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 1971.
Class A: Torrington (9-0) vs. Star Valley (7-2). A prequel to the 1972 title game, Torrington had been consistent in posting its victories — rarely by blowout, but rarely close, too; the Braves’ record was marred by a loss to AA Rock Springs and to Green River in a late-season game that did not affect which team won the conference title.
Class B East: Upton (7-0-1) vs. Glenrock (8-0). Ah, the game that should have been. These two schools were scheduled to meet in the final game of the regular season in 1971 but couldn’t due to a snowstorm. In our fictitious world, they would have played one week later in the playoffs, anyway… and both teams boasted dominating defenses. Upton gave up just EIGHT points in the regular season; Glenrock only 39. (Glenrock beat Upton 14-0 in the 1972 season finale, FWIW.)
Class B West: Deaver-Frannie (9-0) vs. Mountain View (7-0-1). Deaver-Frannie had eked out a 26-22 victory over Byron midway through the season in its biggest challenge to winning the Northwest crown. Mountain View, meanwhile, shook off a scoreless tie with Cokeville in the season opener and beat the Panthers 21-8 later in the season to win the Southwest.
–patrick
You weren’t kidding Patrick!
Here’s a few things about the SV teams on these lists. In 1971, the Braves were led in rushing by Kirby Booth who also scored seven touchdowns to go along with 602 yards. The yardage total puts Kirby at #22 all-time at SVHS in single-season rushing total.
Dee Pendleton also caught 17 passes for 318 yards that year, which historically was one of the higher totals at the time