From 1962 to 1967 in all classes, and from 1962 to 1974 in Classes A and B-C, postseason football was shut down in Wyoming. No playoffs, no state championship games, nothing. Only an unsatisfying mythical championship that, in the end, was just opinion. The next several days, wyoming-football.com is taking a look at the title games and playoff brackets we missed out on in the “dead era” of the 1960s and 1970s.
Today, we examine the year 1969.
Class A: Torrington (9-0) vs. Star Valley (8-1): A matchup for the ages. Torrington had mowed through its competition, including posting 93 points — a modern 11-man record — against St. Mary’s, while Star Valley became increasingly stronger after losing to North Summit, Utah, in the season opener.
Class B East: Upton (7-2) vs. Lingle (9-0-1): Upton actually lost to Lingle 7-6 in the season opener for both squads; since that game, both had overcome stumbles in conference play — Upton a loss to Midwest, Lingle a tie with Glenrock — to win their respective leagues.
Class B West: Basin (7-0-1) vs. Cokeville (8-0): One of Cokeville’s best teams ever, the winners of the mythical state title, might have had a struggle on its hands against Basin, an underrated team due to a surprising 38-38 tie against Manderson late in the season. They had one common opponent, as both teams beat Byron in the ’69 season: Cokeville 20-18 in the regular-season opener, Basin 42-22 in the regular-season finale.
–patrick
Curt Stock led the Braves with 422 rushing yards that year but scored a whopping 11 touchdowns. Curt ranks fifth all time for non-passing touchdown in Braves history, compiling 19 TD’s in his high school career. This season was his best in that category.