Come the postseason, your regular season doesn’t matter.
Two schools are grateful for this for two very different reasons.
Burns is grateful its three consecutive losses to start the season are a thing of the past. Glenrock is grateful its loss to Burns — its first loss of the season — can probably remain as just a blip on the radar.
Right now, Burns may be the hottest team (pun not intended) coming out of the 2A East, thanks in part to its 22-14 upset of the previously undefeated Herders on Friday. And even though the Broncs can’t gain anything higher than the No. 4 seed and will have to travel to top-ranked Lovell in the first round of the playoffs, Friday night helped prove the Broncs are up for just such a challenge.
For the Broncs, the start of the season — losses to Lusk, Big Horn and Newcastle in Weeks 1-3 — may have provided more inspiration than desperation. Since then, Burns has won four in a row, none bigger than the victory over Glenrock, a team that came to Burns riding the crest of a six-game winning streak.
For Glenrock, the loss really doesn’t change all that much. With victories over Big Horn and Newcastle, the two teams the Herders are now tied for atop the league standings, Glenrock still controls its own playoff destiny. If the Herders beat Moorcroft at home next week, they are still on line to be the top seed from the East and have all the benefits that come with such a seed.
Burns, though, has all the benefits that come with confidence. Glenrock learned that the hard way on Friday.
Second mad props to Lingle, which knocked off Pine Bluffs 16-13 to make a big mess of things in the 1A East. The Doggers needed this victory to keep any realistic chance of a playoff berth alive. Lingle must have felt that, because the Doggers eked out the victory at home and, in doing so, may have just saved their season. Lingle has to play conference champ Southeast in Week 8, but if the Doggers can keep the momentum moving in the right direction, they may squeeze their way back into postseason play.
Third mad props to Cheyenne East, 21-13 victors over Evanston in a game that secured a first-round home playoff game for the Thunderbirds. Playing at home in the playoffs is a nice luxury to have, and knowing that the team you beat to get there may be your first-round opponent may give East enough of an endge to go deep into the playoff bracket this year. Of course, we all remember what happened to Evanston and East last year, right?
Fourth mad props to Hill City, S.D., which beat Sundance.
As for the rest of the week? I guess the biggest thing that Week 7 gives us is a more accurate picture of what matters in Week 8. I’ve listed the playoff seeding scenarios in the post below this one. Already, 14 teams have been eliminated from postseason consideration and 16 teams already know where they will be seeded for the postseason (prior to the six-man games scheduled for Saturday). Only two top seeds (3A West and 2A East) are not yet certain. That means the biggest moving and shaking will happen in the middle and bottom seeds, especially at the bottom of 4A, the middle of the 3A East and the bottom of the 2A and 1A 11-man West. …
I watched the Snake River-Midwest game on Friday night and came away impressed with both teams — Midwest for keeping it close (game was tied 33-33 at halftime) and Snake River for opening it up in the second half (35 straight points in the third quarter). Snake River’s still the favorite, but teams like Midwest and Dubois are going to make sure the Rattlers work hard for another title. …
The most interesting score of the night: Thermopolis 44, Mountain View 33. I picked Thermop to win, but didn’t see the teams combining for 77 points. …
Another Lusk game, another shutout. That makes it four in a row. …
From the “weird scores” department comes Central’s 11-7 victory over Rock Springs. The only other time in state history that score has been achieved was when Burns beat Lusk by that score in 1990. …
What else caught your attention? Let me know by saying something below.
This week: 27-4 (87 percent). This season: 193-45 (81 percent).
–patrick