The Midwest football team has set plans to play its home games in Casper this season — fallout from a leak of toxic chemicals from an abandoned oil well that closed the school indefinitely on May 26.
The school has yet to be reopened, even though the well near the school thought to be the source of the leak was plugged. Midwest students will start the school year in Casper, and games will be played in Casper as long as the school in Midwest remains closed.
Midwest games will be split between Natrona County and Kelly Walsh high schools, Midwest coach Ken Swieter and Midwest AD Susan Rodabaugh said.
Midwest has home games scheduled with Dubois (Week 1, Friday, Sept. 2); Lingle (Week 4, Friday, Sept. 23); Rock River (Week 5, Friday, Sept. 30) and Hanna (Week 8, Friday, Oct. 21) and also has a home Zero Week contest with Dubois and Snake River scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 27.
The games against Dubois, Rock River and Hanna have tentatively been set to be played at Natrona County, while the Zero Week contest and the Lingle game are tentatively scheduled for Kelly Walsh. Game times and dates would not change.
Hulett and Hanna are also scheduled to play their Week 3 game (Saturday, Sept. 17) in Midwest. Plans for that game were not immediately known.
Swieter said Midwest’s practices will either be at the old CY Junior High fields in Casper or at the park near the former Westwood Elementary in west Casper, which is where Midwest’s kindergarten through eighth-grade students will be housed until the Midwest school can be reopened.
–patrick