The 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950 and 2009 seasons have been added. All the changes have been made on all the relevant pages. Check it all out when you get a chance.
The five years from 1946-50 were an interesting time for Wyoming football, and I’m glad I got to upload it as a group. The first statewide playoffs were in 1948 — a move that looks to be directly spurred by a couple postseason games staged in 1946 and 1947.
In 1946, the first “Turkey Bowl” was staged in Casper. The “Turkey Bowl” tried to pit the two best teams in the state against each other (and, oh by the way, raise money for the Casper March of Dimes), and Cody and Sheridan staged a game for the ages. In front of a crowd that pushed close to 5,000 people, Sheridan edged out a 20-19 victory behind a third-quarter touchdown run from Joe Zowada and the extra point kick from Ray Hobbs. Sheridan earned the state’s mythical title that day.
Both on the field and at the till, the game was a success.
The 1947 Turkey Bowl didn’t match the 1946 one with either quality of competition or gate receipts. The state’s best team in ’47, Rawlins, opted not to play in the Turkey Bowl against second-ranked and unbeaten Lovell. Instead, third-ranked Natrona stepped in to fill Rawlins’ spot, then promptly outclassed the Bulldogs 26-13 in Casper. Rawlins remained as the state’s mythical champion.
Finally, in 1948, the Wyoming High School Athletic Association (as it was known back then) instituted playoffs for the Class A and the six-man divisions — and also voted to ban any postseason exhibition games like the Turkey Bowl. The vote stopped a proposition to continue a modified Turkey Bowl in Casper, a game that would have pitted the Class A champion against the Class AA champion, which was then a division made up of only six teams (Casper, Cheyenne, Laramie, Sheridan, Rawlins and Rock Springs).
The 1948 state playoffs were a hit. Two state champions were crowned until 1956, when a Class B 11-man division champion was also crowned. That arrangement held true until after the 1961 season, when the WHSAA eliminated playoffs for all divisions, a ban that stayed in place until 1968 for Class AA teams and until 1975 for other divisions.
Some other random stuff about the most recent update….
Three schools — Kaycee, Arvada and University Prep — were added to the database. Kaycee, of course, began play this season, finishing 6-4 and making it all the way to the 1A six-man title game in its first year. Arvada, meanwhile, donned the pads for just one season (1950), finishing 0-4 that season, and University Prep, from what I can gather, played in the 1946, 1949 and 1950 seasons, winning just one game in 11 combined tries. …
A few streaks were added to the streaks page. Byron’s 22-game winning streak (unofficial and likely much longer) from 1946-50 was added, as was Glenrock’s recent 21-game winning streak (snapped in the 2A title game this year) and Douglas’ current 20-game winning streak. On the other end, Basin’s 20-game losing streak from 1949-52 and 29-game winless streak from 1948-52 was added, as was Meeteetse’s 22-game losing streak from 1946-51 and Sundance’s 33-game (0-31-2) winless streak from 1950-55. …
The scoring records page underwent a pretty dramatic shift thanks to the 2009 six-man season. Two of the top three combined scoring games — and three of the top 10 — came from the 2009 six-man season. Guernsey-Sunrise’s 89-point effort against Ten Sleep this season ranked tied for third for most points in a game, while Douglas’ 76 scored against Rawlins ranked tied 10th all-time for points scored by one team in an 11-man game (through 1946). Additionally, Pine Bluffs’ 85-point effort against University Prep in 1950 ranked ninth all-time. …
Take some time and check out all the updates.
–patrick