One point.
All that separated the contenders from the chasers on Friday night was that cruelest — or most coveted — of separations.
How does a team give up only 65 yards of total offense and lose? Ask Glenrock, which gave up just that many yards but one too many points in its 7-6 loss to Newcastle.
Now Newcastle is 3-1 in East Conference play, its only loss an overtime thriller to Wright, and in contention for a home playoff game. And Glenrock is 1-3 in the East and fighting like crazy for a playoff game of any kind.
Across the hills, it was Lovell that needed only one extra point to separate itself from Greybull by that same 7-6 margin. Again, it wasn’t much that separated the winning team from the losing one, but that margin is enough to dramatically shift the playoff picture.
Both teams are still on the inside looking out of the playoff situation as it is, with both teams sporting 3-1 records, but now Lovell owns the critical tiebreaker against Greybull — and if the playoffs were to start today, it would be Lovell, and not Greybull, that would be hosting a game in the first round.
Newcastle and Lovell did what they needed to do on Friday. They unseated teams that were chasing the exact same thing they were chasing: a secure spot in the playoff race. Because of that, they are a game closer to being at home in the first round. And that’s much more comfortable than being in the position of the teams they beat on Friday.
All because of a single point.
Staying in 3A, third mad props to Pinedale for not only beating, but shutting out, Mountain View, 20-0. With Lyman, Lovell and Greybull setting the pace, there is not much room for unnecessary losses in the 2A West. Pinedale, clearly, feels the urgency. That’s good for the Wranglers, as season-making games are upcoming against Big Piney and Lyman the next two weeks.
Fourth mad props to Green River, which finally got its first victory of the season in a not-as-close-as-it-sounds 30-21 Trona Bowl victory over Rock Springs. This victory is what Green River needed to insert itself right into the playoff discussion, especially now that the Tigers and Wolves are tied for the eighth and ninth position at 1-5 and that Green River has the tiebreaker. This is a huge victory for a program that has been on the cusp of winning for a few weeks now, and it’s the type of victory that could make the Wolves a scary team down the stretch.
Fifth mad props to Upton, which beat Hulett 38-34 in a six-man exhibition game. I still find it hard to believe that Upton, with only about 14 or 15 players this season, didn’t opt to play the six-man game for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and I wonder if having a taste of the thrill like they did on Friday might motivate the Bobcats to make the switch in time for 2013. Even so, a win is a win, and no matter who you are, you have to like going out there and winning — and maybe that will carry over for Upton as it moves ahead, not only this season but for the next couple years.
Some other stuff that caught my attention this week:
Lusk ran for 471 yards against Pine Bluffs. That’s like more than a quarter mile. Lusk=good.
Speaking of crazy yardage numbers, Gillette and Central combined for 908 in the Camels’ 28-23 come-from-behind victory. Of those, 584 were passing yards. And that only tells about one-tenth of the story of that game. What a win for the Camels — and, conversely, what a loss for the Indians.
Can we start talking Dubois-Cokeville? Who would have guessed that this game would be played between two undefeated teams? The Rams’ feel-good 2010 season just keeps getting better, but Cokeville is already pretty much to the point of making reservations for Laramie. That is, unless the Rams can put a scare into them next Friday.
Big Horn 42, Thermopolis 7. No getting around this one. Big Horn is just that good this year. Now it’s up to the rest of 2A to present a team worthy of challenging the Rams, because now we know, after Friday, that even the top-ranked defending state champions were not a match for Big Horn.
Wright is coming to life at the right time. Watch out, rest of 2A….
Douglas got a nice little scare at the hands of Wheatland. So now is anyone else looking forward to Wheatland-Buffalo next week the same way you look forward to payday? Awesome.
Got my first chance to watch Natrona County this fall. The Mustangs out-gained Cheyenne East by less than 100 yards and won by 50. How is that possible? What does it mean?
But now, the big question: What caught YOUR attention this weekend? What teams are surging ahead like truckers on No-Doz and which ones are taking a break at the rest stop? Post your thoughts below and let’s chat about it.
This week: 26-5 (84 percent). This season: 135-37 (78 percent).
–patrick