Week 4 Humble Pie: Interesting trades, good timing and numbers worth counting

At first I was like…

But then I….

Now I’m all…

That’s pretty much how the night went for Cheyenne Central in the Capital Bowl on Friday. The Indians feel behind against Cheyenne East 14-0 in the first quarter — and then woke up. Before Cheyenne East knew what had happened, the Indians were sauntering off Riske Field with a 38-22 victory.

It was one of the most complete turnarounds I’ve ever seen in a high school football game. It was also one of the most complete collapses. You don’t get outscored 38-8 in the final 36 minutes without a little bit of both. A turnaround and an uprising, one like Central had, isn’t possible without some help.

The game had a weird vibe to it all night, a vibe that only strengthened as the game went on. There were at least a dozen huge plays in the game. Normally, you only see about five or six of those plays in the course of a game, but this Capital Bowl was chock full of them.

In the first quarter, those big plays — including a 73-yard run by Jeremy Woods on the first play from scrimmage and a pick-six by J.J. Westbrook — went to East. The second, third and fourth quarters, those big plays almost all went the way of the Indians, including three interceptions after halftime that helped keep the Thunderbirds shut out in the second half.

What it boils down to is that Central secured its place in the 4A hierarchy — as one of the five teams with a winning record. That will end up coming in handy as the season progresses, especially once the playoffs start.

Staying in 4A, second mad props to the Kelly Walsh Trojans, who had a comeback of their own in beating Rock Springs 24-21. KW scored the final 14 points of the game to rally from a 21-10 deficit and to take another huge step forward in making the playoffs. The KW kicking game was huge as Cameron Stanek kicked a pair of field goals as part of those 14 points, including the game-winner in the final two minutes. He also opened KW’s scoring with a field goal…. detecting a theme? Yeah, the green and gold have a handy option that will only come in handier as the season progresses.

Third mad props to Burns, which made a good trade — a long trip for its first victory of the year. The Broncs made the long trek to Tongue River, but drove home with a 7-6 victory in their back pockets. That win was exactly what Burns needed to keep any hope of a playoff berth alive; conversely, it puts a severe dent in the Eagles’ hopes for a playoff berth. Either way, it was a big game, and the Broncs got the best of the situation.

Staying in the SEWAC, fourth mad props to Southeast, which needed overtime but still beat Pine Bluffs 33-26. After losing to Sundance two weeks ago, the Cyclones desperately needed this game to keep any realistic hopes of a playoff berth alive. So they went out and won it. With the schedule Southeast has coming up, it’s actually realistic to think of Southeast as still in the chase for a home playoff game. And that’s big.

Fifth mad props to Burlington, which not only beat Riverside, but beat the Rebels down. The final was 40-12. The psychological edge this gives the Huskies is much, much bigger. Believe it or not, the Huskies are 3-0 in West Conference play and have an absolutely monstrous game with Dubois — another team that’s 3-0 in conference play — next week in Dubois. And after how well they played on Friday, the Huskies just might be the favorites in that one.

Sixth mad props from a heck of a Saturday game in which Ten Sleep held up at home to beat Kaycee 63-62. Sounds like a classic; I don’t know anything but the final score. Can anyone fill me in on the details? Because this sounds like a fantastic game. Again, this isn’t surprising, as Ten Sleep has been solid all season and is good enough to push the classification’s best teams…. and it just so happens that the Pioneers play at Snake River next week. Talk about perfect timing.

Some other thoughts…

Energy Bowl. Classic. Gillette ends Sheridan’s winning streak at 15 games, topping the Broncs 27-24 in overtime. According to my research, it’s the first Energy Bowl to go into overtime, and the victory came at the perfect time for the ever-improving Camels. …

Anyone else think that Lusk-Cokeville is looking less like “probable” and more like “inevitable”? Especially after the way in which both teams absolutely dominated their foes this week? …

Douglas won its conference showdown with Buffalo to take the inside edge for home-field advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Yeah, them Bearcats is good. The win streak is now at 24 and counting. …

Oh, so much for parity in the 3A West. Star Valley beats Worland by 20; Cody beats Lander by 31; Powell beats Jackson by 56. …

The last time Wheatland beat Torrington by 30 or more? 1983. The last time it happened before that? Never. The Bulldogs are good, folks. …

And, if you care, here’s how I’m doing:

This week: 25-6 (81 percent). This season: 109-32 (77 percent).

(Oh, and mad props to my wife Char for the photos of the Central-East game. She’s awesome like that. She’s also uploaded some shots to the wyoming-football.com Flickr collection, so check ’em out — and feel free to add your own.)