In part 1 of this two-part series, we looked at schools close in enrollment that haven’t played each other before.
Some of the differences we found there made sense, like Pinedale and Wheatland — right next to each other in enrollment statewide but 364 miles apart on the map. So, despite their nearness in enrollment, it makes sense they haven’t played each other.
Sometimes, though, distance doesn’t make much of a difference. Fifteen schools (Big Horn, Buffalo, Farson, Glenrock, Lander, Laramie, Meeteetse, Normative Services, Riverton, St. Stephens, Sheridan, Southeast, Tongue River, Wright and Wyoming Indian) haven’t played the Wyoming high school that’s closest to them geographically.
Meanwhile, a few schools have done a pretty good job of wearing out their nearby options. Ten programs (Big Piney, Greybull, Hanna, Kemmerer, Lusk, Moorcroft, Pinedale, Star Valley, Sundance and Upton) have played every other varsity program in the state within 100 miles at least once; Kemmerer has played every Wyoming varsity program within 177 miles, the biggest range in the state.
Here’s a glance at the closest opponent that each Wyoming school has yet to play, with distances calculated by Google Maps using state highways (no county or dirt roads, from high school to high school):
Big Horn: Sheridan (11 miles)*
Big Piney: Green River (106 miles)
Buffalo: Big Horn (33 miles)*
Burlington: Powell (34 miles)
Burns: Cheyenne East (25 miles)
Cheyenne Central: Burns (28 miles)
Cheyenne East: Burns (25 miles)
Cheyenne South: Burns (28 miles)
Cody: Meeteetse (32 miles)
Cokeville: Evanston (71 miles)
Douglas: Kelly Walsh (50 miles)
Dubois: Lander (74 miles)
Evanston: Cokeville (71 miles)
Farson: Rock Springs (43 miles)*
Gillette: Wright (39 miles)
Glenrock: Kelly Walsh (24 miles)*
Green River: Lyman (55 miles)
Greybull: Kaycee (174 miles)
Guernsey-Sunrise: Torrington (33 miles)
Hanna: Kelly Walsh (114 miles)
Hulett: Gillette (70 miles)
Jackson: Dubois (89 miles)
Kaycee: Buffalo (45 miles)
Kelly Walsh: Glenrock (24 miles)
Kemmerer: Riverton (177 miles)
Lander: Wyoming Indian (14 miles)*
Laramie: Rock River (38 miles)*
Lingle: Cheyenne East (95 miles)
Lovell: Burlington (36 miles)
Lusk: Kelly Walsh (103 miles)
Lyman: Green River (55 miles)
Meeteetse: Cody (32 miles)*
Midwest: Kelly Walsh (44 miles)
Moorcroft: Buffalo (102 miles)
Mountain View: Green River (61 miles)
Natrona: Kaycee (69 miles)
Newcastle: Hulett (83 miles)
Normative Services: Sheridan (4 miles)*
Pine Bluffs: Cheyenne East (41 miles)
Pinedale: Rock Springs (102 miles)
Powell: Rocky Mountain (22 miles)
Rawlins: Snake River (78 miles)
Riverside: Worland (31 miles) (Riverside including Basin and Manderson records: Buffalo (121 miles))
Riverton: St. Stephens (6 miles)*
Rock River: Laramie (38 miles)
Rock Springs: Farson (43 miles)
Rocky Mountain: Powell (22 miles) (Rocky Mountain including Byron, Cowley and Deaver records: Riverton (164 miles))
St. Stephens: Riverton (6 miles)*
Sheridan: Normative Services (4 miles)*
Shoshoni: Worland (66 miles)
Snake River: Rawlins (78 miles)
Southeast: Torrington (14 miles)*
Star Valley: Pinedale (120 miles)
Sundance: Kaycee (170 miles)
Ten Sleep: Lovell (95 miles)
Thermopolis: Meeteetse (53 miles)
Tongue River: Sheridan (23 miles)*
Torrington: Southeast (14 miles)
Upton: Kaycee (146 miles)
Wheatland: Southeast (48 miles)
Wind River: Riverton (25 miles)
Worland: Riverside (31 miles)
Wright: Gillette (39 miles)*
Wyoming Indian: Lander (14 miles)*
*-indicates that this is the closest football-playing high school to this school
Does it surprise you that any of these pairings, despite being the closest to each other, haven’t been played yet? Any matchups on this list that are actually feasible? Post a comment and we can chat football and geography.
–patrick
One intriguing matchup that I see is Douglas-KW. It would be an interesting 3A/4A contest. The other one that stands out in my mind is Southeast-Torrington. In 2012, it would have been an evenly matched 1A/3A game, and I might have picked Southeast to win the game too….
Lovell/Burlington would be a good matchup. The Huskies lack the numbers Lovell has but the talent would be on par most years.
Lyman-Green River would be a good matchup especially since it would be the closest opponent for Lyman besides Mtn View. Green River would win most of them but Lyman could feasibly beat them in some years.
Agreed on all three counts. I think a Douglas-KW game could be quite interesting, and I’m surprised it didn’t happen once or twice in the 1970s. Southeast-Torrington would mostly lean Torrington’s way, but what could be really fun is a Torrington vs. Lingle/Southeast game… in fantasy land.
Lovell-Burlington could be a fun one, too. Surprised it didn’t sneak in once or twice already, given proximity…
Oddly enough, a Big Horn-Buffalo game could work nowadays, too.
–patrick