” … And one” (or “one and … “): Wyoming high school football’s barely interrupted winning and losing streaks

On the streaks page on this site, I keep track of the state’s longest winning and losing streaks. Entering the 2024 season, that is of particular focus as Sheridan approaches the state record for consecutive victories and Cheyenne South does the same for consecutive losses.

Looking at those streaks got me thinking about the almost-streaks — those winning or losing streaks only interrupted by one game, one of the “if not for” scenarios that I love to explore.

For example, what happens if Hulett kicker Mike Nacey has his plant foot slip, he misses that field goal (credited as an 11-yarder, by the way) and Hulett and Sundance go to overtime in 1974 — does Hulett have the state record for consecutive losses at a full 58? What happens if Cokeville doesn’t fumble with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter and Pinedale’s Doug Robbins doesn’t run 90 yards with it the other way for the deciding points (in a game where, by the way, Cokeville led 14-0 but Pinedale scored two defensive touchdowns to rally) — does Cokeville have the state record for consecutive victories at 44?

The ideas for historical fan fiction abound.

With that in mind, I explored the records and found the teams with the longest winning and losing streaks that had only a single blotch on them. Together, they represent all the such streaks of at least 40 games in state history:

Winning streaks

• Rocky Mountain: 46-1 between 1995 and 1999; the only loss was to Moorcroft in 1996 (34-20)
• Cokeville: 43-1 between 1987 and 1992; the only loss was to Pinedale in 1990 (18-14)
• Byron: 42-1 between 1945 and 1952; the only loss was to Cowley in 1950 (35-6)
• Douglas: 39-1 between 2008 and 2011; the only loss was to Green River in 2011 (32-15)

Losing streaks

• Hulett: 1-57 between 1971 and 1978; the only victory was against Sundance in 1974 (3-0)
• Cheyenne South: 1-45 between 2018 and 2023 (current); the only victory has been against Laramie in 2019 (36-35)
• Kemmerer: 1-45 between 2012 and 2017; the only victory was against Saratoga in 2017 (34-0)
• Newcastle: 1-42 between 2001 and 2006; the only victory was against Wheatland in 2004 (34-20)

–patrick