The matchups for the Wyoming high school football playoff semifinals:

Class 4A
Natrona at Gillette
Rock Springs at Sheridan
Class 3A
Star Valley at Douglas
Green River at Powell
Class 2A
Greybull at Glenrock
Newcastle at Big Horn
Class 1A 11-man
Tongue River at Shoshoni
Pine Bluffs at Upton-Sundance
Class 1A six-man
Guernsey-Sunrise at Farson
Meeteetse at Kaycee

–patrick

The 2016 Shrine Bowl game raised $33,000 for the Shriners Hospital for Children.

The annual all-star football game, played in June in Casper, raises money for the hospital, which specializes in the treatment of children.

The Shrine Bowl’s board of directors made the donation to the Shriners Hospital in Salt Lake City, Shrine Bowl executive director John Cundall said in a release. The Shrine Bowl players traditionally visit the hospital in Utah the week of the game.

The game is in its 43rd year.

“The Shrine Bowl was an amazing experience to see all the players come together for a great cause,” 2016 North coach Jon Vance of Kelly Walsh said in the release. “To see the relationships develop over a single week was incredible. I am very grateful for the opportunity to help support the kids.”

Shriners Hospitals operate in 22 locations across North America. The treatment and services provided by the hospitals are at no cost to patients or their families.

“The Shrine Bowl is more than a football game,” 2016 South coach Mark Lenhardt of Torrington said in the release. “It’s an opportunity to come together as a state to support an amazing cause, which will stay with these young men for their entire life. I’m honored to be a part of something that makes such a difference.”

–patrick

With apologies to the other four classifications, the best set of first round playoff games belongs to Class 1A 11-man.

Nowhere else do we get the intrigue of a No. 1 seed coming is as a decided underdog to a No. 4 seed.

Nowhere else do we get the rematch of two of the state’s best coaches re-staging one of the state’s best games of 2016.

Nowhere else do we see a matchup of teams who beat two common opponents by identical scores and a third common opponent by the exact same margin.

And nowhere else do we see an undefeated, defending state champion hosting a team that qualified for the playoffs by beating the two worst 11-man teams in the state and no one else.

The 1A 11-man drama starts in Shoshoni, where the Wranglers lost their final game of the regular season but won the top seed from the West by winning a coin flip. Coin flip karma kicked in immediately, though: Thanks to the flip, Southeast is coming back to Fremont County.

If you’re a Shoshoni supporter, you’re wondering if being the top seed is actually the worst possible outcome you could have had. After all, Shoshoni has yet to shake the shock of 2015.

Remember that? Remember how Shoshoni was 8-0 coming into last year’s playoffs, the top seed from the West, and not only got beaten but beaten down by East No. 4 seed Southeast?

Remember how they showed up on each other’s regular-season schedules this year? Remember how Shoshoni traveled to Goshen County and came back battered and beaten, 32-13?

Now, even as a No. 1 seed, Shoshoni is the underdog.

And right under that game in the bracket is the game between Tongue River and Cokeville.

Just like Shoshoni-Southeast, Tongue River-Cokeville is another rematch of a 2015 first-round playoff game. Last year, Tongue River and coach John Scott — who knows a thing or two about winning games in Lincoln County from his time as head coach at Kemmerer — went down to Cokeville and beat the Panthers 28-21 on their way to a berth in the state title game.

Cokeville would love to reverse roles this year, and why not? Cokeville’s already gotten some revenge, beating Tongue River this year. It was 12-7. In Dayton. For Cokeville coach Todd Dayton’s 300th career victory. There isn’t a single player in orange and black who’s scared of the trip to Sheridan County.

The other side of the bracket has more mystery but just as much intrigue.

Rocky Mountain and Pine Bluffs will meet in Cowley knowing that the other team is equally as good. After all, they both beat Lusk 35-6, and they both beat Wyoming Indian 70-0, and they both beat Wind River by exactly 41 points (Pine Bluffs 41-0, Rocky Mountain 47-6.) It’s like a mirror.

Finally, defending champ Upton-Sundance is just chillin’. The Patriots enter the playoffs on a 15-game winning streak, the longest active streak in 11-man. For earning the East’s top seed, Upton-Sundance draws Saratoga. And for Saratoga, this has to feel like the scary part of jumping on a trampoline — you don’t know you’re too high until you’ve already made the leap.

The Panthers qualified as the West’s No. 4 seed by beating Wind River and Wyoming Indian, who finished a combined 1-15, with the one win being Wind River’s win over Wyoming Indian. Saratoga itself lost to the East’s lowest-placing team, Lusk; Lusk went 1-7 but beat Saratoga 58-12.

The 1 vs. 4 games in 1A 11-man could not be any more different.

In part, that’s why the 1A 11-man playoff bracket might be the best in the state this season. It’s definitely the best of the quarterfinals.

+++

Other noteworthy pieces from the first round of the playoffs:

It’s a big week in Sweetwater County. Six-man Farson, which went through the regular season undefeated, will host a playoff game for the first time in program history when it takes on Hanna. Farson is 0-6 all-time in postseason games. Meanwhile, Rock Springs is hosting its first playoff game since 2002, the longest such streak outside of Farson that will be broken this week. …

Tongue River’s playoff run last year was something else. It was also all on the road. This week, the Eagles host their first playoff game since hosting the 3A title game in 2006. …

Pinedale is in the playoffs for the first time since 2008, a postseason drought that had been the second-longest in the state. Cheyenne South, meanwhile, is in the playoffs for the first time in its five-year history. That leaves Wyoming Indian (20 years) and Moorcroft (eight years) with the longest active playoff droughts in the state. …

There’s three first-time matchups in the quarterfinals this year: Pinedale/Big Horn, Saratoga/Upton-Sundance and Burlington/Kaycee. …

Casper rivals Kelly Walsh and Natrona meet in the playoffs for the fifth time in their Oil City rivalry. Natrona has won the previous four, including last year. …

On to the picks, where the team I think will win is indicated in bold and most of them are home teams because this is the playoffs and normally in the playoffs the home team is the favorite so a lot of home teams are bolded because they’re good:

Class 4A
(8) Cheyenne South at (1) Gillette: Gillette beat South 46-28 in their first game against each other this season. It wasn’t that close. And South comes into the playoffs riding a six-game losing streak. So much for momentum. (First playoff meeting.)
(5) Natrona at (4) Kelly Walsh: This will probably be the best game of the quarterfinals, regardless of classification. I go with the Trojans because of the past four weeks: KW is 4-0, including a victory against Natrona; NC is 1-3. Nevertheless, count on a ton of nibbled-off fingernails littering Harry Geldien Stadium by this one’s end. (Rematch of a 4A quarterfinal playoff game from last season.)
(7) Cheyenne East at (2) Sheridan: East has a better-than-average chance to upset Sheridan. The Broncs barely squeaked past the Thunderbirds in Week 3 in Cheyenne (21-16). But the Broncs are at home this time, and that will help. (First playoff meeting since 2013 4A semifinals.)
(6) Laramie at (3) Rock Springs: Laramie is a tough first-round matchup for Rock Springs, and the Plainsmen have the talent and the confidence to pull off the upset. But Rock Springs has the edge in history (beat Laramie 29-21 in Laramie earlier this season) and in offensive firepower (112 combined points the last two games). (First playoff meeting since 1998 4A semifinals.)
Class 3A
(4W) Cody at (1E) Douglas: The Bearcats handled the Broncs fairly easily back in Week 2, 36-12 in Cody. Douglas has the upper hand in the rematch at home. (Rematch of 2014 3A championship.)
(3E) Riverton at (2W) Star Valley: This is the matchup Riverton wanted to avoid. Now? They’ve got to go to Afton to play a team that beat them 49-7 back in Week 2. (First playoff meeting since 2013 3A quarterfinals.)
(4E) Lander at (1W) Powell: Both teams are in the seed they’re in, at least in part, because of a coin flip. But the circumstances are very, very different. (First playoff meeting since 2012 3A quarterfinals.)
(3W) Green River at (2E) Torrington: The top three teams out of the West are all contenders for a title. Oh, and Green River beat Torrington 28-14 in Torrington in Week 3. The Wolves should be confident. (First playoff meeting since 1954 Class A semifinals.)
Class 2A
(4E) Newcastle at (1W) Mountain View: They’ve met in the playoffs in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The home team has won every time. Let’s stick with that trend. And to boot, Mountain View has won 13 straight at home, the longest active home winning streak in Wyoming. (First playoff meeting since 2014 2A semifinals.)
(3W) Pinedale at (2E) Big Horn: The idea of “mystery” is quaint in 2016, when we have Hudl and any other number of ways of getting film on an opponent. Still, it’s fun to think what might happen when two teams who have never played each other, ever, get together. (Obviously, first meeting.)
(4W) Lyman at (1E) Glenrock: Two weeks ago, the Herders went down to Lyman and got a true test before winning 22-12. Glenrock will be ready for the rematch — no sneaking up on them. (First playoff meeting since 2011 2A semifinals.)
(3E) Wheatland at (2W) Greybull: Even though it comes in at 4-4, Wheatland is still the defending 2A champion. But do you think that means anything to the Buffs — who are 7-1, with the lone loss by a single point? (Rematch of a 2A semifinal playoff game from last season.)
Class 1A 11-man
(4E) Southeast at (1W) Shoshoni: As punishment for winning the top seed from the West, the Wranglers draw Southeast — the team that’s been their nemesis the past two seasons — out of the East. It’ll be closer this time, but the Cyclones definitely have the mental edge in this one. (Rematch of a quarterfinal game from last season, obviously.)
(3W) Cokeville at (2E) Tongue River: I know I said Natrona-Kelly Walsh will probably be the best game of the quarterfinals. Looking at this game, though, I might want to change my vote. The road team has won the last two; I think a home team is due to win one. (Rematch of a quarterfinal game from last season, again, obviously.)
(4W) Saratoga at (1E) Upton-Sundance: Upton-Sundance is an undefeated juggernaut right now. Saratoga, politely, is not. (First meeting of Saratoga with the Upton-Sundance co-op; Saratoga last met Sundance in the 2005 2A semifinals and Upton in the 1975 Class B semis.)
(3E) Pine Bluffs at (2W) Rocky Mountain: Of all the picks I had to make this week, this one may have been the most difficult. When you have what appear to be equal teams on paper, you go with the home team. (First playoff meeting since 1994 1A semifinals.)
Class 1A six-man
(4E) Hanna at (1W) Farson: Farson’s unbeaten season has been special. Hanna hasn’t beaten another team in the six-man playoff field. Advantage, Farson. (First playoff meeting.)
(3W) Snake River at (2E) Guernsey-Sunrise: I’ve had a difficult time getting a feel for the Rattlers. If they play to their potential, they can beat anyone in the bracket. If they don’t, the Vikings could win by 30. (First playoff meeting since 2014 1A six-man semifinals.)
(4W) Burlington at (1E) Kaycee: Of all three potential first-round draws for Kaycee, Burlington may be the toughest. The Huskies are capable of hanging with the defending champs. If the Buckaroos don’t play sharp, this is a potential 4 over 1 upset in the making. (First meeting.)
(3E) Midwest at (2W) Meeteetse: Midwest could stay with Meeteetse. But “stay with” and “beat” have different definitions, and the Longhorns are going to be tough for the Oilers to beat. (First playoff meeting since the 2013 1A six-man championship.)

For a full schedule with kickoff times, click here. For brackets of all five classifications, click here.

As for me? Just an amazing week of picks last week is all… Hashtag thanks Kelly Walsh.

Last week: 32-1 (97 percent). This season: 223-47 (83 percent).

The postseason is here. Who’s ready to spring an upset? Who’s ready to start a championship run? Leave a comment and we can talk about it….

–patrick

For the 2017 season, the Wyoming High School Activities Association will allow football teams to schedule their own nonconference games.

The WHSAA will continue to schedule conference games for programs statewide.

WHSAA Commissioner Ron Laird said via email the schools were struggling with the expanded travel created by the WHSAA schedules.

We have had more and more complaints about the non-conference travel each year,” Laird said. “We have been told that some of the schools would like to play a larger school’s lower level team instead of traveling across the state.”

Since 2001, the WHSAA has scheduled football games in Weeks 1-8 for all schools. Since 2006, schools in the 3A through 1A classifications could schedule their own Zero Week opponents; 4A schools could do the same from 2006-08.

The WHSAA’s takeover of scheduling in 2001 was tied to the group’s implementation of power ratings for playoff qualification. For the power ratings to work, and to give every team a full schedule of games, the WHSAA took over scheduling of games that year.

Power ratings were eliminated prior to the 2009 season. However, the WHSAA maintained control over scheduling, even though it had previously volunteered to give that responsibility back to the schools. WHSAA scheduling gave programs a full schedule of varsity opponents, but often at the cost of extended travel.

A 2014 evaluation by this site found teams across the state were traveling further to play in games that were not as competitive.

Laird said schools would have no restrictions on their nonconference scheduling. The statewide scheduling meeting will be Nov. 15-16 in Casper.

The 10-school Class 4A plays a round-robin schedule, and as such, the WHSAA will continue to create the entire 4A season schedule.

In 2017, Thunder Basin High School’s opening in Gillette as a Class 4A school will shift classifications and conference alignments for several schools. For football, Evanston will move to the 3A West and Big Horn will go to the 1A 11-man East. Lingle will also be eligible for the 1A six-man playoffs next season.

–patrick

I’ve started to add the 2016 season results to various parts of the site. Please keep in mind that for the next couple weeks, some parts of the site will have 2016 results added to them, while others will not. If you see any discrepancies on the site through the championship games, most likely, this is why.

Thanks for bearing with me as I add the newest chapter to Wyoming’s high school football history!

–patrick

Game times and dates will be released by the WHSAA later this week.

Updated Saturday with winner of 3A East coin flip; updated Saturday with Farson’s victory against Snake River; updated Saturday with results of 1A six-man West coin flip.

Class 4A
(8) Cheyenne South at (1) Gillette
(5) Natrona at (4) Kelly Walsh
(7) Cheyenne East at (2) Sheridan
(6) Laramie at (3) Rock Springs
Class 3A
(4W) Cody at (1E) Douglas
(3E) Riverton at (2W) Star Valley
(4E) Lander at (1W) Powell
(3W) Green River at (2E) Torrington
Class 2A
(4E) Newcastle at (1W) Mountain View
(3W) Pinedale at (2E) Big Horn
(4W) Lyman at (1E) Glenrock
(3E) Wheatland at (2W) Greybull
Class 1A 11-man
(4E) Southeast at (1W) Shoshoni
(3W) Cokeville at (2E) Tongue River
(4W) Saratoga at (1E) Upton-Sundance
(3E) Pine Bluffs at (2W) Rocky Mountain
Class 1A six-man (projected)
(4E) Hanna at (1W) Farson
(3W) Snake River at (2E) Guernsey-Sunrise
(4W) Burlington at (1E) Kaycee
(3E) Midwest at (2W) Meeteetse

–patrick

Let’s walk through a plausible scenario for Friday’s Class 4A football games:

  • Natrona loses to Rock Springs in Rock Springs.
  • Cheyenne East loses to Gillette in Gillette.
  • Cheyenne South summons its early-season magic and beats Sheridan in Cheyenne.
  • And Laramie and Kelly Walsh play until someone wins.

This potential setup would give us a heck of a mess for the fifth through eighth playoff seeds in Class 4A.

With losses by Natrona and East, a victory by South and any kind of an outcome aside from “canceled” in the Laramie-KW game, then Class 4A would finish with four teams at 4-5, tied for playoff seeds 5-8. (I wrote about the outcomes for all those ties here.)

In many ways, the Laramie-Kelly Walsh game is the lynchpin of the 4A playoff seeds. With four teams entering the final week of the regular season at 4-4, this is the only game that has two of those teams facing off. The winner is 5-4 and has the inside track to the fourth seed and a home playoff game, although the fourth seed is no guarantee, even with a victory.

But all it would take is one upset — specifically, South over Sheridan — to turn the 4A playoff seeding from an examination of gridiron supremacy to a mental exercise in tiebreaking procedures. The WHSAA handbook doesn’t even list four-way tiebreaking procedures under its “Football” section. Those are buried elsewhere.

This isn’t new. Class 4A in 2014 had the potential to finish with a four-way tie for seeds 5-8 or even a five-way tie for seeds 5-8 and a loser out. And entering Week 7, there was potential for a six-way tie for seeds 3-8 in 4A, although fortunately we’ll all avoid that conundrum.

Still, the potential 4A playoff seedings this year are a potential mess. But that’s also part of the fun when parity becomes the rule rather than the exception.

+++

Fortunately for the 4A schools involved, none of the 16 potential tiebreaking scenarios would involve a coin flip.

That’s not the case for teams in the 3A East, where coin flips could decide who makes the playoffs and who doesn’t.

Last year, the WHSAA did away with triangular playoffs for teams tied for playoff berths. Now, if teams are tied at the end of the season and a playoff berth is at stake — and all other tiebreaking methods fail — coaches flip coins.

The most likely scenario where this would play out is in the 3A East, where if favored teams Douglas, Riverton and Torrington win as expected, then Buffalo, Lander and Rawlins will all tie for the East’s No. 4 seed. In previous years, the three teams would have settled their differences on the field in a triangular playoff; this year, if that happens, the teams will flip coins, with only one team moving on to the postseason based on the outcome of those flips.

(In a coin flip like this, the odd team is out, and then the team that won the head-to-head game between the two remaining teams is the higher seed — or, in this case, the only seed. You can say that means that the teams decided it on the field, but ultimately it’s still dumb luck.)

The loss of the triangular playoff is kind of sad. I know some coaches hated them, and reasons like lost class time, additional travel and player safety are valid. But I liked the triangulars, if for no other reason they helped settle ties via play. I played in such a playoff in 1998 and, even though we lost, I appreciated the chance to have the differences settled on the field rather than by my coach’s thumb and a quarter.

+++

Other stuff I’m watching this week:

The Lovell-Pinedale game could be a doozy. Both teams have shown they could be spoilers in the 2A playoffs, and Lovell in particular needs the victory to qualify for the postseason. …

Class 1A 11-man has two true qualifying games — Wright at Southeast in the East and Wind River at Saratoga in the West. The winners will be the No. 4 seeds from their respective conferences, the losers will be out. …

I love to see all the rivalry games go down in 3A this week, with Cody-Powell, Riverton-Lander and Star Valley-Jackson all saved for the regular-season finales. All three are critical to playoff seeding, too, giving a little extra kick to each game. …

The only classifications with their eight playoff teams set are Class 4A and Class 1A six-man. In six-man, the game of the week is Snake River at Farson; the Rattlers notched a big OT victory last week against Burlington and could steal the West Conference’s top seed if they can give the Pronghorns their first loss of the season. …

Reminder: Kemmerer’s home game against Lyman could be an unofficial record-setter. A Ranger loss would give Kemmerer 36 consecutive losses, which would be the longest such streak in state history. I wrote about it last week. …

On to this week’s picks, where I’ve decided that consistency is the key to success and remained with my standard of indicating teams I’m predicting to win with bold type:

Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Gillette
Evanston at Cheyenne Central
Laramie at Kelly Walsh
Natrona at Rock Springs
Sheridan at Cheyenne South
Class 3A
Buffalo at Douglas
Cody at Powell
Rawlins at Torrington
Riverton at Lander
Star Valley at Jackson
Worland at Green River
Class 2A
Big Horn at Wheatland
Burns at Newcastle
Greybull at Big Piney
Lovell at Pinedale
Lyman at Kemmerer
Moorcroft at Glenrock
Mountain View at Thermopolis
Class 1A 11-man
Lusk at Pine Bluffs
Rocky Mountain at Wyoming Indian
Shoshoni at Cokeville
Tongue River at Upton-Sundance
Wind River at Saratoga
Wright at Southeast
Class 1A six-man
Hanna vs. Midwest (at Casper)
Kaycee at Normative Services
Lingle at Rock River
Riverside at Burlington
St. Stephens at Meeteetse
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Guernsey-Sunrise at Hulett
Snake River at Farson
Ten Sleep at Dubois

For a full schedule with kickoff times, click here.

Lander’s victory to end a 23-game losing streak was awesome for the Tigers. But it really screwed with my picks. Snake River was the only other team to win despite not being bolded in my list.

Last week: 30-2 (94 percent). This season: 191-46 (81 percent).

We’re here. Week 8. Any surprises you see coming down the pike? Leave a comment and let’s commiserate over the last week of the regular season!

–patrick

Here are the playoff scenarios for Wyoming high school football teams as they enter the final week of the 2016 regular season. A full schedule of Week 8 games is here.

Class 4A
Gillette: In. No. 1 seed with victory. No. 1 seed with loss and Cheyenne South victory. No. 2 seed with loss and Sheridan victory.
Sheridan: In. No. 1 seed with victory and Cheyenne East victory. No. 2 seed with victory and Gillette victory. No. 2 seed with loss.
Rock Springs: In. No. 3 seed.
Cheyenne East, Cheyenne South, Kelly Walsh, Laramie, Natrona: In. Seeds No. 4-8. The breakdown is as follows:

Sheridan beats South Lar Nat CE KW CS
East, NC, KW win 7 6 4 5 8
Gil, NC, KW win 6 5 7 4 8
East, RS, KW win 7 6 4 5 8
Gil, RS, KW win 6 5 7 4 8
East, NC, Lar win 6 5 4 7 8
Gil, NC, Lar win 5 4 6 7 8
East, RS, Lar win 4 7 5 6 8
Gil, RS, Lar win 4 7 5 6 8
South beats Sheridan
East, NC, KW win 7 6 4 5 8
Gil, NC, KW win 6 5 8 4 7
East, RS, KW win 7 6 4 5 8
Gil, RS, KW win 6 5 8 4 7
East, NC, Lar win 6 5 4 7 8
Gil, NC, Lar win 5 4 7 8 6
East, RS, Lar win 4 7 5 6 8
Gil, RS, Lar win 4 5 7 8 6

Cheyenne Central, Evanston: Out.

Class 3A East
Douglas: In. No. 1 seed.
Torrington: In. No. 2 seed.
Buffalo, Lander, Rawlins, Riverton: Neither in nor out. The breakdown is as follows:

Buffalo beats Douglas Riv Raw Buf Lan
Tor win, Riv win 3 out 4 out
Tor win, Lan win out out 3 4
Raw win, Riv win 3 4 out out
Raw win, Lan win out out 3 4
Douglas beats Buffalo
Tor win, Riv win 3 tie 4 (coin flip) tie 4 (coin flip) tie 4 (coin flip)
Tor win, Lan win 4 out out 3
Raw win, Riv win 3 4 out out
Raw win, Lan win 4 out out 3

Class 3A West
Cody, Green River, Powell, Star Valley: In. The breakdown is as follows:

Worland beats Green River SV GR Pow Cod
SV win, Cod win 1 2 4 3
Jac win, Cod win 1 4 3 2
SV win, Pow win 2 3 1 4
Jac win, Pow win 2 3 1 4
Green River beats Worland      
SV win, Cod win 1 2 4 3
Jac win, Cod win 2 1 4 3
SV win, Pow win 1-2-3 tie (coin flip) 1-2-3 tie (coin flip) 1-2-3 tie (coin flip) 4
Jac win, Pow win 3 1 2 4

Jackson, Worland: Out.

Class 2A East (updated)
Glenrock: In. No. 1 seed.
Big Horn, Wheatland: In. No. 2 seed with victory; No. 3 seed with loss.
Newcastle: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory. Out with loss.
Burns: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory and Glenrock victory. Out with loss or with Moorcroft victory.
Moorcroft: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory and Burns victory. Out with loss or Newcastle victory.
Thermopolis: Out.

Class 2A West
Mountain View: In. No. 1 seed.
Greybull: In. No. 2 seed.
Pinedale: In. No. 3 seed with victory. No. 4 seed with loss.
Lovell: Neither in nor out. No. 3 seed with victory. No. 4 seed with loss and Kemmerer victory. Out with loss and Lyman victory.
Lyman: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory and Pinedale victory. Out with loss or Lovell victory.
Big Piney, Kemmerer: Out.

Class 1A 11-man East
Tongue River, Upton-Sundance: In. No. 1 seed with victory. No. 2 seed with loss.
Pine Bluffs: In. No. 3 seed.
Southeast, Wright: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with victory. Out with loss.
Lusk: Out.

Class 1A 11-man West
Shoshoni: In. No. 1 seed with victory. Tie for 1-2-3 seeds (coin flip to break) with loss and Rocky Mountain victory. No. 2 seed with loss and Wyoming Indian victory.
Cokeville: In. No. 1 seed with victory and Wyoming Indian victory. Tie for 1-2-3 seeds (coin flip to break) with victory and Rocky Mountain victory. No. 3 seed with loss.
Rocky Mountain: In. Tie for 1-2-3 seeds (coin flip to break) with victory and Cokeville victory. No. 2 seed with Shoshoni victory. No. 3 seed with loss and Cokeville victory.
Saratoga, Wind River: Neither in nor out. No. 4 seed with win. Out with loss.
Wyoming Indian: Out.

Class 1A six-man East
Kaycee
: In. No. 1 seed.
Guernsey-Sunrise: In. No. 2 seed.
Hanna, Midwest: In. No. 3 seed with victory. No. 4 seed with loss.
Hulett, NSI, Rock River: Out.
Lingle: Ineligible for playoffs.

Class 1A six-man West
Farson: In. No. 1 seed with victory. No. 2 seed with loss.
Snake River: In. No. 1 seed with victory. No. 2 seed with loss and St. Stephens victory. No. 3 seed with loss, Meeteetse victory and Riverside victory. Tie for 2-3-4 seeds (coin flip to break) with loss, Meeteetse victory and Burlington victory.
Burlington
: In. Tie for 2-3-4 seeds (coin flip to break) with victory, Farson victory and Meeteetse victory. No. 3 seed with victory, Snake River victory and Meeteetse victory. No. 3 seed with St. Stephens victory, no matter what. No. 4 seed with loss and Meeteetse victory.
Meeteetse: In. Tie for 2-3-4 seeds (coin flip to break) with victory, Burlington victory and Farson victory. No. 3 seed with victory and Riverside victory. No. 4 seed with victory, Riverside victory and Snake River victory. No. 4 seed with loss.
Dubois, St. Stephens, Ten Sleep: Out.
Riverside: Ineligible for playoffs.

If any of this doesn’t check out with your calculations, let me know by leaving a comment.

–patrick

“Did you know that the Chinese use the same word for crisis as they do for opportunity?”

“Yes! Crisitunity!”

The crisis: Kemmerer’s losing streak is now reaching historic proportions.

The opportunity: On Friday, the Rangers can end the streak.

Kemmerer has now lost 34 consecutive games dating back to 2012. Only one streak — Rawlins’ 35-game losing streak from 2008-12 — is longer than the one the Rangers are on now.

A loss on Friday in Lovell assures Kemmerer of tying the ignominious record; a loss Friday coupled with a loss next week to Lyman would give the Rangers 36 consecutive losses, and the state record.

Not that they want it.

As I said with Rawlins in 2012, no school deserves this. However, Kemmerer’s streak is a bit more difficult to live through than Rawlins’ streak, particularly because the Rangers’ senior class faces the possibility of going all four years of their high school football careers without a single varsity victory.

Kemmerer went 0-8 in 2013, 0-8 in 2014, 0-8 in 2015 and, so far, 0-6 in 2016. (Add on four losses to close 2012, and that totals 34.)

Rawlins, even at the depths of its losing streak, never went four straight full seasons without a victory. And yet, Kemmerer — despite being on the brink of a state record — would not be the first Wyoming high school football team to go through a four-year winless streak, to graduate a class of seniors who never knew what a varsity gridiron victory feels like.

In fact, two Wyoming programs went five years without victories, graduating two consecutive classes of seniors who went without a W. The first to do so was Fort Washakie, which went from 1936-40 without a victory; however, the Indians greatly reduced the number of games per season after 1937. Fort Washakie went 0-7, 0-6-1, 0-2, 0-3-1 and 0-1, respectively, in those five years.

The other program to go five years without a victory was Big Horn, which went from 1959-63 without winning a game (0-5, 0-6, 0-4, 0-5, 0-6).

Four other programs at five other times have graduated a senior class without a victory. Chronologically, they were Sundance (0-7, 0-8, 0-6 and 0-6 from 1951-54), Hulett (0-8, 0-8, 0-8 and 0-7 from 1975-78), Wyoming Indian (0-7, 0-7, 0-7 and 0-7 from 1976-79) and Greybull, twice (0-8, 0-8, 0-7 and 0-8 from 1978-82; 0-7, 0-7, 0-7 and 0-7 from 1997-2000).

Hanna also went from 1993-96 without a victory, going 0-7 in 1994, 1995 and 1996, but the Miners did not field a team in 1993.

If Kemmerer is going to turn around its fortunes, it will need some help. Since 2013, every one of the Rangers’ losses has been by a double-digit margin. This season, Kemmerer’s closest game was a 34-0 loss to Mountain View. Kemmerer’s been outscored this season 275-13.

The “crisitunity” Kemmerer faces Friday against Lovell is the same one the Rangers have faced in every game the past 34 games.

Eventually, Kemmerer will win a game again, and this crisis will stop.

Until then, every new game is an opportunity.

+++

Other games that deserve some extra-special attention this week:

Laramie has won four games in a row for the first time since 2000. Now, the Plainsmen host Gillette in what might be the biggest regular-season football game in Laramie since, oh… Who knows? I still think the Camels are the favorites — Gillette has won 18 straight true road games, one of the longer such streaks in state history — but Laramie is playing well and playing with confidence. …

Riverton can make a real mess of the 3A East if it can beat Douglas. The Wolverines have put up 49, 61 and 54 points their past three games; the Bearcats have given up 6, 6 and 0 points their past three games. Irresistible, immovable, etc. …

In the 3A West, four teams (Green River, Cody, Star Valley and Powell) are tied for first at 2-1. Green River plays at Cody this week. Frankly, I don’t see how this conference doesn’t end up, one way or another, with a shared conference title. …

The marquee game in 1A 11-man is Pine Bluffs at Tongue River. Both teams are looking sharp right now, and both are threats to play in Laramie. However, the winner of this game will be in much better shape to do so. …

The top of the 1A six-man West is unbelievably competitive: Farson, Burlington, Snake River and Meeteetse are a combined 21-4. This week, Burlington heads south to play Snake River in a game that could decide who has to hit the road in the first week of the playoffs and who stays home. Should be a good one in Baggs. …

Playoff implications

The playoff implications are all over the place this week. They’re too numerous to mention right now. A full breakdown of playoff possibilities will be posted ahead of Week 8. I got you. In the meantime, here’s a quick glance at the top and bottom of the food chains:

Glenrock has already won the 2A East. This week, three squads could win the top seeds from their conference with victories: Douglas in the 3A East, Mountain View in the 2A West and Kaycee in the 1A six-man East. In addition, Gillette could wrap up 4A’s top seed with a victory and a Sheridan loss to Natrona; Shoshoni could win the 1A 11-man West with a victory and if Cokeville somehow loses to Wind River; and Farson could win the 1A six-man West with a victory and a Burlington victory against Snake River. The 3A West is the only conference that definitely will NOT have a clear-cut top seed after Week 7, no matter what happens.

Evanston, Rock River, Dubois and Ten Sleep have been eliminated from playoff contention; several more teams could be eliminated this week.

For the record: Kemmerer could still qualify for the playoffs. Opportunity…

This week’s picks, with projected winners in bold, as is tradition:

Thursday
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Evanston
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne South at Rock Springs
Gillette at Laramie
Kelly Walsh at Cheyenne Central
Sheridan at Natrona
Class 3A
Douglas at Riverton
Green River at Cody
Jackson at Powell
Lander at Rawlins
Star Valley at Worland
Torrington at Buffalo
Class 2A
Big Horn at Moorcroft
Big Piney at Mountain View
Glenrock at Lyman
Kemmerer at Lovell
Newcastle at Thermopolis
Pinedale at Greybull
Wheatland at Burns
Class 1A 11-man
Cokeville at Wind River
Pine Bluffs at Tongue River
Saratoga at Rocky Mountain
Southeast at Lusk
Upton-Sundance at Wright
Wyoming Indian at Shoshoni
Class 1A six-man
Dubois at St. Stephens
Farson at Riverside
Hulett at Lingle
Rock River at Guernsey-Sunrise
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Burlington at Snake River
Meeteetse at Ten Sleep
Midwest at Kaycee
Normative Services at Hanna

For a full schedule with kickoff times, click here.

I pick games every week. Then I record how many picks I get right and how many I get wrong. Here are those tallies from last week:

Last week: 26-6 (81 percent). This season: 161-44 (79 percent).

Now, I turn to you. Which teams are most likely to take advantage of their opportunities this week? Leave a comment and let’s talk!

–patrick

Big-time site helper Jim Craig helped me with the standings for 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1954, which are now posted.

He also helped me verify one addition: Big Horn’s 27-14 loss to the Sheridan JV on Oct. 31, 1969, in Big Horn.

I also fixed the location for the game between Midwest and Guernsey-Sunrise on Sept. 2, 1983; it was in Midwest, not Guernsey.

I also removed a losing streak from the streaks page. I had Douglas losing 21 games in a row from 1965-68. I don’t know how that happened — Douglas never lost that many in a row.

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

–patrick

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