School: Douglas
Nickname: Bearcats
Colors: red and blue
Stadium: Bearcat Stadium
State championships: 1975, 1978, 2008 and 2009
Times worth remembering: Douglas was a force in the 1950s, and if it hadn’t been for Torrington, the Bearcats could have been a dynasty for the ages. From 1951-60, Douglas went 67-23. Eight of those losses in that time period were to Torrington; seven of the losses kept Douglas from reaching the playoffs.
Times worth forgetting: For as good as the 1950s were, the 1960s were just as bad. The Bearcats didn’t have a winning season in the decade, including four one-win seasons and an 0-8 campaign in 1967.
Best team: Few teams in state history have been as dominating as the Bearcats were during their 12-0 championship season in 2009. Douglas won all but one game by at least 25 points, a 26-10 victory over Belle Fourche, S.D., the lone exception. The offense averaged more than 46 points per game and the defense gave up fewer than eight points per game. Led by running back Pierre Etchemendy, who ran for 2,036 yards, and nine other all-state players, the Bearcats won their second consecutive state championship and helped establish Douglas as one of the best teams in the state regardless of classification.
Biggest win: As important as the first two championships were to the program, the Bearcats’ 2008 championship victory – a 34-21 win over Buffalo for the 4A title – may have been the most special. Not only did Douglas break a 30-year championship drought, it got to do so at home over a team that has had a knack not only for winning championships, but for beating Douglas to get there.
Heartbreaker: Douglas barely scraped together a winning record in the 1986 regular season, but won the ones that counted to win the 3A East Conference’s bid for the championship game. And facing Jackson — a team with the same 5-4 record — at home in the title game, the Bearcats had a great chance to sneak away with a championship. But the Bearcats lost a 16-0 third-quarter lead and sputtered on both sides of the ball on its way to a disheartening 17-16 loss.
In short: Got ’em!
I finally tracked down the 1979 Class AA and Class A all-state teams today. They’re now posted on the all-state page for you to check out. Some familiar names on that list, that’s for sure…
In case you’re wondering, YES, I’m still short a few all-state teams. If you know where I might get my hands on the full list of all-state players for these years, let me know: 1997 Class 2A, 1995 Class 1A-Division II, 1994 Class 1A-9 man; 1984 Class 1A; 1982 Class A; 1973 Class A; 1972 Class A. I’m missing a bunch prior to 1971; check out the all-state page to see what’s missing.
Also, I’m trying to find out the teams for a couple players who didn’t have their schools listed on the original lists:
* Justin Dowler, 1987 Class 4A quarterback (Update: Dowler is from Laramie. Case closed.)
* Cory Doak, 1983 Class 4A defensive end (Update: Doak is from Rock Springs. Case closed.)
* John Easterbrook, 1979 Class AA punter (Update: Easterbrook is from Laramie. Case closed.)
* Smith, first name unavailable, 1972 Class AA defensive back
* Dennis Hankins, 1961 Class A guard.
In addition, I’m missing a first name from 1988, last name McCullough, a tight end for Rawlins. (Update: Brian is his first name. Case closed.)
If you can help, leave a comment below or e-mail me at pschmiedt@yahoo.com.
–patrick
New Sporcle quiz time! Yay!
Grad school has been destroying me the past couple weeks, so to decompress I built some new quizzes on the highly addictive Sporcle.com. (Hey, some people drink, some people work out, some people play video games. I build Sporcle quizzes and play with Excel….)
You can click here to guess the boys basketball state champions since 1963…. or you can click here to guess the girls basketball state champions since 1976.
A hint for both quizzes: Don’t forget the schools that are closed.
Oh, and if you missed it the first time, you can play the football version of the same game by clicking here.
Now, back to the grad school grind….
–patrick
Thanks to Huntley alum Carl Rupp, I’ve filled in some of the coaches and removed a missing game from the missing games list for the Cardinals.
In addition to adding the coach for three seasons, I added Huntley’s 13-0 victory over the Gering, Neb., JV on Sept. 16, 1964. Thanks, Carl!
Again, if you see games on the missing games list or coaches’ names that are for seasons on the Coaches Project list that you can help me with, let me know. It’s appreciated!
–patrick
School: Ten Sleep
Nickname: Pioneers
Colors: blue and red
Stadium: Pioneers Stadium
State championships: None
Times worth remembering: The Pioneers put together three consecutive playoff berths from 1984-86, buoyed by a pair of conference championships in 1984-85. Ten Sleep went 19-8 in those three years combined, including back-to-back 7-2 seasons in the two conference championships.
Times worth forgetting: Football died for seven years at Ten Sleep, and bringing it back may have not seemed like the best idea after looking at the scoreboard the first few years it was back. After returning to the field in 1972, the Pioneers won just two games the first three years they were back, going a combined 2-23 from 1972-74. That included a forfeit loss to Dubois in Ten Sleep’s first scheduled game back from its seven-year hiatus. Numbers have always been Ten Sleep’s big question mark; the Pioneers also canceled their 1990 season and played truncated seasons in 1992, 1994, 2007 and 2008 due to a lack of players.
Best team: In the final year of the Bighorn Basin’s rogue eight-man division, the Pioneers proved they were ready for the transition to 11-man. In 1976, Ten Sleep went 7-0, holding its final five opponents to a total of six points. For the season, the Pioneers outscored their foes by an average of 39-5. In ’77, the Pioneers went 6-1 in their first full-fledged year of 11-man.
Biggest win: The Pioneers’ only playoff win in program history came in 2005, a 29-14 victory over Rapelje/Ryegate, Mont., in the opening round of the Montana six-man playoffs. It was Ten Sleep’s first year in the six-man division in the Big Sky State, and the victory helped assure the Pioneer faithful that the move was the right one.
Heartbreaker: Jumping into 11-man play in 1977, the Pioneers adapted quickly, winning their first six games to set up a showdown with Meeteetse in the final game of the regular season. The stakes were simple: winner goes to the playoffs, loser stays home. And, on Ten Sleep’s home field, Meeteetse won — 32-26 in double overtime. It was the best chance at success Ten Sleep had for years; the Pioneers didn’t reach the postseason until 1984.
The only football season I’ve found for the LaGrange Longhorns came in 1961, and for the past few years I had only found one game for that season — a 46-13 loss to Lingle.
Well, this week, I finally found some more info on the Longhorns’ 1961 season and I’ve added five more games to the Longhorns’ history. Sadly, for LaGrange, it didn’t get much better.
From what I’ve found, LaGrange finished the 1961 season with a 1-5 record. This week, I added four new games to the LaGrange season — a 27-6 loss to Bushnell, Neb., on Sept. 23, a 47-0 victory over Lyman, Neb., on Oct. 21, a 25-20 loss to Harrisburg, Neb., on Oct. 24 and a 15-7 loss to Pine Bluffs on Oct. 28. I also added a 25-8 loss to Huntley on Oct. 5 (a game that had been on the missing games list).
Here are the other updates I’ve recently made:
Coaches Project: Recent updates for Basin, Byron, Cowley, Dayton, Deaver-Frannie, Encampment, Farson, Greybull, Hanna, Hulett, Huntley, LaGrange, Lander, Lingle, Manderson, Moorcroft, Morton, Ranchester, Reliance, St. Mary’s, St. Stephens, Saratoga, Snake River/Baggs, Sundance, Sunrise, Superior, Wheatland, Worland Institute.
My new pet peeve school is Huntley. I need names of coaches for Huntley more than I need them for any other school at this point. Any help that anyone can toss my way as far as the Cardinals are concerned would be greatly appreciated…. To see everything I’m missing, click here.
Missing games: Found the score for Deaver-Frannie’s 40-0 victory over Manderson on Oct. 5, 1957. I also noted that two games — the Encampment-Hanna game on Oct. 18, 1957, and the Meeteetse-Burlington game on Nov. 1, 1957 — were canceled because of flu outbreaks.
All the updates have been made on all the relevant pages.
–patrick