Hey there, old friend.
Seems like we’ve met before.
The semifinal rounds of the Wyoming high school football playoffs look a lot like games we’ve already seen this season.
Remember? We’ve already seen Natrona play at Sheridan (Week 7), Green River play at Jackson (Week 5), Southeast play at Upton-Sundance (Week 8), and Hulett play at Meeteetse (Week 1) this season. They’ll play again in the same stadiums in the semis this week. And we’ve already seen Cheyenne East play Gillette, Tongue River play Lingle and Snake River play Kaycee this year, albeit in different cities than they’ll play in the semifinals.
The only matchups in the semis that we haven’t seen already played on the field this season are Star Valley-Torrington, Greybull-Wheatland and Glenrock-Lovell. Long live 2A.
Glenrock and Lovell last played each other in the 2012 quarterfinals; Star Valley and Torrington last played each other in the 2005 semifinals.
That leaves us Wheatland and Greybull, who haven’t faced each other since 1971.
Now that sounds like a playoff game.
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Speaking of familiarity: How about 4A’s big four? This group continues to control Wyoming’s big-school division.
In 4A, the four remaining teams are the same four teams that have made it this far every year since 2010: Cheyenne East, Gillette, Natrona and Sheridan. The matchups — East vs. Gillette and Natrona vs. Sheridan — are the exact same matchups as last year’s semifinals, although last year’s games were in the opposite locations of this year’s.
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Of the 20 teams remaining, nine are trying to break championship-less streaks that date back at least 19 years.
Six-man Hulett, which is chasing its first state title in 61 years of football, has longest state championship drought. Kaycee and Upton-Sundance are also trying to win the first state titles in their programs’ histories, although Upton and Sundance both won state titles in 2005 as separate programs and Kaycee’s program has only been around since 2009.
The next-longest droughts belong to Greybull (no title since 1960) and Wheatland (1984). The two programs each have one title to their names; as noted, they play each other in the 2A semifinals.
Tongue River is trying to win its first state title since 1974; Goshen County neighbors Torrington and Lingle are both trying to win their first state titles since 1990; and Star Valley is going for its first title since 1996. The remaining 11 teams in the semifinals have all won state titles this century.
However, Natrona is the only defending champion remaining in any bracket. Last year’s champions in 3A (Cody), 2A (Mountain View), 1A 11-man (Cokeville) and 1A six-man (Guernsey-Sunrise) have all been removed from contention from this year’s chase.
Looks like we might have a little bit of room for new faces in Laramie after all.
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We had some movement on the individual records single-game leaderboards, as Jackson’s Theo Dawson ran for 489 yards last week against Riverton. Yes, 489. That’s by far an unofficial single-game state record. Some single-season records will be set this year, too — Gillette’s Dalton Holst has already topped the single-season passing list, for example — but single-season records won’t be posted until the end of the season.
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Picks. Winners. Non-winners and/or spoilers:
Class 4A
(4) Cheyenne East at (1) Gillette: The Camels are undefeated. As long as they aren’t looking to Laramie already, they’ll be OK. If they are, East is good enough to come in to Campbell County and get a KO. (Rematch of a semifinal game from last year.)
(3) Natrona at (2) Sheridan: Same deal for Sheridan. The Broncs can’t get antsy just yet — and that’s easy to do against a team you’ve beaten this year by 35. Natrona has the skill and moxie, though, to make this one a LOT closer. (Rematch of a semifinal game from last year.)
Class 3A
(2W) Star Valley at (1E) Torrington: Star Valley will present Torrington’s biggest challenge to date, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Braves win. Even so, I like the Trailblazers at home in a tight and low-scoring duel. (First playoff meeting since 2005 semifinals.)
(3W) Green River at (1W) Jackson: Green River is the surprise team of the 3A semifinals. And, as Jackson is well aware, the Wolves are all too capable of pulling off another big victory. Count on the Broncs being ready. (First playoff meeting.)
Class 2A
(2W) Greybull at (1E) Wheatland: Wheatland beat Lyman by 64 points in the first round, and it felt like it could have been worse. The Bulldogs’ Week 8 loss to Big Horn is looking more and more like an aberration. (First playoff meeting.)
(2E) Glenrock at (1W) Lovell: Neither team will run away with this one. I like the Herders in a nail-biter, but I think this one could go either way pretty easily. (First playoff meeting since 2012 quarterfinals.)
Class 1A 11-man
(4E) Southeast at (2E) Upton-Sundance: The Patriots beat the Cyclones 34-0 just two weeks ago. And although the Cyclones will be riding on the momentum of their upset victory against Shoshoni, this game is the Patriots’ to lose. (First playoff meeting.)
(3E) Tongue River at (1E) Lingle: Can Tongue River pull off an unlikely duo of double-dips? Can they go on the road and get another playoff victory like they did in the first round against Cokeville? AND can they beat top-seeded Lingle twice in the same season? The emotional pick is the Eagles. I think the Doggers learned some lessons from that Week 7 loss, though, and I think they win the rematch. (First playoff meeting.)
Class 1A six-man
(2W) Snake River at (1E) Kaycee: The Buckaroos won the regular-season matchup by 38. This time around, Kaycee’s at home. And while it might be closer than 38, Kaycee is still the clear favorite. (First playoff meeting since 2011 semifinals.)
(2E) Hulett at (1W) Meeteetse: Believe it or not, Hulett might have given Meeteetse its toughest test of the regular season. Meeteetse still won by 34. The Longhorns look unstoppable. (First playoff meeting since 1994 nine-man semifinals.)
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Resident low-key big shots Tad and Homer have their picks, too, made while commiserating over Excel spreadsheets, Goldfish crackers and Sprite:
The picks
Tad: Natrona over Sheridan; Snake River over Kaycee.
Homer: Sheridan over Natrona; Kaycee over Snake River.
Both: Gillette over Cheyenne East; Star Valley over Torrington; Green River over Jackson; Wheatland over Greybull; Glenrock over Lovell; Upton-Sundance over Southeast; Lingle over Tongue River; Meeteetse over Hulett.
The records
Class 4A
Cheyenne East at Gillette (Gillette 26-17 overall, Gillette 16-6 at this location)
Natrona at Sheridan (Natrona 56-42-6 overall, Sheridan 27-20-3 at this location)
Class 3A
Star Valley at Torrington (Star Valley 8-2 overall, Star Valley 3-2 at this location)
Green River at Jackson (Green River 28-11-2 overall, Green River 13-6-2 at this location)
Class 2A
Greybull at Wheatland (tied 1-1 overall, Wheatland 1-0 at this location)
Glenrock at Lovell (Glenrock 13-6 overall, Glenrock 5-4 at this location)
Class 1A 11-man
Southeast at Upton-Sundance (tied 2-2 overall, Upton-Sundance 1-0 at this location)
Tongue River at Lingle (tied 1-1 overall, Lingle 1-0 at this location)
Class 1A six-man
Snake River at Kaycee (Snake River 6-2 overall, tied 1-1 at this location)
Hulett at Meeteetse (Meeteetse 6-4 overall, Meeteetse 4-0 at this location)
Weekly reminder: Tad picks the series leader; Homer picks the location leader; when a series is tied, both Tad and Homer pick the home team.
Last week’s records: Patrick, 16-4 (80 percent); Tad, 11-9 (55 percent); Homer, 11-9 (55 percent).
Season records: Patrick, 222-59 (79 percent); Tad, 176-105 (63 percent); Homer, 158-123 (56 percent).
So who do you have making it to Laramie after this week? Post your thoughts and we can talk semifinal football!
(Updated 8:59 a.m. Nov. 5 to correct last year’s 2A champ.)
–patrick