Week 7 picks

Six-man football was designed for schools like Midwest.

Since winning the Class B title in 1979, success was always limited at the 11-man level for the Oilers; the school’s second and last state championship, in 1991, came at the nine-man level.

Between 1992 and 2007, the Oilers won just 22 percent of their games, going 26-91. The only winning season in that stretch came in 2002, when Midwest finished 4-3 after abandoning its varsity season due to low numbers and playing a hodgepodge schedule of JV squads and Meeteetse. Of those 26 victories, nine came against the junior varsity or sophomore teams from other schools, meaning that in 17 years of play, Midwest beat varsity teams from other schools a grand total of 17 times.

All that changed in 2008, when Midwest adopted six-man football. In the three-plus years that the Oilers have been playing six-man full-time, they have 16 victories against varsity teams from other schools — just one victory short of the total of the previous 17 seasons combined.

In 2008, the Oilers played a makeshift schedule of six-man games and went 5-4, including victories in their final four games of the season. That momentum carried over into 2009, when the state sanctioned six-man football, as Midwest won its first six games of the season and eventually reached the state semifinals.

After a 4-5 season in 2010, Midwest is back on a roll again this season. Since losing to Dubois 49-20 in Week 1, the Oilers have won five games in a row — all by at least 37 points — heading into Friday night’s game with Snake River, which kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday in Midwest.

Therein lies the rub. Six-man football was designed for schools like Snake River, too.

The Rattlers are the defending state champions. They finished 10-0 last year, winning big most of the time and winning the state title game by 55 points. They’re 6-0 this year and have won every game by at least 39 points. That 16-game winning streak is the longest in the state right now. The only time the Rattlers have played the Oilers, the Rattlers won — 68-19 in Baggs in last year’s regular-season finale.

All this from a school that, prior to 2009, last fielded a football team in 1958.

Thus far, Snake River has proven to be the class of six-man football this season. They’ll probably win the state championship in November in Laramie. They’ll probably make it 20 in a row with that victory. They’ll probably win on Friday and wrap up six-man’s South Conference championship in doing so. I’m picking the Rattlers to win Friday.

But that doesn’t change the fact that, for schools like Midwest, Snake River and the other eight schools in the classification, six-man is the right fit. Six-man football was designed for schools like these. Now that they finally have the chance to play it full-time, or play it at all, we can see how true that actually is.

Here are the rest of my Week 7 picks, with projected winners in bold and projected upset-makers in the regular type:

Thursday
Class 4A
Evanston at Cheyenne East: Maybe this is the week Evanston finally wins a close game. 7 p.m. (CE 14-9)
Class 2A
Lyman at Pinedale: The Eagles have been rolling all season long. No reason for that trend to stop now. 6 p.m. (Pin 38-28)
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Rock Springs: I’m really impressed with what Rock Springs did last week. But I’m also really impressed with what Central did last week. 7 p.m. (CC 40-18-4)
Gillette at Cheyenne South: Back-to-back trips to Cheyenne for the Camels. Last one didn’t go too well. This one should be better. 7 p.m. (First meeting)
Kelly Walsh at Sheridan: Sheridan has won five in a row, but the past couple years KW has given Sheridan some trouble, especially in games in Sheridan. 7 p.m. (She 27-21)
Laramie at Natrona: Here’s a number for you: Laramie gave up 35 points last week. Natrona has given up 35 points all season. 7 p.m. (NC 43-34-1)
Class 3A
Cody at Powell: It’s always a donnybrook when these two old rivals meet, but Powell has two advantages: they have a better record so far this season and they’re playing at home. 7 p.m. (Cod 59-47-4)
Douglas at Riverton: The Bearcats can’t overlook the Wolverines, who have been good enough to cause problems for some really strong teams. 7 p.m. (Riv 19-10-1)
Green River at Star Valley: By far the game of the week in 3A this week, this game will have a huge say in determining which team earns the West Conference championship. Both teams are on fire right now and neither one wants to see that momentum slowed. Coin flip. 7 p.m. (SV 32-30-5)
Jackson at Worland: This one is basically a must-win for both squads if they want to maintain any hope of making the playoffs. 6 p.m. (Wor 18-10)
Lander at Rawlins: These Tigers are the real deal. They proved that last week. 7 p.m. (tied 26-26-1)
Torrington at Buffalo: How will the Bison react after last week’s devastating loss? Oh, fine — if they want to go to the playoffs, that is. 6 p.m. (Tor 19-15)
Class 2A
Big Piney at Greybull: The Buffs suffered a tough loss last week. The winless Punchers should provide Greybull a nice confidence booster. 7 p.m. (BP 5-3)
Glenrock at Burns: Burns has experienced a nice turnaround in the second half of the season. Glenrock hasn’t had to turn anything around all season. Advantage Herders. 7 p.m. (Glk 4-1)
Kemmerer at Lovell: The Rangers’ big victory last week doesn’t change the fact that Lovell is Lovell, and Lovell is probably the best team in 2A right now. 6 p.m. (Kem 14-11)
Mountain View at Thermopolis: In the middle of the 2A West, this game is as big as it gets. The winner gets to keep thinking about the postseason; the loser is all but finished after Week 8, barring something really weird. As is tradition, I take the home team when I can’t decide between what looks like two even teams on paper…. 7 p.m. (The 6-5)
Newcastle at Wheatland: Just like Mountain View-Thermopolis, this game may be a make-or-break game in the East. At this point, Wheatland needs this game more desperately than Newcastle does, but desperation treads mighty close to panic sometimes. 7 p.m. (Whe 20-19-2)
Wright at Moorcroft: The Wolves have been quietly improving every week. Now it’s just a matter of putting it all together. 1 p.m. (Wri 15-10)
Class 1A 11-man
Normative Services at Lusk: The only question here is if the Tigers can continue their streak of shutouts to four. 7 p.m. (Lus 2-0)
Pine Bluffs at Lingle: The Doggers could create a big jumble for the third and fourth playoff spots in the East if they can beat the Hornets. I see this game as a toss-up, but I’m picking Pine Bluffs because I really don’t want to spend all the time I’m going to have to spend working on tiebreaker scenarios if Lingle does win this one. 7:30 p.m. (Lin 34-22-2)
Rocky Mountain at Burlington: The Huskies just keep losing the close ones. The law of averages has to catch up with them sometime. 2 p.m. (RM 12-3)
Shoshoni at Saratoga: Call me crazy, but there’s something I like about the Panthers at home in a game that looks like it may be decided by a field goal or extra point or safety. 3 p.m. (Sar 7-4)
Southeast at Upton: Katie bar the door, trouble’s a-comin’ north. The Cyclones just never seem to regress from week to week; they always get better. 7 p.m. (SE 6-1)
Wind River at Cokeville: Speaking of always getting better, let’s not forget Cokeville. The Panthers have outscored their 1A West opponents 240-13. Yikes. 2 p.m. (Cok 14-5)
Wyoming Indian at Riverside: The Rebels have the inside track to a home playoff game and don’t want to blow that chance. 7 p.m. (Rsd 8-1)
Class 1A six-man
Hanna at Farson: This game is all about playoff seeding, even though a win here probably only affects where the winner will go in the first round of the playoffs. 2 p.m. (Han 8-2)
Interstate
Sundance at Hill City, S.D.: The Bulldogs’ mojo was pinched back a bit last week by Lusk, but Sundance should rebound strong in South Dakota. 6:30 p.m. (Sun 11-4)
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Guernsey at Meeteetse: A lot of pride is on the line here in a game between two winless teams. 1 p.m. (Met 1-0)
Hulett at Dubois: Hulett has played well in spurts this season; Dubois has played well consistently all season long. 1 p.m. (Hul 2-0)
Kaycee at Ten Sleep: Wanna play your first-round game at home? Or on the road? 2 p.m. (Kay 2-1)
Open: Big Horn.

I have said this a few times on this blog, but every once and a while it bears repeating: I love it when I miss picks. When a team I pick against finds a way to win, I get excited. The most boring sport is one that’s predictable. Being wrong 20-25% of the time is what keeps me interested in Wyoming high school football week after week, year after year.

What do you think? You know how we roll by now. If you have something to say, you should say it below.

–patrick