Top 10 coaching victories list shuffled (1920-29 now accounted for…)

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Just a quick update to post the top 10 coaches in terms of victories, now that the years 1920-29 are accounted for. The list really has not changed that much; only Okie Blanchard’s numbers have changed, and no new coaches entered the top 10.

Coach Wins Losses Ties
Dayton, Todd 253 49 0
Deti, John E. 205 94 8
Deti, John R. 188 102 2
Fullmer, Jerry 174 82 0
McDougall, John 156 115 2
Blanchard, Okie 149 55 7
Eskelsen, Joel 148 81 0
Hoff, Dallas 144 95 6
Gray, Walter 140 87 0
Moon, Mike 136 79 1

The only other coach of the 1920s era to even come close to entering the discussion is John Powell. Powell, who coached Cheyenne Central from 1924 to 1939, finished his career with a 94-50-7 record. The 94 victories has him 27th on the all-time Wyoming list.

By the way, according to the records I have compiled so far, victories leader Todd Dayton will achieve another milestone next fall — he is only five games behind John E. Deti for the state record of most games coached. Deti has 307 games logged; Dayton has 302. Deti Sr. still has Dayton beat in the number of seasons coaching, as Deti’s 35 years total is four better than Dayton’s 31.

My big question with Deti Sr. is if he coached in 1943, the season before he started at Laramie. I have him coaching in Meeteetse in 1941 and Shoshoni in 1942, but I don’t know his whereabouts in 1943 before coming to Laramie in 1944. It’s worth noting that I don’t know who Shoshoni’s coach was in 1943. It might have been Deti. Still trying to track that down. (Here is where I put the obligatory link to my Coaches Project notes.)

(The other coach on the top 10 list I’m still tracking is Dallas Hoff. I think he was probably the coach at Superior in 1961 — which would add two victories to his total — but I haven’t been able to prove it yet.)

–patrick

Way-too-early 2011 predictions

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With state wrestling and state basketball dominating the high school sports discussions the past couple weeks, I can’t help but think about championships in football — and which teams might hoist the trophies in 2011.

Obviously, there is a ton of time between March and November. Players move in, move out, drop out, come back, develop, underdevelop, gain confidence; coaches quit, get fired, move on, change schemes. Then the season actually starts.

But I always enjoy looking ahead and thinking about what might be coming next fall. Based on what I know from last season, here are my choices for the top five in each classification in 2011 (realizing, of course, that it’s March):

4A (updated!)
1. Sheridan. I like the direction coach Don Julian has that program going. (Update: Just heard, right after posting this, that Gillette’s Jordan Roberts moved to Sheridan in January and will be playing for the Broncs this fall. That makes them the automatic favorites in my book.)
2. Cheyenne East. Trevon Hinker and Jeremy Woods are both back. Most of the role players, though, are gone. If the Thunderbirds find some others to step up and support their two studs….
3. Evanston. A couple first-team all-staters are back in Matt Eddington and Austin Wiggins.
4. Gillette. (Update: See Sheridan. Now Gillette’s rebuilding process just got a bit tougher, but not impossible.)
5. Cheyenne Central. Indians always seem to do a good job of reloading, but they have their work cut out for them in 2011.
Who I’m overlooking: Natrona. Didn’t the Mustangs just win the 4A state championship? How can I leave them off this list? Well, losing one of the most talented senior classes in history won’t help.

3A
1. Douglas. Three years without a loss? Yeah, the Bearcats have earned this spot until someone takes it from them.
2. Cody. The Broncs have one of the most exciting players in the state in Brady Gulde coming back.
3. Powell. Holy crud. The Panthers have five all-staters coming back.
4. Buffalo. The Bison never seem to rebuild.
5. Green River. The drop from 4A is no guarantee of success, but the Wolves’ experience playing with the big boys will give 3A teams fits.
Who I’m overlooking: Lander. All three of the Tigers’ all-state selections from last year are back. That experience is invaluable.

2A
1. Lovell. In what should be a wide-open classification, the Bulldogs probably have the most raw talent coming back.
2. Wheatland. The experience playing up will come in handy in a wide-open conference.
3. Lyman. This program is growing by leaps and bounds. This might be the Eagles’ breakthrough year.
4. Thermopolis. Banners don’t lie.
5. Greybull. Lost a lot. Have a lot coming back.
Who I’m overlooking: Burns. I think the Broncs are close to a breakthrough thanks to a pair of returning all-state players.

1A 11-man
1. Cokeville. After the way the Panthers mowed through the rest of the 1A classification last year, how can you NOT like Cokeville to win it again?
2. Southeast. Not too many programs would consider an appearance in the state semifinals a down year.
3. Rocky Mountain. This team came darn close to going on the road to Yoder and pulling the upset; I think they’ll be better this year.
4. Lingle. I like the grit the Doggers showed in the playoffs. The program is slowly gaining consistency.
5. Burlington. I could put just about anyone in 1A here, but I think Anson George could be the difference for the Huskies.
Who I’m overlooking: Lusk. Rebuilding? Or is the JV ready for the Friday night lights?

1A six-man
1. Snake River. Gotta like the defending champs, especially because of the key roles underclassmen played for them in the title run.
2. Dubois. The Rams came out of nowhere last year in 11-man; in six-man, they’ll be contenders right away.
3. Kaycee. Sure, Shawn Straub is gone, but the Buckaroos are more than just one player.
4. Midwest. I wonder what would have happened last year if the Oilers had not lost that tight regular-season game at Hanna….
5. Hanna. Last year’s runners-up lost a lot of talent, but there are enough returners for the Miners to contend.
Who I’m overlooking: Farson. The Pronghorns are getting stronger — and this year might be the year they prove it.

What do you think? Which teams do you think should be the odds-on favorites to win it all in 2011? Who will be some of the most explosive players and teams in the state next fall? Post your thoughts below and let’s talk about it.

–patrick

Coaches with most victories — by letter

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When you look at the top of Wyoming’s all-time coaching victories list, something sticks out right away: The “Ds” have it.

Dayton, Deti and Deti are 1-2-3 in Wyoming’s coaching victories list — Cokeville’s Todd Dayton leads with 253; Laramie’s John Deti Sr. is second at 205 and his son, John Deti Jr., is third at 188.

But what about the other letters? Where are the Rs, the Js, the Ns, the Zs?

This blog post answers that question.

Below, I have listed the coaches who have the most victories by the first letter of their last name. These totals are for the 1930-2010 seasons — the ones I currently have posted online — but I am quite confident that most of these records stand up through about 1921.

This is a smaller takeoff of a larger coaching records database that, for now, I have kept to myself. I hope to post it online sometime soon; when I do, I will post something here to let you know.

Without further ado, here are the leaders per letter, with the career record in parenthesis and the runner-up listed second:

A: John Alberta (68-19-1). Alberta was the coach at Gillette from 1961-70 — one of the best stretches in the Camels’ history. His teams never lost more than three games in a season and always won at least six. His best season was an unbeaten 9-0 campaign in 1964. (Second place: Glen Alley, 65-20-1 at Glenrock from 1956-65.)

B: Okie Blanchard (141-48-5). Blanchard was one of the state’s most respected — and most traveled — coaches in Wyoming’s early days. Blanchard coached in Glenrock, Cokeville, Rock Springs, Natrona and Cheyenne Central and was even the head coach at the University of Wyoming in 1941. He posted undefeated seasons four times before retiring in 1952. (Blanchard’s all-time record does not account for the three other seasons I know he was a coach: Glenrock in 1925, Cokeville in 1928 and Rock Springs in 1929.) (Second place: Harold Bailey, 128-92 at Shoshoni from 1975-2001.)

C: Steve Colling (72-87). The current head coach at Hulett has coached the Red Devils since 1992. Colling has led Hulett to four state runner-up finishes in his tenure, including a career-best 8-1 season in 1994. (Second place: Current Cheyenne Central coach Brick Cegelski, 71-71 since 1996.)

D: Todd Dayton (253-49). By far the all-time winningest coach in state history, Dayton’s accolades over 31 seasons are well known but worth repeating: 17 state championships and nine undefeated seasons. (Second place, both in “D” and all-time: John E. Deti, 205-94-8, most of it at Laramie from 1944-76 but also Meeteetse in 1941 and Shoshoni in 1942.)

E: Joel Eskelsen (148-81). Big Piney’s coach for 25 seasons, Eskelsen — who retired in 2007 — led the Punchers to six state championships. Oddly enough, he never coached an undefeated team. Maybe that’s just more proof that he knows how to coach, and win, in the big games. (Second place: Wes Evans, 40-15 at Torrington from 1937-43.)

F: Jerry Fullmer (174-82). Currently fourth on the state’s all-time victories list (behind the three Ds of Dayton, Deti Sr. and Deti Jr.), Fullmer led Lusk for 30 seasons before retiring in 2004. The Tigers won five state championships in that span, but went undefeated six times (the Tigers were barred from the playoffs in undefeated seasons in 1991 and 1992 for opting to play down). (Second place: Kay Fackrell, 111-79-5 at Goshen Hole (1974), Lyman (1976-79) and Evanston (1980-97).)

G: Walter Gray (140-87). Gray coached Tongue River for 27 seasons (1965-91) and had his best success in the years in which Wyoming did not have postseason playoffs. Gray’s Eagles went unbeaten in 1967, 1973 and 1974 and were also unofficial state champions in 1972 with an 8-1 record. (Second place: Tony Gamble, 93-55-2 at Guernsey-Sunrise from 1967-81 and at Wright from 1985-86.)

H: Dallas Hoff (144-95-6). Hoff is best known for leading Midwest for almost three decades, coaching the Oilers from 1962-89 and helping the team to a state championship in 1979. However, Hoff also coached Superior in 1959 and 1960 (and may have coached them in 1961, too, the final year of the program), and led the Dragons to a 7-0 record — best in school history — in 1960. (Second place: Art Hill, 132-92-3 at Glenrock from 1952-55, Riverton from 1957-58 and Natrona from 1965-83.)

I: C.V. Irvin (21-2). The only coach in state history to have his last name start with “I,” Irvin was no slouch. He led Reliance for three years, 1938-40, and also coached the Pirates in 1943. In those four years, the Pirates lost just twice and at one point won 16 consecutive games with Irvin at the helm.

J: Don Julian (96-32). Julian, the coach at Sheridan since 2007, also led the Riverton program for nine years, leading the Wolverines to four state championships — the only four titles in school history. He also led Sheridan to a state title in 2009 and a runner-up finish last season. (Second place: Andy Johnson, 82-33-7 at Hanna from 1962-65 and Basin from 1966-76.)

K: Bruce Keith (117-82). Speaking of Sheridan, Keith made quite an impression there, didn’t he? He led the Broncs for 16 years (1978-93) and won six state championships in that span, including undefeated seasons in 1982, 1991 and 1992. After a few years away, he came back to Wyoming and led Kelly Walsh for six years, from 1998-2003. (Second place: Current Glenrock coach Ray Kumpula, 81-64 in two stints with the Herders, 1990-96 and 2002-present.)

L: Pat Lynch (91-37). The head coach at Buffalo for the past 13 years, Lynch has built the Bison into a perennial contender in Class 3A. Buffalo — which has reached the title games six times under Lynch — has not had more than three losses in any of the past nine years and won back-to-back titles under him in 2004 and 2005. (Second place: Robert Linford, 83-24 at Star Valley from 1988-98.)

M: John McDougall (156-115-2). Currently fifth on the all-times victories list in state history, McDougall is best known for his time in Cody, where he was the head coach of the Broncs for 25 years (1974-98). The Broncs won a pair of state championships with McDougall leading the way. People tend to forget that McDougall was an established coach before he came to Cody, having led Dubois for the first six years of the program’s existence (1968-73) before joining the Broncs. (Second place: Mike Moon, 136-79-1 at Buffalo from 1974-97.)

N: K.W. Noddings (52-32-7). Noddings made his biggest impression at Powell, leading the Panthers into regular contention in the Bighorn Basin conference. From 1934 to 1940, the Panthers had just one losing season and, in 1938-40, strung together three consecutive one-loss seasons. Noddings came back to coach the Panthers after World War II, leading the team in 1946 and 1947. Before coming to Powell, Noddings led Sundance for five seasons (1929-33). (Noddings’ totals do not include Sundance’s 1929 season.) (Second place: Tim Nolan, 47-12 at Greybull from 1983-89.)

O: Steve Olson (62-51). The coach at Riverside for 14 seasons (1990-2003), Olson had his Rebel teams consistently fighting for conference championships and took his teams to the semifinal round of the playoffs four times — although never to a state title game. (Second place: Pat O’Connor, 24-34 at Lingle from 1999-2005.)

P: Pete Petronovich (113-102-5). Petronovich was at Douglas for what seemed like forever. In 26 seasons leading the Bearcats, from 1943-68, he helped Douglas become a consistent winner, including state championship game appearances in 1952 and 1959. Unfortunately, Petronovich’s final eight seasons in Douglas were all losing seasons, but he still finished his career above .500. (Second place: Bill Pentland, 82-62 at Wheatland from 1982-98.)

Q: Dick Quayle (76-73). Quayle led the Wind River football team for 18 seasons before stepping down in 2004. It was Quayle who led the Cougars to the only undefeated season and the only state championship in school history, helping the team to a 10-0 record and a Class 1A-Division II title in 1997. (Second place: Art Quinlan, 38-13-4 at Lander from 1930-39.)

R: Milt Riske (86-59-4). Ever wonder who Riske Field in Cheyenne is named after? Well, here’s your answer. Riske coached the Cheyenne Central Indians from 1960 to 1975 and helped give stability and consistency to an already solid program. Riske’s best season came in 1965, when the Indians went 9-0-1. (Second place: Current Kemmerer coach Shawn Rogers, 53-18 with the Rangers since 2003.)

S: Rick Scherry (133-84-1). The leader of the Big Horn Rams for 26 years (1975-2000), Scherry helped the school win its first state championship — and wrap up its first undefeated season — in 1985. He also took the Rams to the state title game on four other occasions, including in his final season. (Second place: Ben Smith, 101-33 at Rocky Mountain from 1988-2002.)

T: Phil Treick (63-53-1). Treick seemed to win wherever he went. In the first 11 years of his career — with stops at Manderson (1959), Thermopolis (1965-70) and Rawlins (1973-75 and 1977) — Treick only coached one team with a losing record. Then he came out of retirement to lead a struggling Laramie program in 2003 and 2004, but the Plainsmen went 1-17 in that span. (Second place: Frank Thompson, 52-11-1 at Byron from 1959-66.)

U: Tom Urbach (11-14). Urbach, like C.V. Irvin, is the only coach in his letter class. Urbach led the Greybull program from 2001-03, and had a pair of losing seasons before turning out a winning season (5-4) in his final year.

V: Tony Vinnola (44-27-1). Vinnola turned out winners in his two seasons at Deaver-Frannie (1957 and 1958), which helped him earn the head coaching position at Greybull. He stepped into arguably the best position possible — that season, the talent-laden Buffs went 10-1 and won the school’s only official state championship. The talent didn’t dissipate the next two years, as the Buffs went 8-1 in 1961 and 8-0 in 1962 with Vinnola leading the way. Vinnola coached Greybull for two more years and also had a one-year stop in Thermopolis in 1971. (Second place: Current Lusk coach Matt VandeBossche, 38-18 with the Tigers since 2005.)

W: Jim Wiseman (97-50-1). When you think Torrington football coaches, you think Wiseman. The leader of the Trailblazers for two separate spans, 1960-64 and 1971-80, Wiseman had just two losing seasons in his 15 years at the school. He was also the head coach at Lingle for three years (1947-49). (Second place: Neil Waring, 67-82 at Guernsey-Sunrise (1983-92), Glenrock (1997-2001) and Laramie (2005-07).)

X: Yeah, right. Can you believe it? No Wyoming coach has ever had his last name start with the letter X. Oh, well.

Y: Larry Yeradi (69-73). The coach at Wright for the past 16 seasons, Yeradi’s teams have been consistently competitive. Yeradi’s best finish came in 2005 (state runners-up), although his best team came the season before in 2004. That year, the Panthers went 9-1, losing in the state semis. (Second place: Tony Yerkovich, 19-47, who recently resigned as Rock Springs’ head coach, had led the Tigers since 2004.)

Z: Vince Zimmer (23-5-1). Zimmer was not a head football coach for very long in Wyoming, but he didn’t need much time to create a lasting impression. He led Lusk to an 8-2 season in 1964, then helped Powell to an 8-2 season in 1965 and an 8-1-1 season in 1966. He then went into the college coaching ranks before coming back to the high school level in Wyoming as an administrator. (Second place: Current Ten Sleep coach Jake Zent, 12-13 with the Pioneers since 2007.)

I know this is kind of a goofy way to look at coaching records, but I had fun digging into the backgrounds of some coaches — both well-know and not-so well-known — when I was writing this. Hopefully you had some fun reading it, too.

–patrick

Picking state champions: 1921 to 1925

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This post is a continuation of an earlier post I wrote where I broke down the unofficial state champions from 1926 to 1930. The Wyoming High School Activities Association only recognizes champions from 1931 forward, so I decided to take a look back and see who had won consensus state championships in Wyoming before the WHSAA got around to officially sanctioning state playoffs…

Here is the latest update on that research:

1925 champion: Worland. The Warriors beat Cheyenne Central 19-7 in the unofficial state title game on Dec. 4 in Worland. The Warriors went 9-0-1 in 1925, giving up only 10 points all season — three to Natrona and seven to Central in the title game. The lone smear for Worland was a scoreless tie with Thermopolis, a team the Warriors beat 7-0 on Thanksgiving prior to beating the Indians. Central finished 8-1-1.

1924 champion: Worland. A season full of parity made deciding a champion difficult, but the Warriors beat top challenger Natrona 27-7 in a game on Dec. 5 in Casper. Worland finished 8-1, splitting the season series with Thermopolis, while Natrona finished 7-2, losing to Laramie as well as Worland. A ton of other teams finished with solid seasons, but they all had something on their resume that kept them from postseason consideration: Thermopolis was 6-1-1 (a loss to Worland and a surprising early season tie with Greybull), Laramie was 5-1-1 (tied and lost to Central), Sheridan was 6-1 (lost to Buffalo), Buffalo was 5-2 (lost twice to Sheridan), Cheyenne Central was 6-2-1 (lost bad to Natrona) and Kemmerer was 5-0 (didn’t play anyone outside the southwest district).

1923 champion: Sheridan. The Broncs’ 8-0 record, including victories over Newcastle, Thermopolis, Natrona, Buffalo and Gillette, was the best in the state in 1923. Although no “title game” was staged, the Broncs were the consensus state champions because they were the only team to finish the season undefeated.

1922 champion: Sheridan. Once again, no title game was scheduled. Once again, it was the Broncs’ praiseworthy record (7-1) that earned them the championship by consensus. The Broncs’ only loss was to Billings, Mont.; Sheridan shut out its opponents in six of its seven victories. Cheyenne Central (7-1) extended an offer for a championship game, but Sheridan refused, citing the Indians’ 14-0 loss to Natrona in the regular season and its own unbeaten record in Wyoming games. Sheridan was the only team to rise above a quagmire of solid-but-not-excellent teams: Natrona (6-2) lost to Sheridan 21-15 in the season finale and also split a home-and-home with Douglas, winning 6-0 and losing 21-20; Central lost to Natrona but beat Douglas 16-2 late in the season; Thermopolis won the Bighorn Basin league at 6-1 but its lone loss was a 3-0 heartbreaker to Douglas.

1921 champion: Sheridan. I am still researching the 1921 season, but I can tell you that Sheridan won the title with an 8-0 record, going the entire season without giving up a point to a Wyoming opponent.

The 1921 season was a watershed one for Wyoming football. According to an article from the Wyoming State Tribune published in the early 1920s, the number of high schools fielding football in Wyoming jumped from six in 1920 to 16 in 1921. It was also the first year of organized conference play in the Bighorn Basin, as five teams (Greybull, Basin, Thermopolis, Worland and Cowley) played full conference schedules.

The six teams that played prior to 1920? Well, that was Sheridan, Natrona, Cheyenne Central, Laramie, University Prep and …. I’m not sure. By 1922, 28 schools had fielded teams; by the middle of the decade, the number was pushing 40.

The 1920s saw unprecedented development of the game statewide. But even in the game’s infancy, schools kept their focus on winning a state championship. Sheridan and Worland were the two schools fortunate enough — and good enough — to snag unofficial titles in the game’s early days.

–patrick

Top 20 games of the past 10 years

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With the new year approaching, I got to thinking about the past decade of Wyoming high school football games and all of the great ones we’ve been privileged to watch, hear about, or (in my case) write about. With 2,948 games played since 2001, there are plenty of great games from which to choose. I started a mental checklist and kept coming up with games I had forgotten; there were probably 60 games on my original list. From that, I pared my list down to about 40, then to the top 20 games of the past 10 years.

The list is probably a little heavy on later-decade games, as I didn’t start my work at the Star-Tribune until 2005, and is also heavy on playoff games, but that makes sense considering that playoff games have more riding on them, better teams playing, and can end seasons — all heightening the drama and the memorable aspects involved.

I tried to pick the best games, where both teams were at full strength, where the stakes were high, where the outcome was in doubt until late. You won’t see any games decided by more than seven points on this list.

Obviously, this list is the work of one person. If you came up with your own list, you would probably include some games that I did not. And that’s encouraged. Take a look at this list, then let me know which games you think I forgot.

These games are in chronological order. It was hard enough for me to pick 20; rank-ordering those 20 would take me until the start of next season. (But check out the bottom of this post for my “game of the decade.”)

Without further ado, the top 20 games of Wyoming high school football in the past 10 years:

Big Piney 34, Glenrock 33, OT, 2001 Class 3A semifinals — Herders rally from 27-0 deficit, but miss extra point in overtime

Southeast 14, Lusk 7, 2001 Class 2A championship — Two two-time defending champs stage a classic

Worland 17, Star Valley 14, OT, 2002 Class 4A championship — 18-yard field goal by Casey Lass in OT wins it for Warriors

Cokeville 14, Southeast 13, 2003 Class 1A championship — Cyclones go for two, come up short with 2:14 to go

Green River 24, Riverton 21, 2004 Class 5A semifinals — Wolves nearly upset by Wolverines on their way to a perfect season

Guernsey-Sunrise 20, Cokeville 18, 2004 Class 1A championship — Nigel Bristow scores winning TD with 2 minutes to go

Cheyenne Central 23, Natrona 20, OT, 2005 Class 5A semifinals — Central drives late in fourth quarter for TD to tie it, wins in OT

Guernsey-Sunrise 26, Burlington 23, 2005 Class 1A semifinals — Vikings win with TD on final play

Big Piney 12, Newcastle 6, 2006 Class 3A quarterfinals — Punchers make the long trip, win with Seth Linn’s TD catch in final three seconds

Cheyenne East 5, Natrona 3, 2006 Class 4A semifinals — East scores five points in final three minutes, then holds off NC’s last drive

Guernsey-Sunrise 14, Cokeville 12, 2006 Class 1A championship — Panthers miss short field goal on season’s final play

Cheyenne East 35, Gillette 34, 2 OT, 2007 Class 5A semifinals — Blocked extra point in second OT helps to give T-Birds the victory

Jackson 10, Buffalo 6, 2007 Class 4A championship — Jackson produces epic goal-line stand in final 2 minutes

Riverside 21, Big Horn 20, 2007 Class 2A championship — Rebels go 99 yards on game-winning drive, convert 2-point try for championship

Glenrock 16, Buffalo 14, 2008 regular season — Herders’ biggest test during unbeaten season comes down to conversion try in final moments

Douglas 28, Powell 27, 2 OT, 2008 Class 4A semifinals — Cody Bohlander’s three-TD day is capped with winning conversion run

Kelly Walsh 28, Natrona 27, 2 OT, 2009 regular season — Trojans rally from 21-0 deficit, stop Mustangs on 2-point conversion in second OT

Kaycee 58, Midwest 56, 2009 Class 1A-six man semifinals — Buckaroos’ Shawn Straub scores long TD in final 15 seconds

Buffalo 24, Cody 21, OT, 2010 Class 3A semifinals — Bison rally from 14-0 deficit, come up with big defensive stand in overtime

Thermopolis 13, Big Horn 9, 2010 Class 2A championship — Bobcats repeat as champion with late TD by Mitch Syverson

Also on my short list: Lovell 18, Rocky Mountain 15, 2002 Class 3A quarterfinals; Gillette 40, Kelly Walsh 37, OT, 2005 regular season; Powell 33, Lander 31, 2005 Class 4A quarterfinals; Wright 13, Big Horn 7, 2005 Class 2A semifinals; Upton 7, Cokeville 3, 2005 Class 1A semifinals; Buffalo 17, Star Valley 14, 2005 Class 4A championship; Douglas 30, Jackson 26, 2006 Class 4A quarterfinals; Evanston 36, Kelly Walsh 31, 2007 Class 5A quarterfinals; Jackson 16, Douglas 14, 2007 Class 4A semifinals; Lander 6, Jackson 0, 2008 regular season; Douglas 21, Buffalo 14, OT, 2008 regular season; Pine Bluffs 22, Hulett 20, 2009 regular season; Sheridan 9, Kelly Walsh 7, 2009 Class 4A semifinals; Gillette 27, Sheridan 24, OT, 2010 regular season; Southeast 15, Rocky Mountain 14, 2010 Class 1A 11-man quarterfinals.

Of these games, though, one stands out as my choice for “game of the decade”…. and I’m going with the 2007 2A title game, Riverside over Big Horn. This game was etched into memory by Riverside’s game-winning 99-yard drive — and by the Rebels’ successful 2-point conversion late in the game. But this game was more than that. Riverside was avenging a home loss to Big Horn earlier in the season that had ended in similar fashion, with the Rebels having missed a two-point conversion in overtime; Riverside was coming off a two-point loss to Southeast in the 2006 title game; the Rebels had won their other two playoff games by a combined three points, while Big Horn had won its playoff games by eight and five points in one of the most even playoff brackets in recent memory; Big Horn was playing in its fourth state championship game in six years, having won in 2003 and 2004, while Riverside was playing for the town of Basin’s first state football championship…. all that drama, all that intrigue, all that background, and all you need to know is “Rebels convert.”

So what do you think? What games did I forget about? Which game would be your choice for top game of the decade? Post a comment below. Then let’s get set for another decade of high school football!

Happy New Year!

–patrick

Picking state champions: 1926 to 1930

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Defining a state champion is so simple nowadays that you tend to forget how complicated it used to be.

Now, you win your bracket, you win the state title. But in the days before playoffs, before classifications, even before a functioning Wyoming High School Activities Association, the state’s high school football teams still managed to put together unofficial state championships.

The titles themselves were never anything more than for bragging rights. Games were scheduled based on team records, travel, available sites, weather, gate guarantees and travel costs. Often, two teams that ended up playing in the “championship” game were self-appointed, either because the travel was the shortest or the guaranteed money the greatest.

All that came to an end on Oct. 9, 1931, when the WHSAA came together to oversee the state football and basketball championships. Although the group existed prior to that year, 1931 is generally recognized as the official beginning of the WHSAA, because that was the first year the group began exercising its authority over state championships. (It may have been the first year that schools had to pay dues to be included in state championships as part of the WHSAA, as well, but I am not sure if that’s actually the case or not.)

The system the WHSAA put forth in 1931 was what many schools and coaches had proposed in the late 1920s: a four-team playoff, with one team from each Wyoming region (northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest) qualifying for the bracket.

Prior to 1931, though, deciding championships was not that simple.

Here are the unofficial champions for the years prior to 1931 that I have researched so far, which is back to 1926:

1930 champion: Sheridan. The Broncs beat Laramie 14-6 in a “semifinal” game on Thanksgiving, then swamped previously undefeated Cody 86-0 the following week. Sheridan went on to play Fort Collins, the Colorado champions, on New Year’s Day in Denver, losing 69-14. The Wyoming-Colorado showdown was a one-year gimmick; it was never played again.

1929 champion: Split title between Thermopolis and Cheyenne Central. Thermopolis finished the season undefeated, while Central had three losses, all to out-of-state foes (Fort Collins and Greeley, Colo., and Kimball, Neb.). Nevertheless, the two teams tried to arrange a championship game in Casper for the first week of December, but Cheyenne officials balked at the last moment and instead requested the game be played in Cheyenne. Thermopolis said no, insisting on either a neutral site or Thermopolis, and the game was never played. The Bobcats were the “popular” champion, according to the hometown Thermopolis Independent Record, but Central’s claim was also recognized, as the Indians were unbeaten in Wyoming play.

1928 champion: Split title between Thermopolis and Natrona. After Thermopolis beat Sheridan in a “semifinal” game, the Bearcats and Mustangs tried to arrange a title game for the first week in December. The game was proposed for Casper, but after Thermopolis requested what Casper officials thought was an exorbitant financial guarantee — $2,500 — the Natrona school backed off the proposal. A few days later, Thermopolis accepted a guarantee of $800 to play in Casper — the original proposal put forth by Natrona — but by then the Mustangs had declared their season finished and said the Bobcats’ acceptance of terms came too late for the game to be played. Both teams claimed the title.

1927 champion: Worland. The Warriors beat Cheyenne Central 19-0 in the unofficial state title game, played in Douglas. This was cited as Worland’s 30th consecutive victory. The Warriors were a dominant team this year and beat the Indians, who had lost a couple games to Colorado schools but were unbeaten in Wyoming. Green River (6-0) and Greybull (4-0-3), despite finishing the regular season undefeated, were left out of the title game discussions.

1926 champion: Worland. This may be the only case of a two-game championship series in state history, although it was not planned that way. After Worland and Cheyenne Central battled to an 0-0 tie in the “title game” on Thanksgiving Day in Cheyenne, the two teams almost immediately decided on a rematch. Casper proposed to host the rematch at a neutral site, and nine days later the two teams played again in the Oil City. This time, Worland won 10-0, sewing up the unofficial state title in the process. The only school that claimed to be left out of the mix was Buffalo, which won the northeast district championship with a record that could barely be considered championship-worthy: 2-0-4.

I will post more of these mini-recaps as I continue my research into the 1920s. I just found these ways of deciding a champion quite interesting and wanted to share a bit of what I had found. Research is complete through 1926 and continues back until I run out of microfilm or sanity, whichever comes first…

–patrick

The Valley Ranch Cowboys

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Before I forgot, I wanted to recognize something that I kind of slipped in under the radar with my last update: the addition of a new team page.

The Valley school, also known as Valley Prep or the Valley Ranch, is unlike most schools in state history. The school, located about 50 miles southwest of Cody, was in short a college prep academy tucked away in the furthest reaches of the western Wyoming mountains, along the south fork of the Shoshone River.

Valley Ranch was a boy’s preparatory school and dude ranch owned and operated by Irving H. Larom, and in 1929 the Cody Enterprise said the school “more than likely is the only one of its kind in the United States. The masters are the very best and come from some of the most well known universities in the country. The graduates do not have to take an examination to enter any university or college.”

In addition to their normal school work, Valley Ranch students had to participate in outdoor activities — including football. Horseback riding, mountain climbing, track and field and polo were also among the options for the “Cowboys.”

The book “Welcome to my West, I.H. Larom: Dude Rancher, Conservationist, Collector” explained the school in depth. Larom, a Princeton graduate who first came to Wyoming, opened the Valley Ranch in 1915 and first opened the prep school in 1922 after recruiting numerous instructors from back east. Each student paid $1,550 per semester (almost $20,000 per year in today’s money), a fee that included tuition, housing, books, food, supplies and the use of a horse and saddle — but did not cover the students’ .22-caliber rifle.

But even the Valley Ranch program wasn’t immune to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The football team ended after the 1931 season and the school ceased operation in 1934.

Some of the buildings from the Valley Ranch school still stand, as does the ranch itself — the physical remnants of an interesting part of this state’s educational history.

–patrick

The 100-victory club: Three more for 2011?

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According to the records that I have compiled, there are 21 coaches in state history who have broken the 100-victory barrier. It’s an incredibly exclusive club, one that coaches enter only with excellence and longevity.

Excellence comes with not only having talented teams, but doing something with them — none of the 21 coaches with at least 100 victories have a career record below the .500 mark. Longevity comes with a passion for coaching, a passion for football and a passion for teaching — making it to 100 victories has taken every one of the 21 coaches at least 15 years to accomplish.

That said, only two current coaches have sustained both the excellence and the years to join the club: Cokeville’s Todd Dayton (an all-time state best 253 victories) and Natrona’s Steve Harshman (125 victories, 14th all-time from 1930-2010).

However, this season, as many as three current coaches could join this club, an unprecedented feat that says more about the individuals than about the group.

The three coaches on the cusp of joining the “100 Club” are Southeast’s Mark Bullington (98 career victories), Sheridan’s Don Julian (96) and Buffalo’s Pat Lynch (91).

If championships are the measure of success, then Bullington has to be included in the discussion of the best all-time. With seven state championships in his 12 years with the Cyclones, Bullington has won in bunches. His career record of 98-23 is a testament to that, too. Although Southeast had a consistent program in place when Bullington took over in 1999, he has made the Cyclones more than just consistent; by now, the Cyclones are threats for a state championship in every year, no matter the makeup of the roster.

Julian, meanwhile, is one of the most respected coaches in the state, a reputation earned with four championships in Riverton and another last year in Sheridan. After a short break from the high school game to join the staff at UW, Julian has been restoring the Sheridan program into a consistent state title contender. He is one coach the others don’t want to see on that other sideline. His career record, while coaching against some of the state’s best teams? 96-32.

Lynch has the toughest task of joining the club in 2011, with nine victories standing between him and the honor. But if anyone can overcome the odds, it’s Lynch. Working with one of 3A’s smallest schools, enrollment-wise, Lynch has rolled up a record of 91-37, winning at least seven games every season from 2003 forward. Since taking the reins of the Buffalo program in 1998, he has won a pair of state titles and taken the Bison to the title game four other times.

Obviously, 100 is an arbitrary mark. It doesn’t truly measure the things that make a high school coach great. But earning 100 victories takes those qualities that make coaches not only good coaches, but good men and good mentors for the children they lead.

Here is a quick glance at the club, with totals compiled from 1930 to 2010 to the best of my abilities:

Coach Wins Losses Ties
Dayton, Todd 253 49 0
Deti, John E. 205 94 8
Deti, John R. 188 102 2
Fullmer, Jerry 174 82 0
McDougall, John 156 115 2
Eskelsen, Joel 148 81 0
Hoff, Dallas 144 95 6
Blanchard, Okie 141 48 5
Gray, Walter 140 87 0
Moon, Mike 136 79 1
Scherry, Rick 133 84 1
Hill, Art 132 92 3
Bailey, Harold 128 92 0
Harshman, Steve 125 65 0
Mirich, Carl 124 101 1
Keith, Bruce 117 82 0
Dinnel, Don 113 61 0
Petronovich, Pete 113 102 5
Fackrell, Kay 111 79 0
Bartlett, Doug 102 73 0
Smith, Ben 101 33 0

–patrick

Statistics and home-field advantage….

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For one of my courses at graduate school here at the University of Wyoming, I had to analyze a data set and make some statistical conclusions about it. The point of the paper was to demonstrate competency with the statistical computer programs we have and to execute the correct test given the data… and to demonstrate those ideals, I decided to do some statistical crunching of home-field advantage in Wyoming high school football.

In short, my statistical analyses revealed that home-field advantage exists in Wyoming — and it’s huge in playoff games.

I’m not going to bog you down with the statistical number-crunching that I went through to do this (but if you’re interested, I can share some of my t scores, degrees of freedom, standard deviations, etc.). In a nutshell, here’s some of the fun stuff I discussed in my paper:

Home team record, 1930-2010: 10,965 victories, 8,482 losses, 447 ties, .562 winning percentage
Home team record, regular season, 1930-2010: 10,354-8,243-444, .555 winning percentage
Home team record, playoffs, 1931-2010: 611-239-3, .718 winning percentage (yes, there have been some ties in the playoffs… they were broken in various ways, but the points were not added to the official final score)

So while home teams win about 55 or 56 percent of the time, home teams in the playoffs win almost 72 percent of the time. Makes sense, as the better teams in the regular season get higher seeds and home games in the playoffs. Moving on…

Average score for home teams, all games, 1930-2010: 19.36 points
Average score for road teams, all games, 1930-2010: 16.05 points
Average difference in score between home teams and road teams, all games, 1930-2010: 3.31 points per game
Average difference in score between home teams and road teams, regular-season games, 1930-2010: 2.91 points per game
Average difference in score between home teams and road teams, playoff games, 1931-2010: 12.16 points per game

So there’s about a three-point difference between home teams and road teams for all games (that’s about a three-point bump the home team gets every game, just for playing at home). In the playoffs, that difference is more than 12 points per game. Probably skewed by an inordinate number of first-round playoff blowouts. Still, interesting…

This count doesn’t include games where the final score or location couldn’t be determined. The final total of counted games was little more than 19,000.

My final conclusion was that, without home-field advantage, you would expect the home team to win 50 percent of the time. The odd six percent can be explained in part by the location of the game. This affects about two games a week, or about 18 games a season, meaning that roughly every three years, every school will win at least one game — and lose at least one game — purely because of where the game was played.

This is the stripped-down, simplified version of my analysis. My paper was a lot more nerdy than this. Even so, I think even the casual fan will get a kick out of these numbers. So here they are. 🙂

–patrick

Scoring records updates at a glance

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If you take a look at the scoring records page, you’ll see quite an influence from my last update. Although it makes sense to think that in this era of high-powered offense (and of six-man football), most of the updates to that page would have come from the 2010 season, it’s also interesting to note that the top two scoring games in state history now belong to games played in 1930 and 1932.

The new listing for most points scored by one team in a single game is the 113 points Cheyenne Central (then Cheyenne) put up against University Prep of Laramie on Halloween 1930. University Prep never had a chance, and for two reasons: one, the Buckaroos were not a good team, going winless in 1930 before dropping the sport for almost a decade; two, this game was never supposed to happen this way.

According to newspaper accounts of the game, University Prep made the trek over the summit to play what they thought was going to be Cheyenne’s junior varsity team. But the Indians, who otherwise had an open week, suited and played their varsity.

Even so, the game did not begin as a beat down. Prep actually matched the Indians’ first score and it was 6-6 early. Then the Indians unleashed the floodgates, and there was little the Buckaroos could do to stop it. The rest is 113 points of record-setting mayhem.

Meanwhile, the No. 2 highest scoring game since 1930 also came in the early 1930s — Lander’s 96-0 victory over Basin on Oct. 13, 1932. This was simply a case of a conference mismatch. Lander was in the midst of a great season; the Tigers finished 5-1-1. Lander was also one of the era’s few high-scoring offensive teams, as the Tigers put up 58 points on Riverton the week after the Basin blowout, then scored 77 against Ten Sleep a week after that.

Of course, 2010 had its impact on the lists, too — most notably with Ten Sleep. The Pioneers scored 93 points twice this season. How rare is that? Well, Wyoming teams have broken the 90-point barrier just six times since 1930, and two of those were accomplished by Ten Sleep in 2010. In addition, the Pioneers’ 93-56 victory over Guernsey-Sunrise set a new record for combined points in a game with 149, breaking the old record by an amazing 11 points.

Ten Sleep combined with two other teams this season, Meeteetse and Kaycee, to make three of the seven highest combined scoring games since 1930. That’s amazing.

Anyway, click here to check out the lists.

–patrick