Only the most astute Wyoming high school football fans noticed the peculiarity of Cheyenne Central’s 62-15 victory against Cheyenne South last week.

Yes, certainly, the GAME itself had significance. Central stayed unbeaten, South stayed winless, the Indians moved a step closer to the Capital City title… but I think I’m the only person who realized the significance of the SCORE.

Since Wyoming high schools started playing football in 1894, Friday’s game was the first time a game had ended with a final score of 62-15.

More than 25,000 games, and Indians-Bison was the first 62-15.

That blows my mind.

The amazing thing is that this happens nearly every week, usually more than once.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of Scorigami, I recommend taking 20 minutes and watching this video. If you’re into sports, and into breaking down sports until the amazing appears, it’ll be the best 20 minutes of your day:

And then check out this website that tracks NFL scorigami. It’s pretty cool.

The difference between scorigami in the NFL and scorigami in Wyoming high school football is that scorigami for Wyoming high school football has many more opportunities. With six-man in particular, scores of games often go high enough to necessitate more squares on the board — hence more empty squares to fill.

This season alone, we’ve had 14 instances of Wyoming high school football scorigami. In addition to Central’s victory Friday, we’ve also seen our first instances of games ending with final scores of:

  • 43-33 (in Week 3, Meeteetse over Dubois)
  • 44-23 (in Week 1, Cody over Riverton)
  • 52-4 (in Week 2, Kaycee over NSI)
  • 57-30 (in Week 1, Burlington over Hulett)
  • 57-32 (in Week 3, Ten Sleep over NSI)
  • 58-33 (in Week 3, Natrona sophs over Midwest)
  • 58-35 (in Week 2, Lusk over Pine Bluffs)
  • 60-19 (in Week 2, Natrona sophs over Hanna)
  • 64-8 (in Week 1, Lusk over the Kelly Walsh sophs)
  • 67-7 (in Week 1, Farson over Guernsey)
  • 74-32 (in Week 3, Farson over Encampment)
  • 78-52 (in Week 3, Kaycee over the Sheridan sophs)
  • 85-6 (in Week 1, Dubois over Midwest)

While most of these involved six-man or nine-man teams, two 11-man games this season (the aforementioned Central-South and Cody-Riverton) produced scorigami.

And the pace of 14 scorigami games through four weeks is pretty close to the pace we’ve come to expect. In 2019, 28 games were scorigami; in 2018, 31; in 2017, 27; and in 2016, 43.

Slowly but surely, though, the spaces are filling. As that happens, scorigami will become less and less common.

A chart showing scorigami in Wyoming high school football.
Wyoming high school football scorigami chart. Gray squares represent games prior to 2016; red is 2016, green is 2017, yellow is 2018, blue is 2019 and purple is 2020. Click to see a bigger version.

When I initially did this research after the 2015 season, I used it to detail the state’s most common final scores. Now I’m finding the less common scores drawing my interest more often.

Even with all the scores that have been “filled in” on the chart above, some scores are still out there to be obtained. NSI’s four-point final against Kaycee two weeks ago may become more common, as six-man field goals are worth four points. (Final scores of 4 points, as well as 5, are already ridiculously uncommon, as I’ve detailed in a previous post.) The losing scores of 9 and 11 also have bunches of empty squares.

Then there are the really random empty spots, like 23-15, 25-17, 36-19, 31-23 or 56-18, that have never been filled. Up until last Friday, 62-15 was one of those, too.

And even though a 4-2 game sounds like a boring defensive slugfest, it would be a scorigami dream.

As long as there are still squares to be filled, scorigami will exist.

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Now let’s actually talk about what’s going on this week. Here are some Week 5 games that butter my bread:

Natrona hosts Sheridan in the 4A game of the week, and I’m not sure what to expect. Both teams are coming off losses, and while it’s not desperation time yet for either team, a loss here might make it that way. …

Lander-Douglas could end up being for the 3A East championship when it’s all said and done. Buffalo was the only other team to win its conference opener last week, so…. you do the math. …

After Star Valley and Powell finish their game on Friday, one of them will be 0-2 in 3A West play. Didn’t see that one coming. But don’t let that fool you into thinking the loser isn’t still a threat. …

Another great round of 2A West games awaits with Cokeville traveling to Thermopolis and Lovell going to Big Piney. Count on games decided by single digits, and count on unpredictability of who’s actually going to be ahead by the time it’s all finished. …

Farson and Kaycee meet in a showdown of six-man undefeated teams. Farson will be the favorite in a game that will tell us a ton about the relative strengths of the East and West conferences. …

Don’t look now, but Meeteetse’s 4-0, the only other six-man undefeated team behind Farson and Kaycee. Beat Encampment this week, and we’ll have to start taking the Longhorns seriously. …

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Now, for everyone’s favorite part of their Thursday, picks! Did you know I bold teams who I think will win? Well now you do, because I just told you.

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

For a full schedule including kickoff times, as well as results from past weeks, go here. Click on “Week 5” on the top of the page for this week’s schedule.

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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:

Last week: 19-10 (66 percent). This season: 108-36 (75 percent). Does not include forfeits from last week.

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Want more scorigami content? Let me know! Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

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–patrick

3 Thoughts on “Week 5 picks: Scorigami and Wyoming high school football

  1. Wyoming on October 1, 2020 at 9:28 am said:

    As I look at the 2a west as of right now I think that Cokeville At Thermopolis game is a elimination game for both teams. The loser of this game is going to be 1-3. That’s why I think looking at all the games on the slate this week I think Cokeville and Thermopolis is the game of the week it’s going to be a great game. Good work man great page this week.

  2. Patrick on October 1, 2020 at 1:57 pm said:

    Wyo, that’s such a good point. Three losses in the 2A West is just about the limit if you’re interested in a playoff spot. And both Cokeville and Thermopolis are legit contending teams. It does make me wonder if the West has the advantage in the playoffs, because all of the teams that do end up qualifying will be ready for pretty much any tight late-game situation.

    –patrick

  3. Pingback: Wyoming high school football Scorigami: The video that covers every unique score from 1894-2020 – THE HQ — The Wyoming high school football blog

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