Two days ago, I said Southeast could consider it a success if it stayed within two touchdowns of Lingle.
Now, it’s Lingle that should feel good about staying within two touchdowns of Southeast.
The Cyclones flipped the Class 1A 11-man hierarchy on its head Friday night by beating the previously unbeaten Doggers 27-11 in Yoder. The victory is a huge one for the blue and white, a team whose aspirations for a fourth consecutive state championship all of a sudden look a lot more viable.
Clearly, Southeast has the athleticism, the ability and — maybe most important — the experience to hang with any 1A team in the state. We knew that before Friday. But what this victory does for the Cyclones, and what it does for the Doggers, can’t be underemphasized.
First of all, the Cyclones’ defense slowed down the Doggers’ ground game like no other team has. Lingle had scored at least 41 points in every other game this fall but were held to 30 points less than that on Friday. Second, the Cyclones’ offense put up 27 points, almost quadruple what the Lingle defense normally gives up. Third, and maybe most importantly, Southeast usurped the East Conference championship right out from under the Doggers and guaranteed home-field advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs.
Now, Lingle and Cokeville — the top two ranked teams for most of the season in 1A — are on the same side of the bracket. And, provided Lingle can get past Rocky Mountain and Cokeville beats Pine Bluffs in the first round, Lingle would have to travel to Cokeville in order to earn a berth in the title game.
Southeast’s road to Laramie is no easier, not with a game Riverside team coming to Yoder for the first round and either Wind River or Lusk awaiting in the semifinals.
But now it’s the Cyclones, not the Doggers, that are at home for the playoffs — something that will be critical, especially considering how many good teams are in that classification this fall.
Staying in the 1A East, second mad props to Pine Bluffs, which used a huge tackle from Max Williams on a two-point conversion try in the final minute of the game to edge Hulett 22-20 and earn the fourth and final playoff spot in the East. The Hornets had a 22-6 lead, then hung on for dear life after the Red Devils scored two touchdowns in the game’s final six minutes to make it interesting. And never mind that Pine will be a huge underdog in the first round as it has to travel all the way to Cokeville to play the undefeated Panthers in the first round. Pine Bluffs is in the playoffs — for the first time since 2003. For now, that’s all that matters.
While we’re at it, third mad props to another 1A East team, Normative Services, which earned its first victory in the season finale by upending Sundance 38-15. The Wolves had a rough time in 2009, losing all but one game in their seven-game losing streak by at least 35 points before upending the Bulldogs on Thursday. For the program and the school, it’s an encouraging end — the Wolves had some decent athletes, including a few players who gritted out the team’s first berth to the state basketball tournament last winter — and it gives hope to a team that, because of the nature of the school, is constantly rebuilding. After seeing all the breaks fall the other way, it’s nice to see one finally fall the way of the Wolves.
Fourth mad props to Wright, which earned a playoff berth by knocking out defending 2A champion Burns 22-14. Much like Pine Bluffs, Wright earns a playoff berth only to have to travel across the state for a game that, on paper, looks like a mismatch — Wright at Kemmerer. But, like Pine, Wright is happy simply to have the chance. It may not go well, but at least for the Panthers it will go… and that’s important for a multitude of reasons. And there’s always the chance of something unexpected happening once the playoffs start.
Fifth mad props to Pinedale, which upended Wyoming Indian 46-12 to end the season with a pair of victories after an 0-6 start. The Wranglers’ struggles were a little befuddling to me, especially after the success they had last year, so to see them turn it around — albeit a little too late to return the playoffs — has to be encouraging for 2010. Really, Pinedale wasn’t too far away from making the playoffs: nine points (a 12-7 loss to Big Piney and a 9-5 loss to Mountain View) ended up being enough to keep the Wranglers at home.
Sixth mad props to the Green River frosh/soph team, which beat Hanna 70-26 on Thursday to mark the second sub-varsity win over a six-man varsity team this season (corrected).
Saturday addition: Seventh mad props to Big Piney, which shut out Lovell 14-0 to head into the playoffs on the right foot. The Punchers, 1-7 last year, are officially back. At 6-2, Big Piney is a threat in the 2A playoff bracket, even with a road game at Thermopolis in the first round. I knew Big Piney would turn it around; I just didn’t think it would be this fast. But it’s been kind of fun to watch this year, and Saturday’s victory is a little taste of what the future could hold for the Punchers.
Some other stuff that’s interesting to me, including a meaningless link to the Tetris music videos and the Snoop Tetris remix:
First things first: The playoff pairings (minus Saturday’s games) are set. Click here for those. (Saturday update: The Wyoming High School Activities Association has also posted official brackets on its site; dates and times will be published there as well.) Dates and times will probably be announced Monday or Tuesday for all games, maybe sooner, but first-round games are set for 7 p.m. Friday unless the schools can mutually agree to change. Kemmerer and Cokeville will obviously have to change (no lights), and some six-man games will probably move to Saturday, but other than that I think most everyone will stick to Friday.
There were some gutsy performances on Friday by teams that had to win: Laramie’s big comeback victory over East to make it to the playoffs and to leave East out; Cody’s overtime victory over Worland to secure the 3A West’s top seed; Riverton’s road victory over Wheatland to make the postseason; Lander’s home victory over Powell to snatch the 3A West’s final playoff spot; Rocky Mountain’s shutout victory over Saratoga to make it to the postseason and leave Burlington out; and the victories by Wright, Southeast and Pine Bluffs. What a great week for those teams… not so much for the teams they bumped out of the playoffs… but that’s what Week 8 is all about. …
Maybe it’s just me, but I haven’t heard anyone reminiscing about the good old days of power ratings. …
Rawlins didn’t have much to cheer for this season, finishing 0-8, but the only points scored by the Outlaws in Friday’s 55-6 loss to Buffalo came off a short plunge from three-year offensive line starter Ryley Dawson… That’s pretty cool, and certainly a memorable way to end an otherwise forgettable season. …
Looking ahead to 2011, I’m thinking about six-man and wondering which 11-man teams might make the move to drop down — or if any of the current six-man teams are thinking about a move up…. I’d say that the teams that are there now will all stay, but Shoshoni and Dubois, both winless so far this year and playing each other on Tuesday, should really look at a change. Unless the junior high numbers are really high or something, both of those squads might fit the six-man style better. Shoshoni has struggled with numbers all year and in at least one game couldn’t finish with 11 on the field. Something to think about. …
What drew your attention, your awe or your fury in Week 8? Post a comment below.
This week: 24-7 (77 percent). This year: 208-54 (79 percent).
–patrick
Patrick, you’re right it appears that Shoshoni, Dubois and maybe Upton and NSI should consider going to 6-man. Enrollment numbers are hard to predict at Normative and i’m not sure what the other junior high programs are like. this would add quite the dynamic to 6man in Wyo and then 1A 11man would be a very solid 12 teams.
it’s too early for me to post any picks for the quarterfinals this weekend- gotta think about it some more
Hi Cory,
Shoshoni and Dubois look to be the most in need of a change. I’m thinking the reason they didn’t pull the trigger sooner has to be one of three reasons: (1) resistance to the change in the community; (2) big numbers at the junior high level; (3) a “wait-and-see” attitude about the success of six-man. All three are valid… (1) either kills your program or takes time to change; (2) I can’t answer for either Dubois or Shoshoni; and (3) six-man has proven its viability this season.
As for Upton, I know the Bobcats finished short on players a couple seasons ago when they got smoked by Southeast in the first round of the playoffs, but since then I haven’t heard much about their numbers. I think part of the reason they stayed in 11-man was travel; trips to Hulett and Lusk are easier than trips to Farson and Baggs.
And I’ve mentioned NSI before, but I think the Wolves will stay 11-man. That program, while victories are nice, is more about getting guys onto the field to learn some life lessons. The more they can get on the field, the better, so I think they’ll stay in 11-man as long as they have at least 11 players. However, I know NSI’s enrollment has fallen off precipitously since this spring, so who knows?
–patrick
i think Upton had about 4 guys in uniform on the sideline in Lusk a couple weeks ago. the week before against Pine there was just 1, according to the radio (and Smoky Mark’s pretty darn good).
I wish all the schools could get a few more out- i know of 5 or 6 in Lusk that didn’t go out and probably should have.
If you remember not too far back Normative put a few teams together that were tough. Theei 2000 and 2001 teams were among the top in their class. And you’re right Patrick, there’s a lot more to that program than just winning football games. It’s a great program and really is the true essence of what high school football is
Hi Matt,
The one thing about those NSI teams from the early part of the decade is that they had some consistency from year to year because they had some players from Arvada-Clearmont coming over to play. That co-op doesn’t exist anymore (AC has had some players playing at Buffalo the past couple years) so it’s harder for the Wolves to get that year-to-year consistency. Even so, the school does a lot of good work with the kids they have and it’s always interesting to watch how that program adapts.
–patrick