School: Glendo
Nickname: Eagles
Colors: maroon and white
Stadium: Unknown
State championships: 1957
Times worth remembering: Glendo had seven consecutive winning seasons from its championship season in 1957 to 1963. The 1957 championship season was the best of the run, a 9-1 campaign that ended with a shutout win over Tongue River in the title game; the 1959 team was also solid, going 4-1-1 (in the games for which I can find results).
Times worth forgetting: The end was long and painful for the Eagles, who didn’t win more than one game for six consecutive seasons before ending the program after an 0-7 season in 1979. In those six years from 1974-79, the Eagles won just three games, lost 43 and tied one.
Best team: The championship squad of 1957 had to fight — not only for the championship, but for the right to play in the title game. A 15-13 loss to Lingle in the regular season left the Eagles tied for the Southeast conference championship, forcing them to play Glenrock in a tiebreaker for the right to play in the state championship. So, just four days before the title game, the Eagles beat the Herders 24-13 in Douglas. Later that week, Glendo beat Tongue River 20-0 for the state’s first eight-man championship.
Biggest win: While the playoff win over Glenrock and the championship-game victory over Tongue River rank high, another victory during the 1957 season might have been even more important. One week after the loss to Lingle, Glendo had to face Pine Bluffs — a team that had tied Lingle 19-19 earlier in the season. The Eagles had no troubles, though. They blasted the Hornets 55-13, regained their confidence and were never challenged again on the way to the title.
Heartbreaker: The details of Glendo’s 1959 season are still a little fuzzy, but know this — Glendo tied Lingle 6-6 in the season finale. Lingle went to the playoffs, while Glendo didn’t. One way or another, that tie kept Glendo, which went 4-1-1 in games for which I could find results, from making the playoffs. Take that for what it’s worth.