Information from the 2023 season has been added to wyoming-football.com. Take a look around and let me know if you see anything weird, incorrect or misspelled.
Some of the more notable or interesting things that happened in 2023, as noted on the site:
Individual records: In all, 15 players reached the top 10 for either single-game or single-season performances in 2023.
Jackson’s Seb Brunner and Riverton’s Nick McIntosh finished third and fifth, respectively, in receiving yards in a season. Brunner finished with 1,205 yards, while McIntosh had 1,122.
Powell’s Trey Stenerson finished fourth all-time in receiving yards in a game with his 249-yard effort against Douglas.
Cheyenne East’s Cam Hayes finished seventh all-time in passing yards in a season with 2,762. Hayes also produced the No. 4 game all-time in passing yards, throwing for 457 in a loss to Sheridan during the regular season.
In nine-man, where records only go back to 2020, three players reached the top 10 in rushing yards in a season: Riverside’s Try Strohschein (fifth at 1,575 yards), Moorcroft’s Braydnn Terry (eighth at 1,382 yards) and Big Piney’s Caden Clifford (ninth at 1,286 yards). Three players also reached the top 10 in receiving yards in a season: Lusk’s Nathan Miller (third at 757 yards), Big Piney’s Karsyn Gurr (fifth at 634 yards) and Pine Bluffs’ Shawn Shmidl (sixth at 568 yards). In passing yards, Pine Bluffs’ Justin Lerwick finished fifth all-time with 1,485 yards, while Lusk’s Jackson Smith was seventh at 1,260 yards.
Miller also set nine-man’s single-game receiving yards record with 271 yards against Lingle. Miller also put up the No. 6 all-time game with 177 yards against Big Piney. Smith finished second in nine-man passing yards in a game with 397 against Lingle.
Dubois’ Wyatt Trembly finished third all-time in six-man in rushing yards in a season, putting up 2,201.
In a single game, Hulett’s Cash Huven notched 258 receiving yards against Kaycee, a mark good for No. 2 all-time. Snake River’s Seth Maxson put up 387 rushing yards against Dubois to finish eighth all-time.
Coaching records: The coaching records remained mostly intact, with no new coaches cracking 100 victories. However, Lyman’s Dale Anderson (98 victories) and Wright’s Larry Yeradi (96 victories) moved within striking distance for 2024. Coaches entering the top 100 all-time included Sheridan’s Jeff Mowry, Snake River’s Jack Cobb and Buffalo’s Rob Hammond. In all, 18 of the top 100 are current coaches, although two — Southeast’s Mark Bullington and Dubois’ David Trembly — have announced their retirements. Bullington ranked sixth all-time and second among active coaches with 172 victories, while Trembly was sixth among active coaches and 28th all-time with 106 victories.
Scoring records: Two Class 4A offenses set record paces with their offenses this season. Sheridan set the state 11-man record for points in a season with 608, while Cheyenne East finished third all-time with 566 total points. Sheridan’s average of 50.67 points per game was good enough for third all-time among 11-man teams, trailing only 2018 Big Horn (52.45 ppg) and 1924 Kemmerer (51.4 ppg).
Burlington, which averaged 64.4 points per game, finished eighth all-time in average points per game regardless of classification.
Three games from 2023 entered the top 10 in combined points. Kaycee’s 93-62 victory against Hulett is third all-time with 155 combined points. Burlington’s 80-73 playoff victory against Encampment is tied for fifth all-time at 153 combined points and also took the top spot as the highest scoring playoff game in state history. Burlington’s 80 points is also tied for eighth all-time for single-game points in the postseason by one team. Also in the top 10 is Hulett’s 79-72 victory against Midwest, which is tied for seventh with 151 combined points.
Meanwhile, Hulett set an unwanted record by giving up 615 points, the most points ever allowed by a team in state history. Hulett’s 68.33 points allowed per game ranked ninth in state history. Meanwhile, Midwest finished seventh on that list this season, allowing 69.00 points per game over its seven games this season.
Cheyenne East also crept into the top 10 in 11-man points allowed, giving up 448 to finish 10th.
Streaks: Two teams set long winning streaks in 2023. Sheridan will enter 2024 on a 31-game winning streak, the second-longest verified streak in state history behind Laramie’s 34 straight from 1959-63. Sheridan’s unbeaten streak is also fifth all-time.
Snake River also saw its 30-game winning streak come to an end in the state championship game. The Rattlers’ winning streak is tied for third-longest in state history, while their unbeaten streak is tied for sixth.
Cheyenne South’s losing streak reached 38 games, tied for the state record. The Bison’s home losing streak reached 18 games, also tied for the state record for losing streaks and second-longest for winless streaks. South’s road winless/losing streak reached 24 games, the fourth-longest road losing streak and sixth-longest road winless streak. Pinedale also ended its losing streak this season at 23 games, one of the 20 longest such streaks in state history, and ended its home losing streak at 16 games, tied for seventh-longest.
Snake River continued its hold on second place for scoring streaks, having scored points in 147 consecutive games back to 2009. Star Valley is now fourth on that list with points in 128 consecutive games back to 2012, while Sheridan is seventh with 107 consecutive games with points back to 2015.
Cokeville notched its 36th consecutive winning season, extending its state record, while Sheridan finished with its 17th consecutive winning season, No. 2 all-time behind Cokeville’s streak. Cokeville also had its 38th consecutive non-losing season (at .500 or better), also a state record.
Laramie set a state record for consecutive losing seasons. The Plainsmen’s 23rd consecutive losing season broke a tie with Newcastle from 1984-2005. Laramie still trails Wyoming Indian’s 24 consecutive non-winning seasons by one season.
Moorcroft moved up to fourth all-time with its 15th consecutive losing season, while Worland and Wyoming Indian moved into a tie for fifth with their 14th consecutive losing seasons. Cheyenne South and Wright are tied for eighth with 13 consecutive losing seasons. Wright has also gone 17 seasons without a winning season (.500 or worse), tied for fifth all-time.
Other notables: Sheridan’s championship was its 30th, an extension of its state record. The Broncs were the only Wyoming team to finish undefeated this season. … Star Valley won its 14th state title, Big Piney its ninth, Torrington its fifth, Burlington its third. … Casper Christian wrapped up its first full varsity season. … Cokeville continued to be the top-ranked team in all-time winning percentage at .730. Natrona leads the victories total with 632, while Sheridan is the only other school above 600, with 626. … Snake River set a state record with 24 consecutive weeks ranked No. 1, a streak that will be active entering the preseason poll for 2024. … Star Valley is now fifth all-time with 83 consecutive weeks being ranked in the weekly polls. Cheyenne East is 12th at 70 consecutive weeks, while Cody and Thunder Basin are tied at 16th with 63 consecutive weeks ranked.
–patrick