Picking state champions: 1921 to 1925

This post is a continuation of an earlier post I wrote where I broke down the unofficial state champions from 1926 to 1930. The Wyoming High School Activities Association only recognizes champions from 1931 forward, so I decided to take a look back and see who had won consensus state championships in Wyoming before the WHSAA got around to officially sanctioning state playoffs…

Here is the latest update on that research:

1925 champion: Worland. The Warriors beat Cheyenne Central 19-7 in the unofficial state title game on Dec. 4 in Worland. The Warriors went 9-0-1 in 1925, giving up only 10 points all season — three to Natrona and seven to Central in the title game. The lone smear for Worland was a scoreless tie with Thermopolis, a team the Warriors beat 7-0 on Thanksgiving prior to beating the Indians. Central finished 8-1-1.

1924 champion: Worland. A season full of parity made deciding a champion difficult, but the Warriors beat top challenger Natrona 27-7 in a game on Dec. 5 in Casper. Worland finished 8-1, splitting the season series with Thermopolis, while Natrona finished 7-2, losing to Laramie as well as Worland. A ton of other teams finished with solid seasons, but they all had something on their resume that kept them from postseason consideration: Thermopolis was 6-1-1 (a loss to Worland and a surprising early season tie with Greybull), Laramie was 5-1-1 (tied and lost to Central), Sheridan was 6-1 (lost to Buffalo), Buffalo was 5-2 (lost twice to Sheridan), Cheyenne Central was 6-2-1 (lost bad to Natrona) and Kemmerer was 5-0 (didn’t play anyone outside the southwest district).

1923 champion: Sheridan. The Broncs’ 8-0 record, including victories over Newcastle, Thermopolis, Natrona, Buffalo and Gillette, was the best in the state in 1923. Although no “title game” was staged, the Broncs were the consensus state champions because they were the only team to finish the season undefeated.

1922 champion: Sheridan. Once again, no title game was scheduled. Once again, it was the Broncs’ praiseworthy record (7-1) that earned them the championship by consensus. The Broncs’ only loss was to Billings, Mont.; Sheridan shut out its opponents in six of its seven victories. Cheyenne Central (7-1) extended an offer for a championship game, but Sheridan refused, citing the Indians’ 14-0 loss to Natrona in the regular season and its own unbeaten record in Wyoming games. Sheridan was the only team to rise above a quagmire of solid-but-not-excellent teams: Natrona (6-2) lost to Sheridan 21-15 in the season finale and also split a home-and-home with Douglas, winning 6-0 and losing 21-20; Central lost to Natrona but beat Douglas 16-2 late in the season; Thermopolis won the Bighorn Basin league at 6-1 but its lone loss was a 3-0 heartbreaker to Douglas.

1921 champion: Sheridan. I am still researching the 1921 season, but I can tell you that Sheridan won the title with an 8-0 record, going the entire season without giving up a point to a Wyoming opponent.

The 1921 season was a watershed one for Wyoming football. According to an article from the Wyoming State Tribune published in the early 1920s, the number of high schools fielding football in Wyoming jumped from six in 1920 to 16 in 1921. It was also the first year of organized conference play in the Bighorn Basin, as five teams (Greybull, Basin, Thermopolis, Worland and Cowley) played full conference schedules.

The six teams that played prior to 1920? Well, that was Sheridan, Natrona, Cheyenne Central, Laramie, University Prep and …. I’m not sure. By 1922, 28 schools had fielded teams; by the middle of the decade, the number was pushing 40.

The 1920s saw unprecedented development of the game statewide. But even in the game’s infancy, schools kept their focus on winning a state championship. Sheridan and Worland were the two schools fortunate enough — and good enough — to snag unofficial titles in the game’s early days.

–patrick