Jernigan takes over head coaching position at Kemmerer

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Bart Jernigan, the defensive coordinator for Kemmerer, has been hired as the Rangers’ new head coach.

Jernigan verified his hire via email to wyoming-football.com on Thursday.

“We have a great community and great kids,” Jernigan wrote. “I look forward to helping them grow into great young men and make a difference in their lives as well as the world around them.”

He replaces Jason Ferrarini, Kemmerer’s coach the last two seasons. Ferrarini resigned as head coach recently to join his family in a move to Denver, Ferrarini said via email.

Jernigan has been at Kemmerer the past two seasons as defensive coordinator. Prior to that, he spent six years at Layton (Utah) High as the JV head coach and the varsity special teams coordinator; he also spent two years as an assistant at Clearfield (Utah) High.

Kemmerer enters the 2017 season on a 36-game losing streak, the longest in state history. The Kemmerer program is the first 2A program to change coaches this offseason. Class 4A programs Laramie and Thunder Basin, 3A programs Worland and Jackson, 1A 11-man program Tongue River and 1A six-man program Snake River are also either seeking or have hired new head coaches.

–patrick

Worland coach Weber resigns after two seasons

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Worland head football coach Todd Weber has resigned after two seasons leading the Warriors.

Weber confirmed his resignation Wednesday via email with wyoming-football.com.

Weber came to Worland after working as an assistant at Douglas. In his two seasons with the Warriors, Weber went 5-11 — a 2-6 finish in 2015 and a 3-5 finish last year. Worland missed the playoffs both seasons.

A replacement has not yet been named.

Prior to hiring Weber, Worland went through a stretch of five different coaches in four years.

Worland joins Jackson as Class 3A West Conference schools searching for new head coaches. Laramie is also searching for a new head coach, while new coaches have been selected for vacancies at Thunder Basin, Tongue River and Snake River.

–patrick

Cobb hired as Snake River’s head coach

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Jack Cobb, an assistant coach with the Snake River football team for the past eight seasons, has been promoted to be the Rattlers’ head coach.

Cobb, whose hiring was approved in February, takes over for Michael Bates. Bates had led the program since its restart in 2009, and Cobb has been an assistant with the Rattlers each of those years.

Cobb, who was also Snake River’s boys basketball head coach in the 2013-14 season, runs a ranch near Savery.

He is the third new head coach to be hired in the state this offseason, joining Steve Hanson at Tongue River and Trent Pikula at Thunder Basin. Jackson is also looking for a new head coach after James Howell stepped down in December.

–patrick

Rosters set for Wyoming-Nebraska Six-man Shootout game

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The rosters are set for the Six-man Shootout all-star game between Wyoming’s best and Nebraska’s best small-school football players.

The game will be June 24 in Kaycee. Kaycee’s Lee Kremers will be the head coach, with Farson’s Trip Applequist, Midwest’s Ken Swieter and Kaycee’s Tony Rouse working as assistants.

The Wyoming roster includes:

BURLINGTON: Dallin Christiansen; Austin Nicholson.
DUBOIS: Brock Baker.
FARSON: Ryan Curtis; Thomas Rezzonico.
GUERNSEY-SUNRISE: Seth Frederick; Lucas Osmera; Cody Quynn.
HANNA: Jarrett Neimark.
HULETT: Bodhi Penning.
KAYCEE: Reed Stafford.
LINGLE: Garrett Cooper; Dallen Fleenor.
MEETEETSE: Dalton Abarr; Cole Burbank.
MIDWEST: Dustin Bogart; Nick Ray.
ROCK RIVER: Kolten Moss.

Nebraska’s roster includes Cody-Kilgore’s Cade Cody, Augie Galloway, Jared Schmit and Jayden Schmit; Deshler’s Jon Banks; Elwood’s Jake Gydesen; McPherson County’s Colby Crow; Riverside’s Ryan Langan and Noah Valasek; Silver Lake’s Skyler Ericson; South Platte’s Kyle Odenbaugh and Will Spencer; Spalding Academy’s Zach Diessner; St. Edward’s Brayden Olson, Keenan Rasmussen and Evan Roberts; and Walthill’s Grayden Hollowell and Tyler Lovejoy. Coaches will be Riverside’s Joe Imus (head coach), Spalding Academy’s Troy Kleffner, Cody-Kilgore’s Landon Miller and Silver Lake’s Duane Arntt.

The game is in its sixth year. Wyoming holds a 3-2 series lead, but Nebraska won last year’s game 59-32.

–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

WHSAA turns over nonconference football scheduling to schools

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For the 2017 season, the Wyoming High School Activities Association will allow football teams to schedule their own nonconference games.

The WHSAA will continue to schedule conference games for programs statewide.

WHSAA Commissioner Ron Laird said via email the schools were struggling with the expanded travel created by the WHSAA schedules.

“We have had more and more complaints about the non-conference travel each year,” Laird said. “We have been told that some of the schools would like to play a larger school’s lower level team instead of traveling across the state.”

Since 2001, the WHSAA has scheduled football games in Weeks 1-8 for all schools. Since 2006, schools in the 3A through 1A classifications could schedule their own Zero Week opponents; 4A schools could do the same from 2006-08.

The WHSAA’s takeover of scheduling in 2001 was tied to the group’s implementation of power ratings for playoff qualification. For the power ratings to work, and to give every team a full schedule of games, the WHSAA took over scheduling of games that year.

Power ratings were eliminated prior to the 2009 season. However, the WHSAA maintained control over scheduling, even though it had previously volunteered to give that responsibility back to the schools. WHSAA scheduling gave programs a full schedule of varsity opponents, but often at the cost of extended travel.

A 2014 evaluation by this site found teams across the state were traveling further to play in games that were not as competitive.

Laird said schools would have no restrictions on their nonconference scheduling. The statewide scheduling meeting will be Nov. 15-16 in Casper.

The 10-school Class 4A plays a round-robin schedule, and as such, the WHSAA will continue to create the entire 4A season schedule.

In 2017, Thunder Basin High School’s opening in Gillette as a Class 4A school will shift classifications and conference alignments for several schools. For football, Evanston will move to the 3A West and Big Horn will go to the 1A 11-man East. Lingle will also be eligible for the 1A six-man playoffs next season.

–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

Guernsey-Sunrise tabs Cook to fill head coach’s position

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Curtis Cook, who has been an assistant coach the past five years at Guernsey-Sunrise, will be the Vikings’ head coach starting this fall.

Platte County School District No. 2 approved Cook’s hiring this week, Cook said via email to wyoming-football.com.

Cook will replace Chris Link, who resigned. Cook is also the technology coordinator for Guernsey’s school and has also been an assistant basketball coach for the Vikings.

–patrick

Midwest sets plans to play home games in Casper this season

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The Midwest football team has set plans to play its home games in Casper this season — fallout from a leak of toxic chemicals from an abandoned oil well that closed the school indefinitely on May 26.

The school has yet to be reopened, even though the well near the school thought to be the source of the leak was plugged. Midwest students will start the school year in Casper, and games will be played in Casper as long as the school in Midwest remains closed.

Midwest games will be split between Natrona County and Kelly Walsh high schools, Midwest coach Ken Swieter and Midwest AD Susan Rodabaugh said.

Midwest has home games scheduled with Dubois (Week 1, Friday, Sept. 2); Lingle (Week 4, Friday, Sept. 23); Rock River (Week 5, Friday, Sept. 30) and Hanna (Week 8, Friday, Oct. 21) and also has a home Zero Week contest with Dubois and Snake River scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 27.

The games against Dubois, Rock River and Hanna have tentatively been set to be played at Natrona County, while the Zero Week contest and the Lingle game are tentatively scheduled for Kelly Walsh. Game times and dates would not change.

Hulett and Hanna are also scheduled to play their Week 3 game (Saturday, Sept. 17) in Midwest. Plans for that game were not immediately known.

Swieter said Midwest’s practices will either be at the old CY Junior High fields in Casper or at the park near the former Westwood Elementary in west Casper, which is where Midwest’s kindergarten through eighth-grade students will be housed until the Midwest school can be reopened.

–patrick

Reese resigns head football coach spot at Rock River

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The only varsity football coach Rock River has ever known has stepped down.

Terrance Reese resigned as Rock River’s football coach late last week. Reese and Rock River Principal Wade Fiscus verified the resignation in emails to wyoming-football.com.

Reese led Rock River for its first two varsity seasons, finishing 1-6 each season.

Reese cited the desire to spend more time with his three children, the travel distance between his home in Laramie and his coaching responsibilities in Rock River, and the time commitment of pursuing a master’s degree as reasons for stepping down.

“I hope a position in football opens in the near future because I love a challenge and being head coach at the smallest and newest football program in state was definitely that,” Reese wrote. “But at this time it is in the best interest of my family to be a father and husband and take care of the responsibilities that the Lord blessed me with.”

Fiscus said a replacement has not yet been named.

–patrick