School: Wyoming Indian
Nickname: Chiefs
Colors: red and blue
Stadium: Chiefs Intertribal Stadium
State championships: none
Times worth remembering: There hasn’t been much to cheer for in Ethete. The Chiefs have had only three winning seasons (5-2 in 1982, 5-3 in 2007 and 4-3 in 2008) and only one playoff appearance (1996). The back-to-back winning seasons in 2007 and 2008, though, have been Wyoming Indian’s best — even though the Chiefs weren’t eligible for the playoffs because they had made the decision to opt down to Class 1A play rather than play in the 3A division in which it would have fit by enrollment.
Times worth forgetting: At one point, an entire class of students went through WIHS without ever knowing a win on the football field. The Chiefs went winless for four consecutive years from 1976-79, at one point losing 32 consecutive games when including the final four games of the ’75 season. Of those 32 losses, more than half — 17 — were shutout losses.
Best team: The Chiefs were ever so close to turning the program around for good in 1982. That year, the Chiefs finished 5-2, losing only to county rivals Wind River and Shoshoni. The Chiefs had a knack for winning close games, beating Byron 16-13, North Big Horn 16-12, Dubois 12-0 and Basin 18-7; however, the two losses kept the Chiefs home for the postseason.
Biggest win: Wyoming Indian’s first and only playoff berth was secured in 1996. The game the Chiefs knew they needed to win to secure their berth was against Saratoga in Saratoga — and WIHS came through with a thrilling 30-26 victory, outscoring the Panthers 22-0 in the second half to rally from a 26-8 halftime deficit. James St. Clair scored the Chiefs’ winning touchdown on a 3-yard run late in the fourth quarter.
Heartbreaker: The 1996 excursion into the playoffs did not end well for the Chiefs. Drawing unbeaten defending state champion Rocky Mountain — a team that had swamped the Chiefs 65-0 in Ethete earlier in the season — didn’t help matters at all. As expected, Wyoming Indian couldn’t keep up with the Grizzlies on either side of the ball and lost 47-6, a difficult ending to one of the best seasons in school history.