Week 2 picks

In the short but storied history of Rocky Mountain High School football, no Grizzly team has done what the squad did last week.

The 72 points Rocky put up on Normative Services last week was a single-game school record. The 72-point margin of victory was, then, an obvious record for the Grizzlies’ largest margin of victory in school history, too.

And that fact is all the more impressive when you consider what the Grizzlies have accomplished since Byron, Cowley and Deaver joined forces in 1983 — four state championships, three undefeated seasons and, at one point, 13 consecutive playoff berths.

Meanwhile, another Class 1A 11-man West Conference team was putting up some impressive numbers of its own last Friday.

The 48 points Dubois scored last week in its shutout victory over Upton matched the total points scored by the Rams in their first seven games last fall and topped the team’s 2008 eight-game season point total of 45. The last time the Rams scored that many points in a game was early in the 2006 season when they beat Wyoming Indian 71-0.

This week, the two teams that combined to beat their opponents 120-0 meet in the first conference game of the season. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday in Dubois.

Last week’s results make for some interesting questions this week: Are the Rams really back? Are the Grizzlies ready to break through to 1A’s upper echelon? How does a Week 1 blowout victory affect a team’s mentality for Week 2?

We’ll know the answers to most of these questions by about 6 p.m. Friday. For now, I’ll take the Grizzlies on the road — even though it’s Rocky Mountain’s first trip to Dubois since the program’s inaugural season in 1983. (Remember, the Griz started last season by winning three consecutive games by shutout, including a 39-0 victory over Dubois.)

What both programs did in Week 1 was impressive. But no one ever won a championship the first week of the season. It’s what they can both do from here on out that will be the true test of both squads.

Here are the rest of this week’s picks, with projected winners in bold:

Thursday
Class 1A 11-man
Wind River at Shoshoni: I think the Cougars are thinking they are better than you might think. What does everyone else think? 7:30 p.m.

Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Evanston: This pick is tough because of both teams’ inconsistency through the first two games. Both teams lost to Natrona by similar scores, but right now Evanston’s one victory is more impressive than Central’s one W. 7 p.m.
Gillette at Rock Springs: The Tigers are game, but the Camels are back. 7 p.m.
Kelly Walsh at Cheyenne East: Both teams have shown just how good they could be this fall. But they’ve also both shown that, for now, neither one can hang with Sheridan — which makes this game incredibly intriguing to see who can keep pace in chasing the Broncs. 7 p.m.
Laramie at Natrona: This one’s pretty simple: 2-0 vs. 0-2. 7 p.m.
Sheridan at Green River: I think the Broncs have proven that last year was no fluke. They have the talent and the coaching to make another run at a championship. Are we seeing a dynasty in the making? 7 p.m.
Class 3A
Buffalo at Lander: Both teams were impressive in their respective season openers last week. This week we find out just how well they stack up against each other. Intriguing…. 7 p.m.
Douglas at Jackson: The only thing that might trip up the Bearcats is the long bus ride to Teton County. Don’t be surprised if Jackson hangs with Douglas for the first quarter or so, but once the Bearcats get their legs under them, watch out. 7 p.m.
Rawlins at Cody: The Broncs won last year’s matchup 72-8. I don’t think it’ll be that bad this year, but I do think it’ll be tough for the Outlaws to close a 64-point gap in the span of one year. 7 p.m.
Star Valley at Riverton: Oddly enough, the Braves have never beaten the Wolverines in Riverton in school history (only four tries, though). That should change this week — the Braves are for real. 6 p.m.
Torrington at Worland: Honestly, I was surprised at the margins of the scores of the games that both these teams played last week — one in a good way (Torrington hanging close to Chadron) and one not as much (Worland getting torched by Buffalo). I think the Blazers get this win on the road. 7 p.m.
Wheatland at Powell: I really, really like both of these teams. Week 1 was good to both of them it wouldn’t be surprising to see either team win this week. As I usually do in these cases, I’m taking the home team simply because they’re at home; if this game was in Wheatland, I’d go with the Bulldogs. Should be a great game. 7 p.m.
Class 2A
Big Piney at Wyoming Indian: The Punchers can’t get caught napping against the Chiefs — but I don’t think BP will overestimate anyone, especially now that conference play is here. 6 p.m.
Burns at Big Horn: The Rams were downright impressive in last week’s victory over Greybull. The key now is to keep that momentum rolling against a Burns team that proved last week it has what it takes to be a contender in 2A, as well. 2 p.m.
Glenrock at Tongue River: The Herders have Thermopolis next week. But that’s next week. The Eagles could surprise the Herders if they catch them looking ahead to next week… but don’t count on that from Glenrock. 2 p.m.
Greybull at Mountain View: The northern Buffs are eager to show last week was a fluke. The southern Buffs have the advantage of being at home, but even that might not be enough to overcome a Greybull team that should be fired up. 4 p.m.
Lyman at Kemmerer: The Rangers are 14-0 the past three years against their 2A Southwest brethren (Pinedale, Big Piney, Lyman and Mountain View). Until some team steps up to break that run, I’m always going to go with the Rangers — even though I think Lyman has what it takes to challenge Kemmerer in this one. 4 p.m.
Moorcroft at Newcastle: This game is really hard to get a read on. I’ll go with the Dogies, because they’re at home. I am actually really interested to see the final score on this one — this could be a fantastic game. 7 p.m.
Pinedale at Lovell: The Bulldogs pulled off an impressive road victory last week. Now, their task is to keep that momentum rolling at home and to send a message early in conference play. 7 p.m.
Wright at Thermopolis: The Bobcats fall into the same trap as Glenrock does this week — they can’t get caught looking ahead to next week, not when they’ve got a team in front of them this week that’s capable of pushing them and maybe even beating them. 7 p.m.
Class 1A 11-man
Cokeville at Riverside: The Panthers appear to be back on the fast track to the top of the 1A West again this year. The Rebels might end up being some of Cokeville’s strongest competition, though. 2:30 p.m.
Pine Bluffs at Normative Services: Pine Bluffs proved last week that it has what it takes to be one of 1A’s better teams this year. 6 p.m.
Saratoga at Burlington: In short, I don’t know what to expect out of this game. Both teams  had tough losses last week to good teams, and both want to rebound ASAP. Once again, I think it’s a toss-up, so I’ll go with the home team. 2 p.m.
Southeast at Sundance: For what it’s worth, the Cyclones are 6-1 all-time against the Bulldogs. That’s not the reason I’m picking Southeast this time, though. 4 p.m.
Upton at Lingle: One of these teams won handily last week. One lost handily. 7:30 p.m.
Class 1A six-man
Farson at Hanna: The Miners were quite impressive in beating Ten Sleep last week. Look for that momentum to keep rolling at home. 4:30 p.m.
Kaycee at Midwest: Speaking of impressive season openers, the Oilers looked good last week against Guernsey. And they want revenge against Kaycee for the brutal way in which the Oilers’ 2009 season ended. 7 p.m.

Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Meeteetse at Ten Sleep: The Pioneers won last year’s matchup by 50. While I think the Longhorns are better, I don’t think they’re 50 points better. 1 p.m.
Snake River at Guernsey-Sunrise: Are we seeing a changing of the guard in six-man football? Not really. Just parity — the type that disappeared from six-man last year but will likely run rampant this fall. Don’t be surprised to see the Vikes pull this one out, either. 3 p.m.
Interclass
Hulett at Kaycee JV: I think after a couple weeks of practice, the Red Devils should have a better grip on the six-man game this time around. Either way, it’s just good to see Hulett on the field. Mad props for making the best of the situation. 4 p.m.

Off: Lusk.

Thoughts? Ideas? Criticism? Compliments? They’re all welcome here. Let me know what you think of this week’s picks by posting a comment below.

–patrick