For two schools just 23 miles and a couple dozen students apart, Lingle and Guernsey-Sunrise have taken decidedly different paths since the last time they played football against each other.
The longtime rivals haven’t faced each other since Oct. 3, 2008 — the last game between the two before the Vikings left for the new six-man classification.
Since then, they’ve both found success in separate ways. Lingle has advanced to the 1A 11-man playoff semifinals five times, finishing once as runner-up (2009). Guernsey-Sunrise has won a pair of state championships at the 1A six-man level, going undefeated in 2009 and 2014.
Now that Lingle has made the move to six-man, the North Platte valley rivalry can renew once again.
And what a rich rivalry it is.
From 1952 to 2008, the Doggers and the Vikings/Longhorns/Miners played each other every season, and Lingle also played Guernsey in 1951. They stayed joined despite shifting play structures, playing in six-man together from 1951-56, eight-man from 1957-63 and 11-man from 1964-2008 (playing each other even through Lingle’s dip into nine-man in 1989 and 1990 and Guernsey-Sunrise’s hybrid nine-man season in 1998).
However, Lingle and Guernsey didn’t play each other from 1940-50, when Guernsey moved to six-man football but Lingle stayed in 11-man; Sunrise and Lingle had a similar gap from 1941-50.
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
After seven years apart, the Vikings and Doggers renew their rivalry on Friday in Lingle. In the terms of the 2016 season, this game represents an opportunity for one of the two teams to get back on track; both teams lost their season openers Saturday.
In terms of history, though, this game has much bigger implications for a rivalry that’s been dormant for far too long.
Now that Lingle and Guernsey-Sunrise are again in the same classification, they might be back together on each other’s schedules for another 56 consecutive years.
Other games I’ll be watching closer than others this week, because attention is finite and I must devote my brain’s resources accordingly: Obviously, East-South is the marquee game in Class 4A this week. South is 2-0 (and after the last few years, the Bison deserve it) and East is one two-point conversion away from 2-0. If South can somehow pull this one off, my goodness, I think the good folks south of I-80 in Cheyenne will be ready to make coach Dan Gallas the mayor. Or the governor. … Rawlins-Green River is the only 3A game that pits two undefeated teams. Arguably, Green River’s one W is more impressive than Rawlins’ two, but I’m interested to see if the Outlaws can push the Wolves and maybe pull the surprise. … Bridger Valley Bowl, Mountain View-Lyman, is always worth your attention. Even though Mountain View won and Lyman lost last week, I thought both teams had eye-catching Week 1 outings — Mountain View limiting 1A Cokeville, Lyman hanging tough with 3A Rawlins. … Rocky Mountain was impressive in its opener, beating Kemmerer by 40. The Grizzlies, for their success, get to play Upton-Sundance in Week 2. Maybe, just maybe, the Griz will be better than we think? … Shoshoni travels to Yoder to play Southeast in the biggest revenge game of the week. Southeast, of course, ended Shoshoni’s undefeated season in the 1A 11-man quarterfinals last week. The Wranglers would love to exact some measure of revenge; the Cyclones would love to show their victory was no aberration. … The two best teams in six-man last week may have been Burlington (winners by 70) and Farson (surprisingly easy winners on the road against a good Guernsey-Sunrise team). It doesn’t seem right that they play so soon in the schedule. It’s got all the feeling of a Week 8 potential conference-championship-deciding kind of game.
Here’s what I think will happen this week, with the teams I think that will finish with more points than their opposition in bold:
Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Gillette
Cheyenne East at Cheyenne South
Evanston at Sheridan
Kelly Walsh at Rock Springs
Laramie at Natrona
Class 3A
Douglas at Cody
Lander at Jackson
Powell at Buffalo
Rawlins at Green River
Riverton at Star Valley
Worland at Torrington
Class 2A
Big Piney at Lovell
Burns at Big Horn
Greybull at Kemmerer
Mountain View at Lyman
Newcastle at Moorcroft
Thermopolis at Glenrock
Wheatland at Pinedale
Class 1A 11-man
Pine Bluffs at Wind River
Rocky Mountain at Upton-Sundance
Saratoga at Lusk
Shoshoni at Southeast
Tongue River at Wyoming Indian
Class 1A six-man
Guernsey-Sunrise at Lingle
Midwest at Normative Services
Snake River at Riverside
Saturday
Class 1A 11-man
Wright at Cokeville
Class 1A six-man
Burlington at Farson
Kaycee at Hanna
Meeteetse at Dubois
Rock River at Hulett
Ten Sleep at St. Stephens
Picks last week were respectable; I’m climbing out of the awful hole I dug for myself in Zero Week. That said, to the teams I did not pick to win, a short message: Upsets make me happy. Prove me wrong, and I’ll be the first to praise you. So, by all means, prove me wrong! No bitterness on this end…
Last week: 27-6 (82 percent) This season: 34-12 (74 percent).
Which game has YOU excited for Week 2? Many teams begin conference play this week… Which game catches your attention as a key game to start a conference slate? Leave a thought below and we can talk about the start of something cool.
–patrick