are the two largest schools in the state without lights, and they tally in at about 225 students apiece 9-12. However, of the 18 schools without lights, seven are in Class 2A and seven are in Class 1A six-man; only four schools in Class 1A 11-man don’t have lights.

Don’t expect lights for most of these schools any time soon. I haven’t heard any rumors of any of these schools adding lights any time soon. (If I’m wrong about that, let me know by posting a comment below or emailing me: pschmiedt@yahoo.com.)

As for Saratoga… well, after this week, the Panthers have two more home games. One will be under the lights, but the regular-season finale will be played in the mid-afternoon. Is it too early to call it a throwback game?

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I’m not purposely trying to neglect this week’s games by talking about lights. Several key games dot the schedule, including Buffalo-Douglas, Glenrock-Big Horn, Cokeville-Shoshoni and Dubois-Kaycee. At least two undefeated teams will fall this week, as the Glenrock-Big Horn and Dubois-Kaycee games pit two unbeaten teams against each other.

Here are this week’s picks, with projected winners in bold:

Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Evanston
Cheyenne South at Cheyenne East
Gillette at Laramie
Sheridan at Rock Springs
Class 3A
Buffalo at Douglas
Cody at Green River
Lander at Torrington
Powell at Jackson
Rawlins at Riverton
Worland at Star Valley
Class 2A
Burns at Tongue River
Glenrock at Big Horn
Greybull at Pinedale
Lyman at Big Piney
Moorcroft at Wheatland
Mountain View at Lovell
Wright at Newcastle
Class 1A 11-man
Burlington at Riverside
Cokeville at Shoshoni
Lusk at Lingle
Pine Bluffs at Southeast
Wind River at Rocky Mountain
Wyoming Indian at Saratoga
Class 1A six-man
Guernsey at Hanna
Meeteetse at Snake River
Saturday
Class 4A
Natrona at Kelly Walsh
Class 2A
Thermopolis at Kemmerer
Class 1A six-man
Dubois at Kaycee
Hulett at Ten Sleep
Midwest at Farson
Interclass
Big Horn JV at Normative Services
Open: Upton-Sundance.

Last week: 27-5 (84 percent). This season: 90-21 (81 percent).

Thoughts on the upcoming week? Thoughts on lights? Thoughts on anything Wyoming high school football-related? Post away below. Let’s start a conversation.

–patrick

Central, Powell, Lusk add artifical turf to fields

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Three Wyoming high schools made the switch to artificial turf over the summer, bringing the total number of schools with fake grass on their football fields in the state to 14.

Cheyenne Central, Powell and Lusk all switched over to artificial turf. They join Big Horn, Cody, Douglas, Jackson, Moorcroft, Natrona, Pinedale, Riverton, Rock Springs, Sheridan and Star Valley as schools with artificial surfaces.

Here is a look at Riske Field in Cheyenne, courtesy of Jeremiah Johnke of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle:

Riske Field, Cheyenne

Riske Field, Cheyenne

 

Construction in Lusk is a bit behind that in Cheyenne. In addition to a new turf football field, Lusk will have a new track surface, as well. Here are a couple looks at the progress in Lusk, courtesy of Cory Griffith:

Lusk football field

Lusk football field

Lusk football field

Lusk football field

 

The work in Powell was a bit more extensive, as an entirely new facility was constructed. The stadium was completed last year. To see photos of the field in Powell, check out the school district photo gallery.

–patrick

Schools with artificial turf fields

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Just a little random checklist to make sure I have all of the schools with turf fields accounted for. If any are missing, let me know.

Big Horn

Cody

Douglas

Jackson

Moorcroft

Natrona

Pinedale

Powell (next year’s new field)

Riverton

Rock Springs

Sheridan

Star Valley

That makes 12 total. Anyone I am forgetting?

–patrick