Quick trivia: Since 2009, what’s something that Natrona’s football team has done 193 times that Lusk’s has done zero times?
Answer: Attempt a field goal.
A compilation of statistics since 2009 shows Natrona is, by far, the state’s leading team when it comes to field goal tries — and that Lusk is the most field goal-averse.
From 2009-22, Natrona’s kickers attempted 193 field goals, making 120 of them. The number of attempts far outpaces second-place Sheridan (123) and third-place Star Valley (86), and the number of makes also far exceeds runner-up Sheridan (76).
On the other side, Lusk has gone the past 14 seasons, and maybe longer, without attempting a single field goal. So have St. Stephens and Wyoming Indian, although their streaks are a bit shorter.
Three other active programs — Upton-Sundance, Farson and Encampment — as well as now-defunct NSI have only attempted one field goal in that span.
Five programs haven’t missed a field goal in that time, with Hulett’s perfect 3-for-3 in the past 13 years leading the way. Wheatland, at 2-for-2, also hasn’t missed a field goal since at least 2009. NSI, Upton and Upton-Sundance are 1-for-1.
Meanwhile, aside from Encampment and Farson (both 0-for-1), Moorcroft is the team with the roughest percentage, making just 22% (2-for-9) of its attempts.
The state average over this span has been 57.1%, with kickers making 1,114 field goals in 2,003 attempts. The number of field goals attempted statewide in a season has ranged from as few as 120 (in both 2020 and 2018) to as many as 179 (2011). The 2022 season saw 131 field goal attempts.
The team that both attempted and made the most field goals in a season was Natrona’s 2015 team. That season, Natrona kickers made 20 of 28 field goals.
Kicking field goals, though, is by no means a measure of success. Many championship teams went their entire seasons without so much as attempting a field goal, including Big Horn and Snake River this season. Snake River also did so last season and Big Horn also did so in 2018.
Note: Since this data was compiled from the existing stat sheets, data may be incomplete. For example, six-man data is missing for 2009 and 2010, and some team statistics are missing if a team decided not to compile individual statistics, which has happened a handful of times over the past 13 years. Still, this is the best we can do with what we have, so enjoy.
Total field goals from 2009-2022:
| Team | TOTAL FGM | TOTAL FGA | Pct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natrona | 120 | 193 | 62.2% |
| Sheridan | 76 | 123 | 61.8% |
| Campbell County | 51 | 80 | 63.8% |
| Star Valley | 50 | 86 | 58.1% |
| Cheyenne Central | 48 | 77 | 62.3% |
| Cheyenne East | 48 | 82 | 58.5% |
| Riverton | 47 | 74 | 63.5% |
| Kelly Walsh | 46 | 77 | 59.7% |
| Buffalo | 45 | 65 | 69.2% |
| Powell | 43 | 73 | 58.9% |
| Torrington | 38 | 60 | 63.3% |
| Green River | 37 | 64 | 57.8% |
| Lander | 37 | 69 | 53.6% |
| Laramie | 36 | 68 | 52.9% |
| Thunder Basin | 31 | 59 | 52.5% |
| Big Horn | 27 | 41 | 65.9% |
| Cody | 26 | 48 | 54.2% |
| Newcastle | 23 | 42 | 54.8% |
| Worland | 21 | 37 | 56.8% |
| Evanston | 20 | 40 | 50.0% |
| Douglas | 18 | 36 | 50.0% |
| Pine Bluffs | 18 | 39 | 46.2% |
| Cokeville | 17 | 29 | 58.6% |
| Cheyenne South | 15 | 36 | 41.7% |
| Mountain View | 14 | 29 | 48.3% |
| Rock Springs | 14 | 37 | 37.8% |
| Jackson | 13 | 23 | 56.5% |
| Southeast | 13 | 20 | 65.0% |
| Hanna | 11 | 18 | 61.1% |
| Lingle | 11 | 18 | 61.1% |
| Shoshoni | 11 | 30 | 36.7% |
| Pinedale | 10 | 15 | 66.7% |
| Rocky Mountain | 10 | 17 | 58.8% |
| Greybull | 8 | 9 | 88.9% |
| Lovell | 8 | 17 | 47.1% |
| Glenrock | 7 | 11 | 63.6% |
| Saratoga | 7 | 16 | 43.8% |
| Midwest | 6 | 14 | 42.9% |
| Dubois | 5 | 14 | 35.7% |
| Rawlins | 5 | 12 | 41.7% |
| Tongue River | 5 | 7 | 71.4% |
| Burlington | 4 | 8 | 50.0% |
| Meeteetse | 4 | 8 | 50.0% |
| Wright | 4 | 8 | 50.0% |
| Burns | 3 | 7 | 42.9% |
| Hulett | 3 | 3 | 100.0% |
| Kemmerer | 3 | 4 | 75.0% |
| Riverside | 3 | 7 | 42.9% |
| Snake River | 3 | 4 | 75.0% |
| Wind River | 3 | 8 | 37.5% |
| Big Piney | 2 | 4 | 50.0% |
| Guernsey-Sunrise | 2 | 3 | 66.7% |
| Kaycee | 2 | 3 | 66.7% |
| Lyman | 2 | 8 | 25.0% |
| Moorcroft | 2 | 9 | 22.2% |
| Thermopolis | 2 | 5 | 40.0% |
| Wheatland | 2 | 2 | 100.0% |
| NSI | 1 | 1 | 100.0% |
| Ten Sleep | 1 | 2 | 50.0% |
| Upton | 1 | 1 | 100.0% |
| Upton-Sundance | 1 | 1 | 100.0% |
| Encampment | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Farson | 0 | 1 | 0.0% |
| Lusk | 0 | 0 | #DIV/0! |
| Rock River | 0 | 0 | #DIV/0! |
| St. Stephens | 0 | 0 | #DIV/0! |
| Sundance | 0 | 0 | #DIV/0! |
| Wyoming Indian | 0 | 0 | #DIV/0! |
| TOTAL | 1144 | 2003 | 57.1% |
–patrick