Pride never dies in the 2A West.
Just look at what Pinedale and Wyoming Indian did in Week 7.
After six losses apiece to open the season, both the Wranglers and the Chiefs picked up their first victories of the season — Pinedale 25-15 over Lyman on Thursday, and Wyoming Indian 26-14 over Mountain View on Friday.
The Wranglers’ win helped them shed the after-effects of a few losses this season — 12-7 to Big Piney, 9-5 to Mountain View and 13-12 to Riverside. But it also reminded the Wranglers just how close they were to being a playoff contender.
Pinedale looked like a team on the rise after last year’s trip to the semifinals. The close losses this year might have stunted that growth a bit, but Thursday’s win will help them regain some of that swagger and start the building process for 2010.
As for the Chiefs, their 26-14 victory over Mountain View was important, too, but not just for the season. Yes, the win was the Chiefs’ first of 2009, and, yes, it was a needed victory for a program still in the steps of establishing itself against 2A competition. But this one was bigger than 2009.
As I pointed out last week, the Chiefs had had no success against the Buffs in their previous three meetings, losing all three of them decisively — and all by shutout. Wyoming Indian proved that growth is not just a seasonal thing. It extends from season to season and from decade to decade. Now, the Chiefs can have confidence. They’ve beaten Mountain View. Even if it was just once, once can carry confidence for a long, long time.
Third mad props to Gillette, which shook off a few weeks of frustration by beating Kelly Walsh — and by beating them with ease. The Camels blasted the Trojans 45-15 in Casper, letting every other team in 4A know that they’re still a threat. It wasn’t so much that Gillette won — that, honestly, was not too surprising. The Camels are good. It was the way in which the Camels won that was the most surprising. A 30-point victory over the Trojans, in Gillette, is no easy accomplishment. Gillette made it look like paper football.
Fourth mad props to Rock Springs, which topped Natrona County 42-35 in double overtime to win for the third time in four games and lock away a playoff spot. It’s kind of hard to believe the Tigers lost four in a row to start the season. They’re past that now. And, just like every other team in 4A, they’re a threat come playoff time.
Fifth mad props to the Buffalo “We’re not dead yet” Bison, which beat up on Torrington 31-12 to basically assure themselves of a home playoff game. The Bison have been easy to overlook this fall, even with a 4-2 record. Well, not anymore. They’re at home for the first round of the playoffs. And if you don’t know it by now: Don’t count out Buffalo in the playoffs.
Sixth mad props to Burlington, which kept its playoff dreams alive by beating Rocky Mountain 21-8 to create an interesting logjam for the third and fourth spots out of the 1A West. Riverside and Burlington are both 4-2, while Rocky falls to 3-3… and next week, Riverside and Burlington play road games against conference leaders Wind River and Cokeville, respectively, while Rocky hosts Saratoga. If they all end up at 4-3…. well, then I’ll have to drag out my WHSAA handbook and figure out tiebreakers on the fly.
Sunday add: Seventh mad props to Kaycee, which topped Ten Sleep in a 71-67 six-man shootout. I figured Kaycee had the potential to knock off Ten Sleep, especially at home. And it creates an interesting question — how many people saw the East as the dominant conference in six-man this year from top to bottom? With Kaycee beating Ten Sleep, the East is now 10-0 against the West this year. It’s now looking entirely possible for all four East teams to win in the first round of the playoffs. Wow. I’ll admit I didn’t see that happening, not with experienced six-man teams Meeteetse and Ten Sleep anchoring the West. As it is, the East has been the dominant side. No wonder East teams want six-man to go to one conference next year.
So what else drew my attention this week? Well…
Three overtime games this week. Two were in 4A — no surprise there — and one in 3A. What sticks out to me about all of 4A and the 3A West is how evenly matched most of those divisions are from top to bottom. The 4A playoffs are going to be a blast, and it’ll be interesting to see how the 3A West matches up with the 3A East in the first round….
The three games atop 4A, 1A-11 and 1A-6 went pretty much according to projection, as Sheridan came back to beat Central, Cokeville edged Wind River 7-0 and Guernsey shook off the rust to overwhelm Midwest. Sheridan won its seventh in a row and is looking like 4A’s favorite again, a Cokeville-Lingle championship game in 1A-11 is looking more and more possible, while Guernsey and Midwest could easily meet each other in a rematch in Laramie….
Does anyone else think Douglas would be better than .500 in 4A this year? …
It’s looking more and more like we’ll get another Kemmerer-Glenrock championship game. But, fortunately for everyone, it looks like there are a few teams in the bracket this year (Greybull, Thermopolis, maybe even Lovell and Big Horn) that could knock off the two top dogs. It won’t be a cakewalk through the playoffs like it was last year for the Rangers and Herders — something that is good for the division, the two favorites and everyone else chasing them. So you’re telling me there’s a chance! ….
So how about it? What did you see/hear/feel this week about football across the state? Jot a comment below.
This week: 24-7 (77 percent). This season: 184-47 (80 percent).
–patrick
Patrick, I think you are right. The last couple of years have been pretty much kemmerer-glenrock the entire year. Quite honestly I think even both of those teams looked ahead to that date at the end of the year without much thought of the competition in the middle. But they better not this year. Both have had games with other 2A teams within a touchdown, both having to score in the 4th quarter to put it away. There are at least 3 or 4 teams out there that would love another shot at these two. Should be some great matchups. Unfortunately for the rest of 2A, those other teams are going to have to go to the home of the herders or the RANGERS to knock them off. Not an easy task, but as has been shown this year, it is possible. GO RANGERS!!
Rangerfan, you bring up a good point about home field. Beating Glenrock or Kemmerer this season will be tough enough, but at home, in the playoffs, both the Rangers and the Herders are going to be really tough to beat. This year, though, the difference is that at least some teams have a chance. Last year, teams had NO chance of beating either of these teams. That should at least instill some drama in the first couple rounds, and it will force Glenrock and Kemmerer to stay on task and not just jump ahead to the second week in November.
–patrick
Well Patrick I have to chime in on your guestion about Douglas being .500 in 4A. I believe they would be better than .500 and give the Gillette,Sheridan, Green River and Central’s good games going either way. This is one of the deepest teams I have seen at any level of Wyoming High School football. They only have 3 or 4 kids starting both ways. 5 different kids playing the 2 d-tackle positions. They must play 25 to 30 kids when the game is on the line. A defense that doesn’t give up any points and an offense that scores plenty. One of the best coaching staffs in the state, and talent at all positions. This team more than holds there own against all 4A schools. All these reasons plus a team playing with heavy hearts makes the Douglas Bearcats one of the best teams in the state!
Thats right. The first team of any team to start daydreaming about playing at the War will be the first to be knocked out. All teams better bring their best games every week if they want to get to the big show. GO RANGERS!!
Anyone know about the growth in Douglas? I recall rumors of a possible move to 4A within the next five years if they keep growing… anyone know the status of Douglas’ enrollment right now?
(And that question has nothing to do with the quality of the football team this year, by the way. Just a question.)
–patrick
Patrick, I haven’t heard anything about Douglas moving up in classifcation. I pulled the 2009-2011 ADM’s and Douglas is 6th out of 12 schools for football. They are almost 200 kids behind Star Valley( SV 751-Douglas 553). For all other sports Cody is the largest 3A school with 671, then Jackson, Lander, and Douglas. I know you have this info just wanted anyone else to know. Douglas did have a big increase in kids K-3rd grade but that increase is around 70-90 I think. Those kids won’t be in the ADM’s for 5-7 years and who knows what they will be then. So I believe Douglas will be 3A in football for a long time. Maybe a SMALL chance they move up in all other sports but not in the next 4-5 years.