Category Archives: Picks

When Tongue River and Big Horn met on the field on Sept. 2, 1977, in Big Horn, neither team may have realized the game they were about to play would decide the Powder River Conference championship.

As it turns out, it did — Tongue River beat Big Horn 21-0, the first of six consecutive conference victories as the Eagles finished their conference schedule unbeaten. Big Horn went on a similar run, winning its five final conference games to go 5-1, one game short of a playoff berth that Tongue River eventually used to reach the Class B championship game.

That 1977 season was the last time the Eagles and Rams finished next to each other, first and second, in conference play, meaning that early September game in 1977 was the last time the two teams played each other with a conference title on the line.

Well, until 2022. Until this week.

The game the longtime Sheridan County rivals will play on Friday will ultimately decide the top seed in this year’s Class 2A East race. Whoever wins will be the top seed, no matter what happens in Week 8, as every other team in the conference has at least two league losses.

Tongue River and Big Horn haven’t had the problems other conference opponents have had this season.

The Eagles come in unbeaten, starting 7-0 for the first time since 2006, when Tongue River finished the regular season unbeaten. Last week’s 13-7 victory against Burns was the first time this season Tongue River won by a one-possession margin of victory.

Meanwhile, Big Horn is 5-1, but the only loss in that stretch came courtesy of top-ranked Lovell in a 14-7 thriller. Since then, the Rams have rolled through 2A East foes with margins of victory of 34, 49, 35, 35 and 33.

For the first time in 45 years, the rivals meet with a championship on the line.

At least this time, they know what’s at stake.

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Other games I’m sneaking a peek at this week:

Shoshoni and Wind River have a history that’s similar to Big Horn and Tongue River, which I wrote about last season. For the second year in a row, it looks like the Fremont County rivals will play a game that decides the conference champion. With as tough as the top of the 1A nine-man West has been this year, I can only imagine the hype that’s going to play out Thursday night in Pavillion. …

In August 2021, I made a bold, albeit private, proclamation in conversation with some other Wyoming media types. I said the team that might have the best chance of going undefeated in 2022 was Natrona. Although the Mustangs haven’t met that lofty expectation, losing to East in the second game of the season, Natrona still enters its game this week against undefeated Sheridan on a roll of its own, a 6-1 record buoyed by its current five-game winning streak. This is Sheridan’s only road game of the year against a team with a winning record, so the Broncs might be tested in ways they haven’t been all season. Should be interesting. …

The middle of the 2A East was always going to be messy. It’ll get even messier if Upton-Sundance can go on the road and beat Torrington, keeping the Patriots’ playoff hopes alive after an 0-4 start to conference play. …

Lingle’s loss to Southeast last week took a bit of a shine of this week’s game between the Doggers and Pine Bluffs. The Hornets have been a rampaging beast of a team all season, but I’m more curious to see how Lingle responds to some adversity after a fast start to its season. …

The 3A slate is underwhelming at first glance, but two games — Jackson visiting Powell and Worland stopping by Lander — have huge playoff implications for the West and East conferences, respectively. I can’t get a read on any of these four teams, but maybe Week 7, and the results of these two games, will help with that? …

News came to me this week that St. Stephens has canceled the rest of its season. Rocky Mountain picked up a game with Natrona’s JV on Thursday in Buffalo, while Greybull will keep its Week 8 slate open. Here’s hoping that whatever is happening with the Eagles gets resolved in time for next season.

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Picking potential winners never gets old, just like upsets never get old. Bold means I think that team will win.

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

For a full schedule including kickoff times, click here. You can click on “Week 7” at the top of the page to take you directly to this week’s schedule.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 29-4 (88 percent). This season: 180-33 (85 percent).

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What rivalries do you see getting better and better, or with stakes getting higher and higher, this season? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

Of the 64 Wyoming high school football teams, arguably none had more hype, or more pressure, entering 2022 than the Cody Broncs.

It made sense. The Broncs went 11-0 last year, the first unbeaten, untied season for Cody since 1932, and won the Class 3A state championship for the second consecutive year. On top of that, Cody returned six all-state players. The rest of 3A had four, combined.

As the 11 other 3A teams were trying to find their way on trails that didn’t yet exist, it appeared the Broncs had not only mapped out their way but had built an interstate to get where they were headed.

And to build an interstate, you need a steamroller.

The Broncs have been that, winning games by 49, 60, 22, 47 and 63 points. Several people have commented on the wyoming-football.com Twitter and Facebook that Cody could be the best team in the state regardless of classification. With 21 victories in a row, the longest active winning streak in the state, the Broncs are right to think about their place in history as potentially one of the best 3A teams ever.

But don’t put that convoy on that interstate just yet.

This week, Cody may have its toughest test of all in Star Valley.

Together, the Broncs and Braves have combined to win the past eight Class 3A titles. This year, Cody and Star Valley have thus far proven to be the two best teams in Class 3A, entering ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. They meet Friday in Afton to renew acquaintances, and while Cody is the favorite, if there’s a place that the Broncs could slip, it’s potentially here.

Remember the last time Cody lost? Afton, 2020. The Braves won 21-14. Cody won the bigger prize, though, as the Broncs went on to win the 3A championship. The seven-point slip in Afton two years ago is Cody’s only loss in its past 27 games.

Star Valley’s only loss so far this season was to Idaho powerhouse Sugar-Salem. At 5-1, with every victory by double-digit margins, the Braves have shown they are capable of challenging even the best teams — even one with heavy equipment on its side.

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Every game is unique, but some games this week draw more of my attention span than others. Some of those include:

The Cheyenne rivalry between Central and East will be intensified this week because both teams want to stay in the chase for some home playoff games. East suffered its first loss last week in a 42-39 shootout in Sheridan, so the Thunderbirds’ response to some adversity will be key to seeing if they can hand 4-2 Central a loss. …

The record doesn’t really show it yet, but the one team that keeps improving each game is 1-4 Glenrock. The Herders may just sneak up on Torrington this week if the Trailblazers get lulled into complacency by Glenrock’s record and not Glenrock’s potential. …

If Big Piney wants to keep any hope of a home-field playoff game alive while in the uber-competitive top half of the Class 1A nine-man West, the Punchers have to beat Shoshoni at home on Thursday — no other way around it but through the defending champs. …

In a fast-moving 1A six-man schedule, the winner of Kaycee vs. Burlington on Saturday will be the North Conference champion. Similarly, Snake River can win the South Conference if it can defeat Carbon County rival Encampment in a rematch of last year’s state championship game, but the Tigers can create a huge three-team logjam up top with an upset against the Rattlers. Remember, with no conference games scheduled for Week 8 in six-man, we’ll know that classification’s playoff pairings by the end of next week.

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Choices. I make them with bold. You disagree with them. Games get played. Everybody happy!

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

For a full schedule including kickoff times, click here. You can click on “Week 6” at the top of the page to take you directly to this week’s schedule.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 29-2 (94 percent). This season: 151-29 (84 percent).

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Who’s steamrolling into the postseason, and who’s pushing a Tonka truck with their hands? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

In a closed set of games like Class 4A has every season — no opponents outside the group of the 10 largest schools in the state — score comparison is an inevitability.

The problem with comparing scores is it leaves you susceptible to falling into the trap that teams play the same way each time they take the field.

As any high school football coach will tell you, that’s their goal, but not their reality.

In fact, only twice since entering the round-robin schedule in 2009 — in 2012 and 2017 — has Class 4A gone without an “upset,” with the 10 teams finishing 9-0, 8-1, 7-2, 6-3, 5-4, 4-5, 3-6, 2-7, 1-8 and 0-9 in regular-season play.

Football is a messy sport, and it’s even messier at the high school level. That’s part of the appeal.

So when we look at Friday night’s game between the last two unbeaten teams in 4A, Cheyenne East and Sheridan, it seems inevitable that we would compare scores. After all, they share three opponents through the first five games — Thunder Basin, Laramie and Rock Springs — and each has played this series of foes in the past three weeks.

So when we bring up East has had bigger victories against all three, it seems that East is the obvious choice. The Thunderbirds’ margins of victory against Laramie (63-7 vs. 55-7 for Sheridan), Thunder Basin (52-42 vs. 34-27 for Sheridan) and Rock Springs (54-20 vs. 39-28 for Sheridan) suggest East has the upper hand in the challenge to stay undefeated.

However, as more games are played, the messier score comparisons get, especially in a closed, round-robin schedule.

That’s the thing about 4A. It doesn’t always play out the way the previous scores suggest it should.

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To be honest, this week’s schedule statewide is not as interesting as other weeks of the year. But that’s on paper. On the field, I’m sure we’ll see some surprising results. Still, these are the games that look like big ones, at least before the first kickoff:

For the first time, Campbell County enters the Coal Bowl with a better record than crosstown rival Thunder Basin. Will the momentum from the Camels’ four-game winning streak be enough to best the ‘Bolts, who have lost three in a row but played competitively in all three? …

Douglas and Buffalo both won their 3A East openers last week, and the winner this week will be the favorite to continue that success right on into home-field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Call it the “Cow on the Mountain” game, because the stakes are elevated. …

Some of the most competitive football of the year has been in the 2A West, where the top four teams (Lovell, Cokeville, Lyman and Mountain View) are a combined 13-4. Cokeville and Mountain View will play Friday in the Bridger Valley to help sort out some of the confusion at the top of the league, and it might be an opportunity to define a season for one of the two teams. …

It’s a nonconference week in 1A six-man, with the most intriguing out-of-league game pitting 3-1 Encampment up against 4-0 Kaycee up in Johnson County. The Buckaroos’ resurgence has been one of the feel-good stories of the year, but the Tigers will be game and will definitely be Kaycee’s toughest test to date.

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This is the week, y’all. This is the week I go 100% on my picks — something I’ve never done before in 17-plus years of doing this stuff. Or not, because the bold teams are my favorites and the non-bold teams always find a way to surprise us. And thank goodness. Otherwise this would get boring, fast.

Thursday
Class 2A
Kemmerer at Lyman
Upton-Sundance at Newcastle
Class 1A nine-man
Riverside at Shoshoni
Wyoming Indian at Wind River
Friday
Class 4A
Campbell County at Thunder Basin
Cheyenne East at Sheridan
Cheyenne South at Cheyenne Central
Kelly Walsh at Laramie
Rock Springs at Natrona
Class 3A
Douglas at Buffalo
Evanston at Jackson
Green River at Cody
Lander at Riverton
Star Valley at Powell
Worland at Rawlins
Class 2A
Burns at Glenrock
Cokeville at Mountain View
Thermopolis at Pinedale
Torrington at Tongue River
Wheatland at Big Horn
Class 1A nine-man
Guernsey at Southeast
Lusk at Pine Bluffs
Moorcroft at Lingle
Rocky Mountain at Greybull
Wright at Saratoga
Class 1A six-man
Encampment at Kaycee
Farson at Burlington
Hanna at Midwest
Interstate
Lovell at Rich County, Utah
Saturday
Class 1A nine-man
Big Piney at St. Stephens
Class 1A six-man
Hulett vs. Snake River (at Midwest)
Meeteetse at Dubois
Open: Ten Sleep.

For a full schedule including kickoff times, click here. You can click on “Week 5” at the top of the page to take you directly to this week’s schedule.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 28-3 (90 percent). This season: 122-27 (82 percent).

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Also, one more quick note: The first season of football for Casper Christian School has been, and will be, busy.

Casper Christian School’s 33-12 loss to Kaycee on Sept. 13 has been retroactively added to the site.

Kaycee coach Dave Largent said Kaycee added the mid-week game two weeks ago after getting permission from the Wyoming High School Activities Association, which allowed the game since Kaycee was idle during Zero Week. Largent said his team played a mix of players but still counted statistics and the game for their season record.

CCS coach Ryan Harrison said his team will finish its season with three games against a Natrona freshman/sophomore team and a game against Hulett in the final week of the season. All three NC games will be on consecutive Saturdays, starting this week. Hulett originally scheduled Edgemont, S.D., for the final week, but Edgemont failed to field a team this season, Hulett AD Jen Stevens said.

The Mountaineers are playing a six-man schedule this year. They are 0-3 so far with losses to Kaycee, Midwest and Burlington.

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We’re now past the midpoint of the regular season. Whose play, individually or team-wise, has been a pleasant surprise for you? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

Over its past 20 games, Lovell has a record of 16-4.

Three of those four losses were to Lyman.

One of those was an 8-6 loss in the Class 2A championship game last season.

So it’s safe to say that when these two teams renew acquaintances Friday afternoon in the Bridger Valley, the Bulldogs will be keen to exact some revenge.

And this just might be the time to do so.

Lyman may be as vulnerable now as it has ever been in the past two-plus seasons. After all, both the 2020 and 2021 seasons ended with the Eagles as the Class 2A champions, including an undefeated season last year.

The Eagles’ run of success, though, has already hit unexpected challenges.

Lyman’s 20-game winning streak ended in a Week 1 loss to Bear Lake, Idaho. Injuries have taken a severe toll on the Eagles’ three-peat chances, and the adjustments players and coaches make will be key. However, the Eagles started 2A West play by pasting struggling Pinedale 40-0. Oddly enough, every Lyman game has been a shutout — two by Lyman’s defense, one by its offense.

Lovell, meanwhile, has started 2-0 behind a stout defense and just enough offense. In the Week 1 victory against Big Horn, a 14-7 slugfest, the Bulldogs’ defense forced a late fumble near the goal line to snuff out the Rams’ potential game-tying or game-winning drive. Last week in a 27-7 victory against Cokeville, the Bulldogs’ consistency on both sides of the ball simply overwhelmed the Panthers — a hallmark of teams that want to contend for championships.

Lovell enters as 2A’s top-ranked team, an honor will have for a second consecutive week after Lyman’s streak-breaking loss.

For as much as Lovell is now the hunted instead of the hunter, the Bulldogs know how tough it is to beat Lyman.

The past two seasons are evidence of that.

And beware a top-ranked team motivated, at least in part, by revenge.

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Every game is special, but these are some games that, at least on paper, have the appearance of potentially being the most special of the week:

Cheyenne Central has had a tough go, with its two losses by a combined seven points. The Indians draw Thunder Basin this week, another tough test. If Central can somehow manage to get on the right side of the scoreboard up in Gillette, watch out. ….

It doesn’t matter what the rest of the season looks like, the Oil Bowl is always an important game in Casper. Natrona is the obvious favorite, and over the past couple decades upsets in the Oil Bowl have been exceptionally rare. …

Powell-Douglas is one of the most interesting 3A games, in part because of their similar paths. They both got knocked off in Week 1 against opponents who were ready for them; they both rebounded with solid victories last week to put them back on track. Now they play each other, so their paths will have to diverge somehow. …

Wheatland, Torrington, Burns and Newcastle all played overtime games last week, with Newcastle beating Wheatland in two overtimes and Torrington nipping Burns. Conveniently, they all play each other this week, with Burns venturing to Newcastle and Torrington hosting Wheatland. We’ll know quickly this week just how the 2A East might shake out — well, with these four teams, at least. …

It didn’t take long for the ranks of undefeated teams to shrink. Riverside’s game against Wind River is the only game above six-man this week to pair up two unbeaten teams. …

Dubois looked good despite a loss to Snake River last week. Now the Rams have to muster the same intensity to keep up with 2-0 Encampment to have any hope of a home playoff game. That 1A six-man South is brutal at the top. …

Three teams in the 1A six-man North are undefeated in Midwest, Burlington and Kaycee. And three are winless. Midwest and Burlington will meet Saturday, and the winner moves one huge step closer to home-field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. …

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I’m convinced no one reads this paragraph. I think everyone probably skip right over it to see the picks. Because by now, you know that bold means the team I think will win. If you’ve made it this far, you’ve proven me wrong. Congratulations! May a few of the non-bolded teams join you this week in proving me wrong, just to spice it up a bit.

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

For a full schedule including kickoff times, click here. You can click on “Week 3” at the top of the page to take you directly to this week’s schedule.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 29-6 (83 percent). This season: 68-17 (80 percent).

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Whose hot start is the sign of things to come? Whose slow start is an anomaly? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

When the 2022 schedule came out, the Dubois Rams knew they had to start their season fast.

After all, Week 2 and the South Conference opener brought defending state champion Snake River to Fremont County. And Week 3 sent the Rams to play at Encampment, last year’s runners-up.

The gauntlet of the second and third weeks will prove to be a testing ground for a team with big aspirations.

It wasn’t that long ago — just back to 2018 — when Dubois went winless. The next season wasn’t much better, as the Rams went 1-7.

But younger players grew, and players even younger entered the program. Bit by bit, victories accumulated, as Dubois went 3-5 in 2020 and 5-5 last season. Last year also brought the program’s first playoff victory since 2014. Success in other sports has accompanied the success on the field — a tribute not only to the football program but to athletics as a whole, coaches and players and community together.

Meanwhile, with the bulk of their players returning, the Rams are counting on a breakout year in 2022. But they have to prove their potential in the next two weeks, that is.

No bigger challenge exists for Dubois than the one the one facing it this week. Snake River was undefeated last season and returns a Class 1A six-man high four all-state selections. The Rattlers started 2022 fast, shutting out Meeteetse 48-0 last week.

Snake beat Dubois 46-0 last year, which served as a reality check for the up-and-coming Rams that they still had work to do.

That leads into this week’s big question: How much better is Dubois? And if anyone is going to threaten Snake River’s chances at another championship, can Dubois be the one to do it?

And if the Rams somehow emerge as six-man’s favorites after knocking off the top-ranked Rattlers, can they muster the same kind of effort to do the same against Encampment next week?

Then again, Dubois has known since last November what kind of challenge the schedule presented and just how important a fast start would be.

For a program on the rise, that kind of challenge is both welcomed and necessary.

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Other games that are creating beeps on my doppler in Week 2:

Cheyenne East and Thunder Basin are both 2-0. East is in the middle of a tough stretch where four of five games are outside Cheyenne; this one is the second of that five-game stretch, with a home game against Laramie sandwiched in between two road games on either side. How East handles this stretch will dictate much of its season, although it started well last week with at road victory at Natrona. …

Time to figure out which 4A 1-1 team is a real contender: Natrona or Cheyenne Central. Should be a good one in the Capital City. …

Evanston has lost two consecutive one-point games. Will the Red Devils shake off the frustration of two losses like that against Riverton — the third of four consecutive road games for Evanston to start its season? …

Both Glenrock and Tongue River looked sharp to start the season. They’ll meet in the 2A East opener, and I’m extremely intrigued by this matchup. With as even as the East could be this year, the winner will be immediately in the discussion for home field — for now. …

The state’s longest active winning streak ended at 20 games last week with Lyman’s 28-0 loss to Bear Lake, Idaho. The Eagles face struggling Pinedale in their 2A West opener, and although the Eagles are still the favorite, how they match up against the Wranglers will tell us a lot about how the two-time defending 2A champs might fare the rest of the season. …

Wyoming Indian looked much improved in its first victory of the season against Guernsey, a game that broke the Chiefs’ 16-game losing streak. Moreover, that victory was Wyoming Indian’s first against a varsity opponent since Sept. 27, 2013, when the Chiefs beat Ten Sleep in six-man. Riverside will put up a bigger challenge, but the Chiefs should come to Basin confident. …

Speaking of losing streaks, Rawlins ended an 18-game losing streak last week by beating Pinedale. The Outlaws step up from 2A to 3A this week by playing Green River… but the Wolves have lost 14 in a row. Can the Outlaws show they can compete at that level, or will the Wolves break their own losing streak at the expense of the Outlaws? …

Star Valley and Sugar-Salem, Idaho, will renew what has become one of the best interstate rivalries in recent memory on Friday. With both teams coming in undefeated, something will have to give. …

Rich County, Utah, ventures into “2A West” play this week against Mountain View, winners against Wheatland last week, in the Bridger Valley. Get to know the Rebels — they’ll be around this side of the state all season long. …

Another out-of-state game that has my interest is Buffalo’s Saturday game with Resurrection Christian from Loveland, Colo. Resurrection Christian has consistently been one of Colorado’s best 2A teams and is jumping to 3A this year. That jump came with scheduling issues, though, as Buffalo is the second of three consecutive out-of-state foes the Cougars have. And the Bison are the closest of the three, by far. Last week, Resurrection Christian hosted — and beat — Orangewood Christian from Florida. Next week, the Cougars travel to Katy, Texas, to play St. John XXIII. It’s one of the most interesting three-week stretches I’ve ever seen on an out-of-state schedule, and the Bison are right in the thick of it.

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On to this week’s picks. Bolded teams are the ones I anticipate winning, but I’m often wrong, and I appreciate teams pointing out to me when they’re better than I think they are. It helps.

Thursday
Class 1A nine-man
Greybull at Shoshoni
St. Stephens at Wind River
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Thunder Basin
Cheyenne South at Kelly Walsh
Laramie at Sheridan
Natrona at Cheyenne Central
Rock Springs at Campbell County
Class 3A
Evanston at Riverton
Lander at Powell
Rawlins at Green River
Worland at Cody
Class 2A
Big Horn at Upton-Sundance
Cokeville at Lovell
Glenrock at Tongue River
Lyman at Pinedale
Newcastle at Wheatland
Thermopolis at Kemmerer
Torrington at Burns
Class 1A nine-man
Lingle at Lusk
Pine Bluffs at Guernsey
Rocky Mountain at Big Piney
Saratoga at Moorcroft
Southeast at Wright
Wyoming Indian at Riverside
Class 1A six-man
Snake River at Dubois
Interstate
Douglas at Gering, Neb.
Rich County, Utah, at Mountain View
Star Valley at Sugar-Salem, Idaho
Wood River, Idaho, at Jackson
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Burlington at Hulett
Encampment at Farson
Meeteetse at Kaycee
Ten Sleep at Midwest
Interclass
Cheyenne East frosh at Hanna
Interstate
Buffalo at Loveland Resurrection Christian, Colo.

For a full schedule including kickoff times, click here. You can click on “Week 2” at the top of the page to take you directly to this week’s schedule.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 27-8 (77 percent). This season: 39-11 (78 percent).

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Whose Week 1 performance was an aberration and is ready for redemption in Week 2? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

I’ve already talked a lot leading into this season about what fun Class 1A nine-man will be this season, so I won’t belabor it anymore.

This week, the hype can stop and the games can start.

Finally, the fun actually begins.

Prime on the schedule is the showdown between last year’s two conference champions — West champ and eventual state champion Shoshoni and East champ and semifinalist Pine Bluffs.

It’s the game many (including me) thought would be the nine-man championship game last year. And it’s also a reprisal of one of the best-played nine-man games of last year’s regular season, Pine Bluffs’ 34-25 victory against Shoshoni in the Wranglers’ only loss of a championship campaign.

They didn’t get to reprise that game in Laramie after Rocky Mountain upset Pine Bluffs in last year’s nine-man semifinals.

So Week 1 this season will have to do.

A postseason rematch is certainly no guarantee, as the Hornets can attest. Rocky Mountain and Wind River loom large in the West as legit title contenders, while a host of other programs have enough potential to play spoilers’ roles.

Regardless of who picks up the victory in Week 1, this game will be an indicator of just how awesome a season we really might have on our hands in this classification.

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Week 1 is always full of intrigue. Every game will uncover secrets we didn’t understand about the 2022 season until it actually started being played. Nevertheless, some games that are drawing a particular bit of curiosity for me include some under-the-radar choices:

East-Natrona and Thunder Basin-Rock Springs will draw the 4A attention, because all four teams won their openers last week. But the Campbell County-Laramie game might be the most intriguing because both teams, despite losing, had their moments last week. Time to see who might be a spoiler. …

Every 2A game is tough to pick, in part because 2A is such a mysterious classification this year. Many of these are literally coin flips — as in, I actually flipped a coin to pick a potential winner. Hopefully 2A clears itself up a bit after this week. Or not. That’s fun too. …

Hulett is in one of the weirdest situations ever — playing the same team three times in a row. Hulett closed its 2021 season with two games against Dubois, one a Week 8 victory, the next a quarterfinal loss. And guess who Hulett gets in Week 1 of 2022? Yep, Dubois, as the two teams meet in a neutral-site game in Ten Sleep. Off the top of my head, the last time I can remember this happening was when Kelly Walsh played Campbell County three straight times in 2003-04, again in a regular season closer –> quarterfinal –> season opener trio. Can anyone else think of other times when this has happened?

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On to this week’s picks. Week 1 picks are tough, but I bold teams I think will win anyway because, well, someone has to win. We don’t allow ties anymore.

Wednesday
Interclass
Cokeville at Smithfield Sky View, Utah, JV (as seen on Twitter)
Thursday
Class 1A nine-man
Moorcroft at Greybull
Pine Bluffs at Shoshoni
Wind River at Saratoga
Friday
Class 4A
Campbell County at Laramie
Cheyenne East at Natrona
Kelly Walsh at Cheyenne Central
Sheridan at Cheyenne South
Thunder Basin at Rock Springs
Class 3A
Douglas at Jackson
Lander at Green River
Powell at Worland
Riverton at Cody
Class 2A
Kemmerer at Glenrock
Lovell at Big Horn
Mountain View at Wheatland
Tongue River at Thermopolis
Class 1A nine-man
Big Piney at Lusk
Lingle at St. Stephens
Southeast at Riverside
Wright at Rocky Mountain
Wyoming Indian at Guernsey
Class 1A six-man
Kaycee at Hanna
Snake River at Meeteetse
Interclass
Newcastle at Buffalo
Rawlins at Pinedale
Interstate
Evanston at Jordan, Utah
Lyman at Bear Lake, Idaho
Mitchell, Neb., at Torrington
Preston, Idaho, at Star Valley
Yuma, Colo., at Burns
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Casper Christian at Burlington
Dubois vs. Hulett (at Ten Sleep)
Ten Sleep at Encampment
Interclass
Kelly Walsh sophs at Midwest
Open: Farson, Upton-Sundance.

For a full schedule including kickoff times, click here. You can click on “Week 1” at the top of the page to take you directly to this week’s schedule.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 12-3 (80 percent). This season: 12-3 (80 percent).

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Which teams are ready to draw attention their way with a Week 1 victory? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

Zero Week, and Week 1, by default answer more questions than any other weeks during the season.

And this week’s slate is no exception.

Can Lyman keep its state-best 19-game winning streak going against a Malad, Idaho, team that stayed within a touchdown of the Eagles last season?

Can Sheridan start its Class 4A title defense with a victory against an improved Cheyenne Central?

How will Cheyenne South look in its debut under new coach Eli Moody — and how will that debut influence if the Bison can end a 20-game losing streak, the longest active streak in the state, this season?

How will former Jackson coach David Joyce do in his first game as the head coach of Teton, Idaho — against Jackson and new head coach David White?

And how will the 54 teams in action across games, scrimmages and jamborees statewide perform in their first action against someone other than their teammates?

One way or another, the course for the season is set this weekend.

Oddly enough, the game I’m most interested in won’t even be played in Wyoming. Star Valley will be the first Wyoming team to play a game on the blue turf of Boise State University, as the Braves face consistently solid Shelley, Idaho, in Boise. It’s not geographically sensical — it’s a little over two hours from Afton to Shelley but about five and a half hours from Afton to Boise — but that’s OK. The opportunity to play in that stadium is worth it.

Speaking of out-of-state foes, eight out-of-state games are on the schedule this week. Utah’s traditionally early start means a couple of teams playing against Wyoming opponents won’t have those first-game jitters. Evanston’s opponent, Ben Lomond, Utah, is already 1-1; Green River foe Uintah, Utah, is 0-2. Every other out-of-state foe is in the same boat as the Wyoming teams, playing their respective season openers.

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On to the picks. The teams in bold are the teams that I think will win. But it’s the opening weekend, so there’s a lot we don’t know, and I’m more liable to be wrong this week than most. That’s fine — and fun!

Friday
Class 4A
Campbell County at Cheyenne East
Cheyenne Central at Sheridan
Cheyenne South at Thunder Basin
Natrona at Laramie
Rock Springs at Kelly Walsh
Class 3A
Riverton at Powell
Interstate
Ben Lomond, Utah, at Evanston
Jackson at Teton, Idaho
Lyman at Malad, Idaho
Star Valley vs. Shelley, Idaho (at Boise, Idaho)
Torrington at Gering, Neb.
Uintah, Utah, at Green River
Wheatland at Mitchell, Neb.
Saturday
Interclass
Sheridan JV at Tongue River
Interstate
Bridger, Mont., at Meeteetse

The rest of the schedule:
Scrimmages and Jamborees
Friday
Big Piney, Cokeville, Kemmerer at Kemmerer jamboree
Buffalo at Lovell
Burns, Glenrock, Mountain View, Rawlins at Rawlins jamboree
Casper Christian at Midwest
Cody, Douglas, Newcastle at Douglas jamboree
Lingle, Pine Bluffs, Southeast at Pine Bluffs jamboree
Lusk, Saratoga, Shoshoni, Wind River, Wright at Casper jamboree
Pinedale at Lander
Thermopolis at Worland
Saturday
Dubois, Encampment, Farson at Encampment jamboree
Natrona sophs at Big Horn
Greybull, Moorcroft, Riverside, Rocky Mountain at Shoshoni jamboree
Open: Burlington, Guernsey, Hanna, Hulett, Kaycee, St. Stephens, Snake River, Ten Sleep, Upton-Sundance, Wyoming Indian.

For a full schedule including kickoff times, click here. You can click on “Week 0” at the top of the page to take you directly to this week’s schedule.

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As usual during Zero Week, here is a reminder of the rules I use to determine whether a Zero Week contest is a game or is something else:

• 1. Was the game played with four 12-minute quarters with normal timing rules?
• 2. Were officials used? And were normal rules of play instituted for the game?
• 3. Was score kept?

If these three criteria are met, I call it a game and record it as such on this site.

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Which teams are ready to make an impression in the halfway start to 2022? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick