School: Cowley
Nickname: Jaguars
Colors: maroon and white
Stadium: Unknown
State championships: 1950 and 1955
Times worth remembering: From 1972-75, the Jags went a combined 32-3, including a 9-0 season in 1973. But in a convoluted time in Wyoming football, Cowley’s four-year stretch is largely forgotten. The team played eight-man football, a division of high school football that largely ignored at the time. The 1975 team couldn’t qualify for the playoffs (no sanctioned eight-man division), while the teams in 1972-73 could never crack the top of the polls because the Class B eight-man teams were placed into the same poll as the Class B 11-man teams. Cowley finished second to Tongue River in the 1973 poll and was eighth in the final Class B 1972 poll despite an 8-1 record.
Times worth forgetting: There aren’t very many black marks on the Jags’ records — they won almost 60 percent of their games from 1951-76. If there has to be a rough patch, it came in 1957-60, when Cowley went 2-4, 1-5-1, 4-4 and 1-5-1 again.
Best team: With apologies to the ’55 championship team, the nod goes to the undefeated team from 1973, which finished 9-0 and made a habit of obliterating foes. The closest game all season was a 48-22 win over Deaver-Frannie in the season opener; the Jags never scored fewer than 54 points the rest of the season and never gave up more than 20, winning by an average score of 60-11.
Biggest win: After falling short in the playoffs for three consecutive years, including a pair of losses in state championship games, Cowley finally broke through in 1955. The Jags won their conference, beat Dayton in the semifinals, then topped Pinedale 58-38 in the state’s six-man title game. The championship was the second official title in school history — and the only one the Jags got to win in front of their “home” fans, winning the title in Lovell.
Heartbreaker: The Jaguars won the northern Bighorn Basin title in 1961, but needed to beat St. Stephens, winner of the southern division, to qualify for the state championship game. St. Stephens won the game 33-20 in Lovell and earned the right to play in the title game; Cowley never again qualified for the playoffs before ending its football program after the 1976 season.

One Thought on “Five Minute Introduction: Cowley

  1. The five minute introduction is probably one of my favorite sections of this web site. I love reading about different teams and the past. I don’t know how hard it would be but in the five minute introduction section you should have it where you click on the team you want to read about. Just an idea. Thanks for everything you do for wyoming high school football!!!

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