Week 5 picks: Why neither Gillette nor Sheridan wants to host the Energy Bowl

Only two undefeated teams remain in Class 4A football.

They play each other on Friday.

The stakes are bigger than just staying undefeated. Then again, the Energy Bowl always has been more than just another game on the schedule.

When Gillette and Sheridan face off at Camel Stadium on Friday night, the two teams will pick up a rivalry that’s been going strong every year since 1970.

Together, the two Northeast corner rivals have won nearly half of the big-school championships in the past two-plus decades (11 of 23). Of those, Sheridan has seven; Gillette has four.

Often, one team has had to go through the other to find postseason success. Especially the past two years, the rivalry has been accentuated. Gillette and Sheridan have played each other in the state semifinals each of the past two years. In each case, the team that won the Energy Bowl won the playoff rematch.

While the series’ stakes are still high, the regular-season series has taken an odd turn: The past four years, the road team has won the Energy Bowl. This is the longest such streak in series history. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Gillette coach Vic Wilkerson call up Sheridan coach Don Julian and ask to move the game to Sheridan… and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Julian say no.

Usually, we can attribute streaks like that to weird mixes of coincidence and timing. This year, though, with the stakes as high as ever (or at least as high as they can get in the regular season), both teams would love any advantage they can find.

When the game is over, only one undefeated team will remain in Class 4A. While we’ve seen 4A teams overcome a rivalry loss in the regular season to win a state title — Gillette won the state title in 2008 after losing the Energy Bowl — the recent success of both these programs forces some extra meaning onto this game.

And even though “Rivalry Week” is in full force in 4A with both the Oil Bowl and Capital Bowl, the Energy Bowl will be the one everyone in 4A will concentrate on this week.

No matter where it’s played.

+++++

Powell will play against more than just Star Valley on Friday; the Panthers will also play against history. Strange things happen when Powell comes to Afton to play Star Valley. I wrote about this phenomenon a couple years ago; Star Valley almost always beats Powell in Afton, no matter the circumstances. All-time, Powell is 2-15 in Afton, winning only in 1986 and 1999.

The state’s longest active winning streak may have its toughest test to date, and it may have little to do with the home team itself.

+++++

Other games I’d be interested in watching, if I had the chance: The best game in the state might be the six-man showdown between Saratoga and Kaycee. In a tight, competitive East Conference, every victory is valuable, and none more than this one. … BTW, the dividing line in six-man is pretty clear here: The East is 7-0 against the bottom five teams in the West (not counting Midwest’s forfeit loss to Farson) and is 0-3 against Meeteetse and Dubois. … To be a true contender, you’ve gotta win the big ones. Upton-Sundance finds out this week if it’s a contender, as the Patriots travel to Yoder to play Southeast. … The same goes for undefeated Thermopolis, which has its biggest test of the season on Friday when it goes south to face defending 2A champ Lyman. Thermop’s four victories this year are over teams that are a combined 2-14. … Let’s not forget Central-East and Natrona-Kelly Walsh in 4A. Two things tend to happen in rivalry games: weird stuff and blowouts. In-between rarely happens. Get ready for something.

My picks are below, with the teams I have determined to be the most likely teams to win their respective games represented in the boldface type:

Thursday
Class 1A 11-man
Shoshoni at Wind River
Interclass
Lingle at Natrona JV
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Cheyenne Central (moved from East)
Evanston at Rock Springs
Laramie at Cheyenne South
Kelly Walsh at Natrona
Sheridan at Gillette
Class 3A
Cody at Jackson
Lander at Douglas
Powell at Star Valley
Rawlins at Torrington
Riverton at Buffalo
Worland at Green River
Class 2A
Big Horn at Glenrock
Kemmerer at Big Piney
Lovell at Greybull
Mountain View at Pinedale
Newcastle at Wright
Thermopolis at Lyman
Tongue River at Burns
Wheatland at Moorcroft
Class 1A 11-man
Lusk at Pine Bluffs
Riverside at Cokeville
Rocky Mountain at Burlington
Upton-Sundance at Southeast
Class 1A six-man
Farson at St. Stephens
Kaycee at Saratoga
Snake River at Hanna
Wyoming Indian at Meeteetse
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Dubois at Ten Sleep
Midwest at Hulett
Normative Services at Guernsey-Sunrise

For a full schedule including kick times, check out the 2013 schedule and results page.

Last week: 28-4 (88 percent). This season: 116-25 (82 percent).

We’re more than halfway through the regular season. What are you seeing that’s drawing your interest? What game do you want to watch this week? Post some thoughts below and let’s talk about it for a while.

–patrick