Seven Wyoming high school football champs had weird spikes of success — going from losing record to state championship back to losing record over the span of three years.
The most recent such team was Guernsey-Sunrise’s 2009 team. The year before its title, the Vikings went 2-6; after moving to six-man in 2009, they went 9-0 and won the state’s first six-man championship in more than 60 years. Then, in 2010, the Vikings went 1-8.
The Vikings’ unexpected title was the third time that happened in three consecutive years. The same thing happened to Burns in 2008 (4-5, to 11-0, to 3-5) and to Jackson in 2007 (4-5, to 11-0, to 2-6).
But it hasn’t happened since 2009, and it rarely happened prior to 2007.
Prior to that, four other teams — Midwest in 1991, Green River in 1976, Natrona in 1957 and Cheyenne Central in 1941 — won state championships in between two losing seasons.
Midwest’s 1991 10-1 season was sandwiched between seasons of 4-5 and 0-8. Green River won the 1976 Class A title in between years of 2-7 and 1-8.
Natrona, meanwhile, won the 1957 championship with a 6-1-1 record in between identical 2-6-1 seasons.
Central’s 1941 team was the first to accomplish the feat, going 7-1-1 to win it all in 1941 despite going 4-5 the year before and 3-4 the year after.
For the 33 Wyoming teams who had losing records in 2020, hope is out there — for both winning a championship and avoiding a place on this short list by making winning a habit, not a flare-up.
–patrick