Today’s stories: Teams are becoming more and more reliant on offseason preparation, if for no other reason than to keep up with everyone else (Wyoming Tribune Eagle). … Ever wonder what happened to John McDougall? Well, the coach is still in Cody, leading the Bronc freshmen (Cody Enterprise). … Class 2A could be the most top-heavy classification in the state (Casper Star-Tribune; 2A capsule previews are here).
–patrick
The Casper Star-Tribune tooday had its 3A capsule preview and a story about Douglas’ efforts to repeat as state champs.
–patrick
The Casper Star-Tribune’s football previews started today with Class 4A, including a story on quarterbacks and a capsule preview…. Gillette also had its soap scrimmage on Saturday (Gillette News-Record).
–patrick
The latest recap of statewide football news:
Laramie has a pair of players with coaching in their blood (Laramie Boomerang) We also have mini-previews of Green River (GR Star), Kemmerer (Kemmerer Gazette, middle portion of article), Guernsey (Guernsey Gazette) and Powell (Powell Tribune).
–patrick
A pair of new coaches are taking over programs in the Bighorn Basin (Lovell Chronicle). Tim Winland returns to take the top spot for the Rocky Mountain program, while Doug Hazen takes over for Ken Boatwright in Lovell, becoming the Bulldogs’ third coach in three years.
While it looks like 4A retained all of its coaches from 2008 to 2009, there has been some movement at the lower levels. Both Hanna and Guernsey changed coaches, as well, and Thermopolis was also searching for a new coach but I haven’t heard how that search ended up.
Does anyone else know about any new coaching changes around the state?
–patrick
There are certain teams and certain eras that I know have not been fully researched. I tackled two of those today: Upton in the late ’50s and early ’60s, and Pine Bluffs in the mid-’60s.
Almost all of the games I was missing for Upton involved South Dakota opponents. Thanks to the research I did today, I’ve added or put a score into a blank space for the following games:
A 27-6 win over Edgemont, S.D., on Sept. 13, 1963
A 41-14 loss to the Rapid City, S.D., JV on Oct. 10, 1963
A 21-0 win over Rapid City Cathedral, S.D., on Oct. 18, 1963
A 31-0 loss to Edgemont, S.D., on Sept. 15, 1961
A 21-13 loss to the Rapid City, S.D., JV on Oct. 12, 1961
A 13-0 win over Rapid City Cathedral, S.D., on Oct. 20, 1961
A 33-26 loss to Edgemont, S.D., on Sept. 16, 1960
A 26-13 win over Rapid City Cathedral, S.D., on Oct. 21, 1960
A 42-6 win over Edgemont, S.D., on Sept. 18, 1959
A 27-12 win over the Rapid City, S.D., JV on Oct. 15, 1959
A 21-6 loss to Buffalo on Oct. 3, 1958
A 38-0 win over the Rapid City, S.D., JV on Oct. 17, 1958
I also found the correct location for the Nov. 1, 1957 game between Upton and Midwest; it was in Upton.
As for Pine Bluffs, it gets kind of tricky. The Hornets were a member of the “Minuteman Conference,” made up of teams from western Nebraska, for a couple years. That makes tracking down results a little bit tougher. Even so, three games were added today:
A 47-25 win over Lodgepole, Neb., on Oct. 27, 1965
A 26-0 win over Dalton, Neb., on Sept. 18, 1964
A 19-12 loss to Lodgepole, Neb., on Oct. 7, 1964
I also tried to do some research on Jackson in the mid-60s, but ran into more questions than answers. I added a 19-0 loss to Montpelier, Idaho, on Oct. 28, 1966, but also came up short on games in two weeks that were originally listed as byes: a game with the Rock Springs JV on Oct. 15, 1966, and a game with Montpelier on Oct. 27, 1967.
I also added Lingle’s 13-7 win over the Cheyenne Central sophomores on Oct. 17, 1964, noted the correct location for the Oct. 23, 1965 game between Glendo and the Natrona JV (it was in Casper) and noted the Sept. 25, 1964 game between Guernsey-Sunrise and Huntley was played in Torrington (it was Torrington’s off week and Huntley’s homecoming).
I also corrected two entries. The Oct. 22, 1994 game between Wind River and the Riverton sophs was corrected with the right score (20-0 Wind River); I had originally listed a 20-20 tie but I’ve known for quite a while that it was a typo. I finally corrected it today after tracking down the right score. I also removed a duplicate entry of a game from October 1981 between Lovell and Greybull. The correct entry, for Oct. 14, was retained, while an erroneous entry on Oct. 16 was removed.
The removal of that game caused Greybull’s losing streak from 1978-82 to change again, dropping back to 27 games. That, again, has been updated on the streaks page.
All other corrections and new entries are now reflected on the relevant pages.
–patrick
Another hard day in the library yielded some interesting new results — a finished record of the 1946 season and updates to 21 games via the Byes Project and the missing games list.
These games were added to the database via the Byes Project:
Burlington’s 20-14 loss to the Riverside JV on Sept. 12, 1988
Greybull’s 20-8 loss to the Cody JV on Oct. 18, 1980
Rocky Mountain’s 12-6 win over Wind River on Sept. 16, 1988
Thermopolis’ 6-0 loss to the Kelly Walsh JV on Sept. 5, 1981
Encampment’s 32-18 loss to the Saratoga JV on Sept. 10, 1988
Wind River’s 20-7 win over the Riverton JV on Sept. 3, 1988
Pine Bluffs’ 6-2 win over Burns on Sept. 5, 1980
Mountain View’s 20-6 win over the Evanston JV somewhere between Sept. 2-5, 1981
Mountain View’s 19-12 loss to the Jackson JV (location unknown) on Sept. 11, 1981
Newcastle’s 13-6 win over Douglas, S.D., on Sept. 4, 1981
Moorcroft’s 13-12 loss to Lead, S.D., on Sept. 4, 1981
These games were updated from the Missing Games list:
Hanna’s 42-6 win over the Rawlins JV on Aug. 27, 2004 (Hanna’s win had been previously noted, but not the score)
Hanna’s 55-20 win over the Rawlins JV on Oct. 18, 2000
Saratoga’s 55-6 loss to the Laramie JV on Oct. 10, 1998 (Saratoga’s loss had been previously noted, but not the score)
Guernsey-Sunrise’s 32-6 win over Upton on Sept. 9, 1994
Kemmerer’s 18-0 loss to the Green River JV on Oct. 17, 1991
Saratoga’s 6-0 loss to the Laramie JV on Oct. 17, 1991
Three games were listed on the missing games list but actually were not played and have been removed: Burlington-Rocky Mountain JV on Sept. 30, 1988; Thermopolis-Columbus, Mont., on Sept. 16, 1983 (this was actually a jamboree contest with Columbus and the Billings West JV, so it is not counted); and Thermopolis-Lovell on Oct. 17, 1980.
Wheatland’s game on Aug. 29, 1969, against the Cheyenne East JV was also updated; the score has not been found, but Wheatland did lose the game.
All the updates have been made on the relevant pages, including the standings by percentage and the standings by wins. In addition, the Greybull loss to the Cody JV in Oct. 1980 extended the Buffaloes’ losing streak in that span to 28 games, a change noted on the streaks page.
My school and work schedules will increase steadily over the next couple weeks, so there will probably be fewer opportunities for me to work on the historical scores. However, you will probably begin to see more posts here about the upcoming 2009 season… be sure to check back often to see what’s new.
–patrick
In Class 4A, they are. Practice started Monday, with games scheduled for 2 1/2 weeks from now. Here are camp updates for Gillette (Gillette News-Record) and for the two Casper schools (Casper Star-Tribune).
–patrick
I’ve updated the Shrine Bowl results page to include some new information. Coaches have been added for every year and the 2009 result has been added to the list.
–patrick
Welcome, Cheyenne South.
And good luck, Wyoming High School Activities Association.
Although Wyoming’s newest high school on Cheyenne’s south side won’t be opening until next fall, freshman will begin participating for South at the sub-varsity level in team sports and at the varsity level in individual sports this fall.
The South football team, meanwhile, will not be heading for varsity play until 2011. It’s perfect timing, since that’s when the WHSAA will reclassify its schools again and align them into new divisions.
The question with realigning football to fit Cheyenne South into the scheme boils down to one simple question: Will the WHSAA choose to keep Class 4A at 10 teams, or expand it to 11 or 12?
10 Teams
If the WHSAA elects to stay at 10 for 4A — and, by default, stick with the 10-12-16 split it has now in football for 4A, 3A and 2A — South will bump out the smallest 4A football school (right now Green River) into 3A. And Green River will bump the smallest 3A football school, right now Wheatland, into 2A. And Wheatland will bump the smallest 2A football school, right now Wyoming Indian, into 1A.
The other option is to go to a 10-14-14 split, where Green River will still be bumped down to 3A but the largest 2A school, right now Pinedale, will be bumped up from 2A into 3A. With that set-up, the smallest 2A (now Wyoming Indian) heads to 1A.
Another question that comes out of this: Would Green River ACCEPT a “demotion” to 3A? It’s possible the Wolves could just opt up to 4A, rendering the whole 10-team league idea moot.
11 Teams
The possibility is there that the WHSAA could just expand 4A to 11 teams, much like it had before the most recent reclassification cycle. Of course, that means the division would need to be split into two conferences and the round-robin schedule in place now would be gone. It sounds like a disaster situation for scheduling, especially if the other divisions remain with limited out-of-conference play, and I think the WHSAA would do everything it could to avoid this situation. I think the only way this happens is if Green River and Star Valley both push hard — Green River to stay 4A and Star Valley to stay 3A.
12 Teams
If the WHSAA expands to 12 for 4A, South and the No. 12 school, right now Star Valley, would join the 4A football ranks. From there, the question becomes: How many in 3A? A 12-12 split makes the most sense, as the largest 2A football school, right now Pinedale, jumps in to take Star Valley’s spot in 3A. And then the largest 1A football school, right now Pine Bluffs, jumps to take Pinedale’s spot in 2A.
Given its past history, I don’t see the WHSAA putting more than 24 schools into 4A and 3A combined for football.
Of course, enrollment changes and school shifts could help dictate the alignment of the classifications and conferences much more than the addition of one school.
Even so, there will be change in 2011. And there will plenty of possibilities.
And I’m sure the WHSAA leadership has already jumped on some ideas — and the phone — to see what might be coming down the pipe during reclassification debates when it comes up for vote next fall.
Also….
I made a couple quick updates to the site today. I posted an updated list of missing games to reflect what games still need updates. Check it out and see if you can add some information into the scores database that I don’t have.
I also corrected Upton’s record for 2004. The Bobcats were 8-3; I had them listed at 7-4. The correction has been made on all the relevant pages.
–patrick