There’s no other way to say it: The 1970s were a rough time for the Hulett football program.
No one number demonstrates the struggles accurately; it’s the accumulation of statistical anomalies that make the Red Devils’ struggles stick out above all others.
In one seven-year stretch, the Red Devils had six winless seasons — 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, all winless.
Prior to its first game of the 1979 season, Hulett had lost 57 of its previous 58 games; the lone victory was a 3-0 slobberknocker over Sundance at home in 1974.
In fact, the Hulett graduating class of 1979 went all four years of high school without knowing what a victory on the high school gridiron felt like.
Partly, Hulett’s struggles were due to its inability to win on the road. Hulett, at one point, lost 33 consecutive games away from home, still the state record for a road losing streak.
The road woes came to an end on Sept. 21, 1979, when Hulett beat Sundance 16-6 on the Bulldogs’ home field. The last road victory had come more than eight calendar years prior to that, a 2-0 victory over Moorcroft on Sept. 17, 1971.
Glendo struggled nearly as much as Hulett did in the 1970s, though. At one point, the Eagles lost 29 consecutive road games and went 30 games without winning on the road (the 29-game streak was capped on the front end by a tie). However, the Eagles put a stop to those struggles when they beat Burns 20-6 on Sept. 15, 1978, in Burns, the school’s first road win in football since the final game of the 1970 season.
Hulett’s record is not in immediate danger; Rawlins has the longest active road losing streak at 16 games, a streak that dates back to a 10-0 victory over Pinedale on Sept. 12, 2008.
Here is a short rundown of the state’s longest all-time and current road losing streaks:
Longest road losing streaks
All-time
Hulett, 33 games, 1971-79
Glendo, 29 games, 1971-78
Wyoming Indian, 25 games, 1975-81
Greybull, 22 games, 1978-83
Newcastle, 22 games, 2001-06
Current
Rawlins, 16 games, 2008-current
Farson, 15 games, 1990-current (includes gap between 1990 and 2009 when team was not fielded; does not include four forfeit losses)
Longest road non-winning streaks (includes ties)
Glendo, 0-29-1 (30 games), 1971-78
Big Horn, 0-24-1 (25 games), 1957-66
Evanston, 0-24-1 (25 games), 1969-74
Gebo, 0-22-1 (23 games), 1933-37 (does not include one neutral site loss)
–patrick