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