The 2023 edition of the Wyoming high school football magazine is out now! It’s the most complete and comprehensive preview of the 2023 football season you’ll find anywhere in the state.

This is the 12th year of the magazine, which includes previews of every team in the state. This year, I interviewed every coach in the state (except one… can you find it?) for this magazine. Thanks to the coaches for all their help!

Printed copies will be shipped to the locations of the advertisers in the magazine in the next week or so. You’ll be able to pick up a free print copy of the magazine at their locations. Please support the advertisers who support the magazine — we can’t do it without them!

And, in case you missed it: Click or tap here to read the magazine online.

–patrick

Four questions to answer

Can we expect the usual suspects again in 4A this year? Yes, but parity is slowly creeping its way in. It’s Sheridan, Cheyenne East and Natrona, per usual, who are among the favorites. However, Cheyenne Central has reached the semifinals twice in the past four years, and Thunder Basin is eager to re-establish itself as a title threat after two consecutive quarterfinal exits. Meanwhile, both Rock Springs and Campbell County have been mentioned as programs who could surprise depending on how they find their footing with new head coaches.

Where does defending champ Sheridan have an advantage? The offensive line. Two of Sheridan’s closest competitors, East and Natrona, will have all-new starters on the line; Sheridan, meanwhile, returns beaucoup experience up front, including all-stater Alex Haswell. Thunder Basin is the only other 4A team that returns linemen with comparable experience, and even there the Broncs still have the edge.

Is this the year of the quarterback in 4A? Potentially, but it’ll also have to be the year of the pass-catcher. The five players who had the most passing yards per game in Class 4A all return — Thunder Basin’s Alonso Aguilar, Cheyenne East’s Cam Hayes, Campbell County’s Mason Drube, Rock Springs’ Michael Faigl and Laramie’s Ben Malone. All of them are seniors except for Drube, a junior. The challenge across the board will be bringing less experienced receivers up to speed; each team except for Rock Springs lost, at minimum, its top receiver from 2022.

What else is it the year of? The tackler. Of the top eight players in defensive points last season, six of them are back — Campbell County’s Levi Palmer, Sheridan’s Dane Steel and Alex Haswell, Cheyenne East’s Colby Olson and Kolbe Dierks and Cheyenne South’s Damien Pino. (Kelly Walsh’s Kadon Boyce would have also made the list, but KW coach Aaron Makelky said Boyce transferred away this summer, and it’s not clear at this point who Boyce will play for this fall.)

Preseason class MVP

Drew Jackson, Cheyenne East. The East Conference offensive player of the year in 2022, Jackson has to be accounted for on every play no matter what side of the ball he’s on. He ran for 1,017 yards and 11 touchdowns and also had 601 receiving yards and six more TDs; he’s East’s leading returner in both rushing and receiving. Defensively, he was sixth for the T-Birds with 55.5 tackles and led East with five interceptions.

Preseason class breakout player

Noah Sides, Natrona. Technically, Sides’ breakout season came last year, when he led Natrona’s defense with 76.5 tackles. As Natrona’s only returning first-team all-conference selection, though, Sides’ presence on an experienced Mustang defense will be accentuated as a senior leader, and his productivity could reach even greater heights this fall because of that.

Other players to watch

Cam Hayes, Cheyenne East. One of Wyoming’s most complete quarterbacks entering 2023, Hayes can do it all. He’s got the accuracy, completing 216 passes on 309 attempts last year; he’s got the ability to move the ball, throwing for 2,867 yards and running for 621 more; he’s got the nose for the end zone, running for seven TDs and throwing for 40. You can’t ask for much more from a quarterback — and he still has his senior season to go.

Dane Steel, Sheridan. The reigning West Conference defensive player of the year, Steel led the Broncs with 103.5 tackles last season; he notched 10 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks and two interceptions. He was nearly as busy on offense, reeling in 22 catches for 390 yards and leading the Broncs with six receiving touchdowns.

Alex Haswell, Sheridan. The Bronc lineman was doing a man’s job as a junior, controlling the Broncs’ defense up front — and he put up some big numbers in doing so. His 15.6 defensive points per game ranked him fifth among all players in Class 4A. He finished with 13 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks to lead 4A in both categories, and added two fumble recoveries, four pass deflections and a blocked kick to all that.

Levi Palmer, Campbell County. It’s hard to talk defense in Class 4A without talking about Palmer, the only player in the classification last year to average more than 10 tackles per game. Palmer’s 10.4 tackles per game — 104 over 10 games — led 4A last year. He also had five tackles for loss, two sacks and three interceptions to go with his seemingly omnipresent tackling abilities.

Four key games

Cheyenne Central at Natrona, Sept. 8. Both the Indians and Mustangs have been on the edge of breakthroughs the past couple years, but neither one has players who knows what it feels like to be in a championship game. The frustrating part for both is that to make that jump, they’ll have to go through the other.

Thunder Basin at Cheyenne East, Sept. 8. After two consecutive quarterfinal playoff exits, the ‘Bolts are eager to prove they belong in the championship conversation. Well… what better opportunity to do so than on the road against the Thunderbirds early in the season? The precedent exists: The ‘Bolts have won their last two regular-season games on the road at East.

Sheridan at Cheyenne East, Sept. 29. The consensus top two teams in Class 4A this year meet in Week 5 in the Capital City. Whether they’ll still be 1-2 by this time remains to be seen, but it will still represent a rematch of last year’s title game.

Natrona at Sheridan, Oct. 13. In a rivalry that speaks for itself, the annual game between the Mustangs and Broncs has typically been key in deciding playoff seeding and, eventually, home-field advantage in the playoffs. This Week 7 matchup figures to have similarly high stakes this year, but that’s nothing new for either program.

Predicted order of finish

Cheyenne East; Sheridan; Natrona; Cheyenne Central; Thunder Basin; Rock Springs; Campbell County; Kelly Walsh; Laramie; Cheyenne South.

Way-too-early title game score prediction

Cheyenne East 40, Sheridan 32. The Thunderbirds’ talent on offense should be enough to make other defenses nervous, and that’ll draw a lot of early attention, but East’s defense is also top-notch. They’ll start the season with the edge, but they’ll have to improve to keep it.

Is this East’s year, or will someone else bring some surprises to 4A this season? Leave a comment, or drop a line on Twitter or Facebook.

–patrick

Four questions to answer

Who will it be — Cody or Star Valley? Early advantage, Star Valley. These two programs have combined to win the past nine Class 3A championships — five for Star Valley, four for Cody — and they played against each other in last year’s 3A title game. So it makes sense that the early eyes are on the two most consistent programs. Moreover, they have proven their dominance by beating everyone but each other: Five of Cody’s six most recent losses dating back to 2018 are to Star Valley, and Star Valley’s three most recent in-state losses are all to Cody.

Does anyone else have a chance? Yes, but statistically there’s always a chance. Programs like Douglas, Buffalo and Powell have the most realistic chances of breaking through the Cody/Star Valley championship monopoly this year, in part because they’re the programs that return the most players from teams that had some success last year; Douglas and Buffalo actually lead 3A in returning all-conference players this year with four apiece.

How much will four new coaches change the look of 3A? Maybe not much in the first year, but look out long-term. Four Class 3A programs will have new head coaches, including three of the four programs that failed to make the playoffs last year. Jim Burton makes the move from Evanston to Lander, and former assistant Steve Moore takes over as Evanston’s head coach. Mark Lenhardt jumped into the open position at Riverton, leaving 4A Rock Springs to do so, and Blaine Christensen left an assistant’s spot at Rock Springs to become the head coach at Green River. Combined, those four teams were 10-26 last year, and Lander was the only one of the bunch to make the playoffs.

And how’s the rest of the classification looking? Better than usual. To be honest, conversations with basically every 3A coach this summer left me feeling like every one of them was a darkhorse to do some damage in the standings this season. The bottom half of 3A could make some significant strides this year, and several teams — including all the teams with first-year coaches, as well as Jackson, Rawlins and a handful of others, could be teams that give the top-tier teams true challenges this fall.

Preseason class MVP

Tegen Seeds, Douglas. It’s not often that a lineman earns this spot, but Seeds’ play demands this kind of attention. The Class 3A East lineman of the year last year as a junior has been tearing it up on both sides of the ball for a while now. His defensive statistics — 59.5 tackles and a team-high three sacks — put him among Douglas’ top defenders last year, and his prowess as an offensive linemen is already well-known by opposing coaches.

Preseason class breakout player

Daniel Lopez, Worland. Lopez split time between Worland and Colorado last year and only got to play about half his sophomore year with the Warriors. But he made an immediate impact on Worland’s offensive and defensive lines, and he could be the team’s most formidable big man as a junior.

Other players to watch

Trey Stenerson, Powell. Class 3A’s top returning receiver isn’t just an offensive threat. Sure, he can frustrate an opposing defensive backfield — his 54 catches for 813 yards and 10 touchdowns shows that — but he also caused chaos on defense as well. He was one of Powell’s most opportunistic defenders, with three interceptions and six pass break-ups, a pair of fumble recoveries and 24.5 tackles.

Jayden Crook, Star Valley. On a Star Valley defense that returns just four of its top 15 tacklers from last year’s championship team, Crook will be the focus. He was third on the team in 2022 with 65.5 tackles and had a team-high five interceptions. He’s also Star Valley’s top returning receiver, although those numbers (three catches, 63 yards) aren’t quite as impressive.

Trey Rinn, Douglas. No other returning 3A quarterback threw for more yards (1,789) or touchdowns (23) as Rinn did last season. He also added 543 rushing yards and leads Douglas’ returners in that category, as well. His ability to make plays in a variety of ways will make him tough for opposing defenses to stop.

Cohen Morrow and Brady Roberts, Evanston. For a team constantly trying to earn its place in a tough 3A West, the backfield pairing of Morrow and Roberts gives the Red Devils a fighting chance. They combined for 1,126 rushing yards (Roberts 650 from the running back spot, Morrow 526 at quarterback) and 137 tackles (Morrow 81, Roberts 56). They’re key pieces of what could be 3A’s most improved team this fall.

Four key games

Lander at Evanston, Sept. 15. Don’t call it the “Burton Bowl” just yet, but it will be interesting to see how coach Jim Burton’s new team, Lander, matches up against his team from last year, Evanston, in Uinta County.

Riverton at Star Valley, Sept. 15. New Riverton coach Mark Lenhardt starts his Wolverine tenure with a murderer’s row of West Conference opponents — Powell, Cody, Evanston and Star Valley — in the first four weeks. The last of those games, against the defending state champions in Afton, will say a lot about how the Wolverines might fare in the East Conference race in Lenhardt’s first year.

Buffalo at Douglas, Sept. 29. All signs point to this game being the one that will eventually decide the East Conference title. And although four other teams will have a say in that presumption, that doesn’t make this one any less valuable of a victory for both teams.

Star Valley at Cody, Oct. 6. I mean, come on.

Predicted order of finish

East Conference: Douglas; Buffalo; Worland; Riverton; Lander; Rawlins.

West Conference: Star Valley; Cody; Powell; Evanston; Jackson; Green River.

Preseason top five: 1. Star Valley; 2. Douglas; 3. Cody; 4. Powell; 5. Buffalo.

Way-too-early title game score prediction

Star Valley 28, Douglas 20. The Braves’ depth is a feature not many 3A teams can match. Though many of the challengers (Douglas, Buffalo, Cody, Powell) are on the same step, the Braves still stand a smidge taller than the field.

Is Class 3A the purview of old favorites, or is this the year somebody breaks up the Cody/Star Valley bi-opoly? Leave a comment, or drop a line on Twitter or Facebook.

Next Thursday: Class 4A preview.

–patrick