Nine games have been added and four more corrected in the database thanks to the Byes Project and some double-checking on my part.

These nine games were added:

Lusk’s 40-0 loss to Mitchell, Neb., on Sept. 16, 1977

Cody’s 7-2 loss to Laurel, Mont., on Sept. 9, 1978

Byron’s 32-0 win over Wyoming Indian on Aug. 25, 1978

Ten Sleep’s 12-6 win over North Big Horn on Sept. 8, 1978

Cody JV’s 36-22 win over North Big Horn on Oct. 1, 1982

Sheridan JV’s 32-14 win over Big Horn on Oct. 10, 1967

Big Horn’s 23-8 win over the Gillette JV on Sept. 20, 1980

Tongue River’s 12-9 win over the Billings West, Mont., JV on Sept. 12, 1987

Lyman’s 40-20 win over South Rich, Utah, on Sept. 21, 1962

In addition, the scores for the following games were corrected:

Byron beat Wind River 30-22 on Aug. 30, 1974. I had Wind River winning by the same score.

Glenrock beat Wheatland 14-0 on Oct. 25, 1975 in Glenrock. I had Wheatland winning 14-10 in Wheatland.

Tongue River beat Greybull 13-0 on Sept. 3, 1982. I had Greybull winning 13-0.

Lyman beat Hanna 26-6 on Sept. 14, 1962. I had listed Lyman, Neb., not Lyman, Wyo., as the winning team.

With the updates, a couple changes have been made on the streaks page, notably to a pair of losing streaks. With Greybull’s loss to Tongue River in 1982, the Buffs’ losing streak for 1978-82 grew to 35 games — a state record. Also, Wyoming Indian’s losing streak from 1975-79, third-longest in state history, grew to 32 games.

All of the other updates have been reflected on the relevant pages.

–patrick

Billings Central-Worland (Billings Gazette). … Billings Gazette roundup (includes Powell-Miles City). … Wright-Saratoga scrimmage in Casper (Casper Star-Tribune). … Gillette-Evanston (Gillette News-Record). … Riverside-Greybull (Northern Wyo Daily News, story will be gone by tomorrow so read it today).

–patrick

When the 2009 football schedule came out last November, the Kelly Walsh Trojans knew they’d get tested right off the bat.

Week 0, at Sheridan. Week 1, at Green River.

Two games against the top two ranked teams in Class 4A.

But the Trojans weren’t intimidated — and it was the perfect opportunity to make a statement.

42-20.

One down for the Trojans. A 1-0 start. And, suddenly, a fantastic opportunity.

Two KW backs (Lucas Nolan and Riley Moore) broke 100 yards and Tom Manning was five yards short of becoming the third, as the Trojans exploited the Broncs’ miscues and turned them into easy points.

And this is a sentence I never thought I’d write: Sheridan’s Austin Woodward threw for 285 yards, and the Broncs still lost.

Go figure.

The Trojans became the first team to upset the 4A preseason heirarchy, and did so dramatically.

That makes next week’s showdown at Green River more than just big — it’s KW’s way to prove itself as THE team to beat in 4A this fall.

Second mad props to Newcastle, 15-14 double-overtime winners over Custer, S.D. As I noted earlier this week, the Dogies were 0-for-the-century against South Dakota teams, but a successfully converted fake extra point in the second OT gave the Dogies — and new head coach Matt Conzelman — their first victory. It’s Newcastle’s first win in a season opener since 2001 and sets the team up beautifully for what could be a fun season in Weston County.

It was a fun week to start the season. I had the pleasure of attending the Central-Natrona game in Cheyenne on Friday and it was a blast. Back and forth, big play after big play, both teams matched each other. Central is senior-laden and talented enough to give teams fits trying to account for everyone; Natrona is young, but athletic and — at least from a distance — bore a hard-working attitude that will pay off as the season progresses.

But, even so, it’s Week 0. And that means I need to slip on my hip waders to slog through the bull poop.

The hypocrisy of Week 0 is everywhere. At Wyopreps, where hypocrisy is apparently justified, tossed out this mega-dose of it: Newcastle’s thrilling win over Custer counts. Cody’s blowout-turned-sorta-respectable 48-21 loss to Laurel, Mont., doesn’t.

Same game, played under the same rules. Yet one counts and one doesn’t — at least as Wyopreps sees it.

Two games — Riverton’s 26-7 win over Jackson and Lyman’s 27-0 loss to Altamont, Utah — were either relayed to me as scrimmages or were left out altogether of the schedules of the teams playing in those games.

And THAT’S the kind of stuff I’m talking about. It’s just confusing — especially for me, the self-appointed record keeper of Wyoming high school football. Sites like Wyopreps perpetuating the myth that some games should count and some shouldn’t only adds to the confusion, both personally and for the fans statewide.

For the record, here are the criteria I use to judge whether or not to call an event a “game,” and therefore list it in the standings (and, eventually, as part of the team record on this site):

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 an event meets those criteria, it’s a game, and I’ll list it as such. If the only thing missing is attitude — i.e., the coaches and players went into the game not trying to win, but trying to test out their depth and their schemes in live game situations in a game that won’t affect its playoff seeding anyway — well, I’m sorry, but that’s not justification enough to have it “not count.”

Simple request, from here on out, to the coaches statewide:

DON’T WANT IT TO COUNT? DON’T KEEP SCORE!

I’ll follow that rule if you will. It eliminates confusion and it puts forth a simple reason for counting or not counting every Week 0 contest.

Until then, we’re going to have this fight every single year.

This week: 10-2 (not counting Lander-Kemmerer, score not available). This season: 10-2.

–patrick

Two stories on Cheyenne Central-Natrona, mine (for the Star-Tribune) and Jeremiah’s (for the Trib Eagle). … Kelly Walsh-Sheridan (Star-Tribune). … Laramie-Rock Springs (Laramie Boomerang). … Star-Tribune’s roundup. … Billings Gazette’s roundup (includes Cody-Laurel).

–patrick

Wyopreps.com is reporting that Fort Washakie won’t field its football program this fall. The school had about a dozen players show interest last spring but only one showed up for the first practice.

That leaves eight teams playing six-man. And never mind the eight open dates that For Washakie leaves for the eight remaining participating schools. This is not a good sign for the sport, period.

Originally, six-man was the solution. Remember that? Five existing teams and five new teams joining together to form something new, unique and exciting. Now, after Rock River scrapped its plans in April and Fort Washakie joining the Longhorns this week, Snake River, Kaycee and Farson are the lone remaining schools starting up their programs this fall.

And now, the onus is on the eight remaining schools — and especially the three newbies — to keep six-man alive for at least the next two years.

It’s disheartening to see two programs die before they could even play one game. And it’s certainly unprecedented.

But for six-man to thrive, some other small schools are going to have to join them.

None of the other football-less schools (Arapaho Charter, Arvada-Clearmont, Chugwater, Encampment, Glendo and St. Stephens) have even hinted interest at starting a program. That means some of the other schools now playing 11-man will have to go down to six-man.

We could speculate all day as to what schools might benefit from six-man, but right now that does little to help. Unfortunately, until at least the next reclassification cycle, the eight survivors have the responsibility to see the sport through. If this sport is destined to grow in this state, it not only has to survive these first two years — it has to prove to other schools that it’s worth the effort.

And in 10 years, when we look back on the 2009 season, what will we see? The beginning of something fun, unique and special or the impetus of frustration, alienation and eventual disintegration?

That’s up to the remaining eight schools to decide.

It’s a position Rock River and Fort Washakie have forced upon them.

–patrick

Lots of news today — and that makes sense, given that the season opens tonight. In Montana, Laurel is set to open its $3.6 million athletic facility tonight against Cody (Billings Gazette). … Junior WR Jeremiah Hunter is a big key for Cheyenne East (Wyoming Tribune Eagle). … Kelly Walsh wants redemption, while Natrona County will rely on a bevy of new players this season (Casper Star-Tribune). … Seniors are a big part of Laramie’s reconstruction (Laramie Boomerang). … Greybull opens its season with high hopes and a stable backfield (Greybull Standard). … Reclassification threw a kink into Lusk’s schedule (Lusk Herald). … Powell caught no favors with its season opener (Powell Tribune). … Evanston faces the same problem (Uinta County Herald).

–patrick

The first week of the season — that so-called Zero Week — can be a mixed bag.

From a player’s standpoint, and from a coach’s standpoint, the week gives teams a chance to hit someone in a jersey that’s not the same as yours. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

From a fan’s standpoint, it’s a chance to see your team play. Ain’t nothing wrong with that.

From my point of view, it’s just plain awkward. There’s something wrong with that.

What’s scheduled this week? Is it a game? A scrimmage? A jamboree? Will it count in the standings? Should it count?

For Class 4A teams this week, there’s no worry about that. For that classification, these games count — because, in the nine-game round-robin schedule every 4A team plays this year, every game is a conference game.

For some teams, this week is a chance to renew an out-of-state rivalry and put another real game on the tally. Those count, too. (I’ve heard this argument, too: “Oh, that game counts for (out-of-state school), but it doesn’t count on (Wyoming school’s) record.” Um, no. If it’s a game, it’s counted. Period.)

For some teams, it’s very clear what they’re doing: it’s a jamboree, or a scrimmage, or for some, it’s nothing at all.

Then we get gray.

Game? Scrimmage? Part-game, part-scrimmage? Three-quarters of a game? What counts and what doesn’t?

The games I’m picking this week are the ones that have been labeled as “games” as they’ve been explained to me. If for some reason these don’t end up being real, full-on games for some reason, I won’t count them in my weekly tallies. And if you see me picking a winner for something that you know will be a scrimmage, let me know so I can stay on top of things….

Ugh. Let’s just make it an official week already and be done with it. This pat-a-cake debate between scrimmages and games is ludicrous.

Anyway, here’s Week Zero picks, based purely on speculation, with projected winners noted in bold:

Friday
Class 4A

Cheyenne East at Green River: Speculation’s over, Wolves. Time to prove that you’ve earned that No. 1 ranking. 6 p.m.
Gillette at Evanston: The defending champs will probably need to stop in Rawlins for an oil change, given the distance they’ve got to travel for this one. Either way, I think the Camels win. 7 p.m.
Kelly Walsh at Sheridan: KW gave Sheridan a run for its money last year and won’t be a pushover for the Broncs this time around, either. I think both teams are both better than they were last year. 7 p.m.
Natrona County at Cheyenne Central: This is a big game for both teams — and it’s a great chance for both to prove they deserve more than just passing attention. 7 p.m.
Rock Springs at Laramie: Lots of folks are high on the Plainsmen this fall. The Tigers will be a good gauge to see if Laramie is a legit contender. 7 p.m.
Interclass

Riverside at Greybull: The Buffs could be a solid team this fall, and I’m eager to see what kind of effort they can put together against their SoBiHoCo rivals. (By the way, I’m thrilled to see these two schools come together and keep this rivalry alive. It’s something more schools should do — and should have done — with Zero Week.) 7:30 p.m.
Interstate

Cody at Laurel, Mont.: This one is always a toss-up. If it was being played in Cody, I’d go with the Broncs. As it is…. 7 p.m.
Custer, S.D., at Newcastle: The Dogies are 0-13 against South Dakota schools the past 10 years. 7 p.m.

Saturday
Class 3A
Douglas vs. Star Valley, at Riverton: It’s the first regular-season meeting ever between these schools, who haven’t played each other since the 2002 4A quarterfinals. 3 p.m.
Interclass
Lander at Kemmerer: Intriguing matchup. Might not be a game. We’ll find out. 11 a.m.
Interstate
Miles City, Mont., at Powell: Miles City won Montana’s Class A division last year and although it is rebuilding, so is Powell. 6 p.m.
Mountain View at Rich County, Utah: The Rebels are consistently one of the best teams in Utah — and the Buffalos have a lot to prove. TBD
Worland at Billings Central, Mont.: The Rams have beaten the Warriors by a combined score of 84-7 the past two years. 7 p.m.

The rest of the Zero Week schedule:

Friday
Jamborees/Scrimmages (do not count in standings)

Southeast at Cheyenne Central sophomores, 3:30 p.m.

Saturday
Jamborees/Scrimmages (do not count in standings)

Big Horn/Glenrock scrimmage, at Sheridan, 1 p.m.
Burns/Lusk/Pine Bluffs/Torrington jamboree scrimmage, at Burns, 9 a.m.
Lingle vs. TBD, TBA
Lovell/Rocky Mountain/Thermopolis/Wind River jamboree, at Thermopolis, 10 a.m.
Rawlins at Wheatland, 11 a.m.
Riverton at Jackson, 11 a.m.
Saratoga vs. Wright, at Casper, TBD
Shoshoni vs. Wyoming Indian, time and site TBD
Tongue River vs. TBD, TBA

Open Week 0: Big Piney, Buffalo, Burlington, Cokeville, Dubois, Farson, Fort Washakie, Guernsey, Hanna, Hulett, Kaycee, Lyman, Meeteetse, Midwest, Moorcroft, Normative Services, Pinedale, Snake River, Sundance, Ten Sleep, Upton.

Again, if my schedule looks wrong to you, either e-mail me at pschmiedt@yahoo.com or post a comment below. And while you’re at it, feel free to take a stab at making your own picks for opening weekend.

Next week will be much clearer. I promise.

–patrick

Cheyenne Central’s Hayden Jones is ready for a big senior season (Wyoming Tribune Eagle). … Top-ranked Green River has its first chance to defend that ranking (GR Star). … Meeteetse is glad to be back in a Wyoming classification (Cody Enterprise). … Six-man football is wide-open this year (Casper Star-Tribune, also click here for the 1A-6 capsule preview).

Also, Fort Washakie is low on numbers so far this year and won’t be playing its first scheduled game against Midwest next week. Consequently, the Eagles’ first game in program history will be at home on Sept. 12 against Kaycee.

–patrick

The 2009 season is less than 48 hours from kicking off. And I’m thrilled.

It’s that time of year.

Football season…. finally!

I’ve been watching football in this state since 1993 and covering it as a media professional for the past five years, but this will be my first attempt at maintaining this particular blog. Hopefully, with your help, we can let people know about the memorable moments, top performers and awesome plays from every game, week to week, all the way up to November 13-14 in Laramie.

Here’s what you can expect from me here this season:

My weekly picks. I’ll be posting these every Thursday — sometimes early in the morning, sometimes just before midnight, but every Thursday. I’ve been doing this for four years now, entering my fifth, and I’ve been right just about 75 percent of the time. That means 25 percent of the time I’m wrong… so take solace in the fact that a quarter of the time I’m full of it. 🙂

My weekly recap. As usual, it’ll be chock full of odd insights, weird links and big slices of Humble Pie. Clearly, I’m not as plugged into the high school football scene as I was the past five years (although I WILL be attending at least one game a week), but I’ll be making every effort to post this sometime on Saturday. That said, if you went to a game, feel free to comment on this blog site and let me know how things played out — no matter what game you saw. I’m always interested — as are the folks who read and visit this site — to hear what happened around the state. In short: “Won’t you please, please help me?

Newsbreaks. I’m trying to sort through the news so you don’t have to. Come here first for links to stories from media outlets statewide. If you know of a posted story that I might have missed, feel free to post the link in the comments section, or e-mail it to me (pschmiedt@yahoo.com) and I’ll post it.

Rants. Because, like you, I’m a fan. I love watching this sport, and I love writing about it. Sometimes I’m insightful. Sometimes I veer off course and end up posting Youtube links to Sesame Street videos…. But I’m passionate about Wyoming high school football, and I don’t mind sharing my thoughts with you.

And don’t forget about a couple other things you can do. You can become a fan of wyoming-football.com on Facebook, and you can also join the wyoming-football.com Flickr group and upload pictures and videos from the games you attend. All are welcome!

However, I will not be posting live scores or game recaps. You the fan can decide to do so through the comments section, but I’m leaving the live scores and recaps to the good folks who can get PAID to do this! 🙂 I will be posting scores weekly on the 2009 season page, which now has kickoff times for every game in weeks 1-8 and a nearly complete Week 0 schedule.

Anyway, the ride is almost set to begin. So strap in, hold on and don’t let go until we’re all together at The War in November.

–patrick

The Douglas Bearcats are reloading, not rebuilding (Douglas Budget). … Laramie’s rebuilding days might finally be over (Laramie Boomerang). … Class 4A is full of changes this fall (Wyoming Tribune-Eagle). … Also today was the Casper Star-Tribune’s 1A 11-man preview, including an overview of Southeast’s quest for a fourth consecutive title and a capsule preview.

–patrick

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