The first week of the season always reminds us fans of one thing: History has little bearing on what takes place on the field year in and year out.
We were all reminded of that this week.
First of all, a multi-year streak, whether a winning or losing streak, only continues because the circumstances allow it to continue. Circumstances have changed for a pair of programs that carried long streaks into the 2011 season openers: Shoshoni and Douglas.
I make special mention of Shoshoni here (I usually save my slices of Humble Pie for teams that prove my picks wrong) because the Wranglers’ 19-game winning streak, the second-longest active losing streak in the state, came to an end with a 49-12 victory over Upton.
Green River, meanwhile, earned mad props for its 32-15 dismantling of Douglas, putting an end to the Bearcats’ 30-game win streak, a stretch that lasted two and a half seasons. The Wolves’ Kolby Kester was the pacesetter, rushing for 123 yards, while QB Colter Hamel added a combined 241 yards passing and rushing. It’s a solid victory for the Wolves in their re-entry to Class 3A, but how solid? We won’t know for a few more weeks. For now, the victory is important because of what Douglas had done in past seasons — not what the Bearcats have done this season.
The state’s second-longest winning streak also came to an end on Friday. Mountain View earned second mad props by snapping Cokeville’s 11-game winning streak as the Panthers fell 6-3 in overtime to the Buffalos. All the points came in overtime — Cokeville scored a field goal on its possession in extra time, Mountain View answered with the winning touchdown — and it signaled that the 2A West may be just as deep as everyone thinks it is.
By the way, the longest winning streak in the state now belongs to little ol’ Snake River, which has won 10 in a row heading into Saturday’s game with Ten Sleep. The longest active 11-man winning streak is now a paltry five games — the streak run up by Natrona.
Speaking of Natrona, third mad props to the Mustangs for grinding out a 20-6 victory over Sheridan. This game was one that was won in the final 12 minutes (it was 6-3 NC heading into the final quarter), which is a good sign for a team that didn’t have to work very hard in its season-opening victory over Cheyenne South last week.
Fourth mad props to Glenrock, which showed just how quickly a team can gain respect by beating up on two-time defending 2A champion Thermopolis 29-12. After a 2-6 season last year, expectations were tempered for the Herders this year, but this Week 1 victory will gain everyone’s attention. In a weakening 2A East, the Herders just jumped to the top of the heap — and makes that date with Wheatland in two weeks especially intriguing.
Fifth mad props to Burlington, which edged out Big Piney 21-13. We knew Burlington was going to be solid this year, but this victory over the Punchers should be a warning to the rest of the 1A West. The Huskies are legit.
Sixth mad props to Lusk, 12-7 winners over Burns in dramatic fashion. The Tigers scored the go-ahead touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter — and that came only after they converted a long fourth-down play on the winning drive. This is the type of game that can inspire (or demoralize) a team for weeks.
Seventh mad props to Star Valley, winners by the odd score of 10-9 over Snake River, Idaho. The 3A West is full of solid teams this year, and it’s been easy to overlook the Braves. That’s a mistake, because, as they proved on Friday, Star Valley has what it takes to make a run at the top teams in the west. Remaining nonconference games against Lander and Douglas may help further illustrate that point….
Eighth mad props to Jackson, 35-23 winners over Teton, Idaho, in one of the highest scoring games of the week. The Broncs are still finding their way a bit after a 1-7 season last year, but this start to the 2011 season should give Jackson some confidence — something they will need to keep pace out west.
And, finally, ninth mad props to Hardin, Mont., which beat Cody 34-27.
Saturday add: Tenth mad props to Hulett, which proved to be a quick study in the six-man game in its 42-14 victory over Guernsey. In case you’re wondering, the North Conference teams went 4-1 against their South Conference counterparts in a week full of interconference play. We may have seen where the strength of six-man is this year in the opening weekend.
Tuesday add: 11th mad props to Farson for beating Meeteetse in a game and a score that went uncorrected this weekend. Farson won 60-24.
It’s not unusual to have a bunch of unexpected finishes in the first week of the season. After all, we base our assumptions about what might happen in the season openers on what we’ve seen in the past. The 2011 season has no past, so it only makes sense to see some surprising finishes. Each season has its own identity, its own character, and this is just the first effort at shaping the 2011 season. It’s a lot of fun, isn’t it?
Some other things that drew my attention this week:
Greybull scored four defensive touchdowns — yes, four — in beating Big Horn 38-6. The Buffs are doing their best to make sure you don’t forget about them when you talk 2A West contenders. Interesting Buffs-Buffs matchup next week as Mountain View comes to Big Horn County. … Dubois passed its first six-man test with flying colors, beating Midwest 49-20. Snake River ventures to Fremont County next week. … Kaycee’s defense held Hanna to just six points in their six-man game. Don’t forget about the Buckaroos. … I may drive up to Buffalo next Friday for that Buffalo-Powell game. It’s about as big as a Week 2 game can get. …
How about you? What were some of the moments, teams, players and games that caught your attention this week? Post your thoughts below and we can chat about it all through the Labor Day weekend.
This week: 23-11 (68 percent). This season: 35-14 (71 percent).
–patrick
I would like to tip my hat to Douglas even though the streak has ended. It was quite a run for them and the kids and coaches should be very proud! It looks to me it will take about 3-4 weeks to see if there is a dominant team. Powell looked good but not as good as the score indicated. Looking forward to GR week 2 and expecting a good hard game!
Everybody doubted the Jackson Broncs coming into the teton game even our own newspaper. Coach Howell recived manyphone callsfrom teton’s newspaper asking if he thought his team had a chance of winning the game. Caleb Strohmenger the all state qb had multiple rushing yards and a rushing touchdowns and throwing touchdowns while runningback Andrew Linsenmann had over 250 yards on the ground.
I concur with Riverton, what the Bearcats have done the past 3 years deserves a standing ovation. One game does not make a season and the Wolves had better remember this, because the Bison will pose another challenge in 2 weeks.
Green River definitely caught a rough schedule in its draw of schools from the East. Douglas, Riverton, Buffalo. It would be tough to think of a more difficult nonconference schedule.
Jackson definitely got my attention this week. That’s a solid victory. Broncs should be 2-0 heading into that Week 3 date against Lander. That game should be quite interesting.
As for Douglas… the Bearcats will be remembered for the streak itself, not for its end. A great run by a great program. And that group of players will recover. Douglas may still be the team to beat in the East.
–patrick
Hats off to you Patrick for doing picks on all the classifications. That’s not an easy thing to do and have actual insight on potential match ups.
Looking for some more good ones this weekend. The last time Lander came to Afton it was a doozy. Well, come to think of it, the last three have been doozies.