School: Cody
Nickname: Broncs
Colors: blue and yellow
Stadium: Spike Vannoy Field
State championships: 1958, 1976 and 1991
Times worth remembering: The back-to-back runs of the 1976 and 1977 teams represented Cody’s best. Both teams went 9-1; the 1976 squad won the state championship, while the 1977 squad finished as the state runners-up.
Times worth forgetting: Cody’s rich tradition hasn’t left much room for struggling, but for one seven-year stretch from 1969-75, the Broncs never had a winning season. However, all of those squads won at least three games, except the 2-7 team of 1971, and the core of the 1974 and 1975 teams helped set up the championship-game runs in ’76 and ’77.
Best team: With apologies to the dominant 1991 squad and the plucky 1976 champions, Cody’s best team was probably built in 1958. That year, Cody went 10-0-1 and knocked off Torrington to win the school’s first state football championship. The Broncs never really won big — their largest margin of victory all season was a 26-0 win over Lander — but they always found a way to win.
Biggest win: Cody fans still remember the 1976 Class AA championship game against Laramie, a 41-40 triple overtime thriller. The Broncs were decidedly the underdogs against the Plainsmen, a traditional powerhouse trying to give legendary coach John Deti a victory in his final game on the sidelines. But Cody, playing on its home field, had different plans. The Broncs rallied from a 20-8 halftime deficit and sealed the win in the third overtime on a successful extra point from Rob Russell.
Heartbreaker: After struggling through the first three quarters of the 1985 4A title game, Cody put itself in perfect position to beat Natrona in Casper for the championship. But the Broncs turned the ball over on downs inside the Mustangs’ 20-yard line and missed a field goal in the fourth quarter, key turning points in Cody’s eventual 14-13 loss to Natrona. The 1985 season was Cody’s last best chance at a big-school title; the Broncs went on to win the 3A title in 1991 but never again came close to winning it all in Wyoming’s big-school division.