With all the changes coming to Wyoming’s high school football make-up, there are several new first-time meetings in the works for 2009. (Counting games from 1951 to the present.)
In the 11-man schedule, there are 15 games that will be the first meeting between the two schools: Riverton-Buffalo; Big Horn-Thermopolis; Big Horn-Newcastle; Big Piney-Burlington; Burns-Newcastle; Burns-Thermopolis; Newcastle-Southeast; Burlington-Saratoga; Hulett-Lusk; Hulett-Pine Bluffs; Lusk-Normative Services; Normative Services-Rocky Mountain; Normative Services-Pine Bluffs; Normative Services-Sundance; and Pine Bluffs-Shoshoni.
Most of these games come out of the new Class 1A 11-man East Conference — Normative Services has four new opponents in 2009, Pine Bluffs three, Hulett and Lusk two apiece. Newcastle is also playing three new opponents next fall, while Thermopolis, Big Horn and Burlington have two new opponents apiece.
And most of the games involve the smaller half of Wyoming’s schools. That’s not really surprising, as a lack of big schools usually causes the big guys to run into each other at least once over a 50-plus year period. The only new game among the 4A and 3A ranks is the Buffalo-Riverton meeting.
In addition, six more games are the first regular-season meetings between two schools: Sheridan-Evanston, Douglas-Jackson, Powell-Wheatland, Big Horn-Burns, Burns-Tongue River and Pine Bluffs-Upton. These schools have played each other at least once in the playoffs in their history (in fact, Douglas and Jackson played each other in both the 2006 and 2007 postseasons, and Big Horn and Burns have played each other in the playoffs each of the past three years) but never in the regular season.
And, of course, there’s six-man, where five new programs will start in 2009 and a dearth of new first-time games will take place. Only one of the Week 1 games in 2009, though, will pit two new programs against each other in their inaugural game (Snake River at Kaycee). Of the currently existing programs, Guernsey will be playing two new foes this fall — Meeteetse and Ten Sleep — in addition to all the new schools.
Many other games are resurrections of series that only lasted one or two years, or resurrections of series that have deep histories but that have waned in recent years.
All in all, there’s a ton of change coming in 2009. The new set-up makes the season unpredictable — and a whole lot of fun.
–patrick