Longtime Southeast coach Mark Bullington dies

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Longtime Southeast football coach Mark Bullington, who was on the Cyclones’ sidelines for more than four decades as both the head coach and as an assistant coach, died on Wednesday morning.

Bullington had been diagnosed with cancer and had been undergoing treatment for the past couple years. This past week, Bullington went to Nebraska to spend his final days with family.

A native of Hyannis, Nebraska, where he graduated high school in 1975, Bullington started his coaching career in Lyman, Nebraska, in 1979. He moved across the Wyoming/Nebraska border to Southeast in 1982. He taught and coached in Yoder for more than four decades, coaching football, wrestling, and track and field. In that time, he was head football coach for 25 years, winning nine state championships, including four straight from 2006-09. He retired after the 2023 season with 172 victories, good for sixth all-time in Wyoming.

He was selected for the Wyoming Coaches Association’s hall of fame in 2023.

For more on Bullington’s coaching career, check out this Torrington Telegram article from last year.

Bullington was a graduate of Chadron State College, where he played football and wrestled. He married his wife Kerry (Pomeroy) of Fort Laramie in 1979.

Services are pending.

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That’s the news story. The personal one is that Mark Bullington was among a handful of coaches in my 20 years around football who always made me feel special — a feeling I’m certain he recreated across his career with most anyone who had the chance to spend more than 30 seconds talking with him.

It only really took that long with him to understand why he engendered such appreciation from his players and from opposing coaches. As a coach and a source, he was always open, transparent, helpful and appreciative. Our best conversations were off the record.

I’ll miss his surprise texts — usually when Southeast won when I didn’t predict it — and his ability to break things down so even I could understand it. He accepted both winning and losing with grace, even though he didn’t lose much.

Cancer cut short what should have been a long and enjoyable retirement. This holiday season, consider a donation to the cancer research nonprofit group of your choice.

–patrick

A new direction for wyoming-football.com

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When I was 17 months old, my mom — in a letter to a relative — made a list of all the words I could say. It included the important words, like Mama, and Daddy, and Aggie (the name of our dog). But there were others. Lots of others:

A list of words at 17 months old. The letter says: at 17 months old: Mama, Daddy, Aggie, doggie, kitty kat, bear, bird, nice hug, book, block, bath, towel, cheese, please, cookie (his word for cracker), sock, shoe, diaper, no, down, don't, bottle, juice, cup, baby, basketball (believe it or not!), T.V., chair, eyes, ears, hair, mouth, nose, chin, light, hot, yes, nummy, good, peek-a-boo and tree. He also knows the sounds that some animals make: moo, meow, quak, wee, wee, wee (little piggys), baaaa (lamb), and hee, haw (for donkeys). I didn't realize, until I wrote them down, how much he was saying. Do you think we've got a language expert on our hands? (Words I forgot - done, go, hi, bye, peas, kaboom, good boy.) He does talk all the time. All the books I've seen said at this age his vocabulary shoudl be less than 10 words. He's obviously doing something great, but we don't know what we're doing right. Maybe the books are wrong?

So, yeah, you could say I was born for this career path. When one of your first words is “basketball,” and you’re like 400% ahead of what is typically the case for language acquisition at a given age (the books weren’t wrong, Mom), I guess it makes sense I became a sportswriter.

That phase of my career lasted five years, and in that time I started wyoming-football.com. As I transitioned from sportswriter to college journalism professor and student media adviser, what I’ve been doing professionally since January 2012, I’ve added wyoming-basketball.com and champlists.com to the world. I continue to work on Wyoming sports history projects related to those three sites and on other projects that are, as of this moment, still not public. I hope to share them with you in the future.

While I have truly enjoyed both doing and continuing this research, it has come at a price.

A couple years ago, I made the decision to step back from live coverage during the football season. And that was the right decision, both then and now.

Moving forward, I am going to continue to step back from in-season coverage by stopping two traditional staples to the site — weekly in-season picks and preseason coverage. Also coming to an end are in-season score updates, standings, schedules and playoff brackets. All such material will be uploaded at the end of the season, much like I do with Champlists now for other sports and with wyoming-basketball.com for hoops.

At this point, I do not know if the annual Wyoming high school football preview magazine will continue. I hope it does, and I hope the publishers can find someone to pick up where I left off and make this tradition even better.

Without the knowledge I gain from the preseason interviews, though, that also means I will no longer produce the class-by-class previews and predictions or the top returning players, which typically publish in July and August leading up to the first week of games. I will also not track offseason coaching changes. Furthermore, I will no longer be in a position to make even somewhat informed picks for upcoming games. So, after 20 years of doing so, all the way back to 2005 and my days picking games for the Casper Star-Tribune and the old Sports Goulash blog (where my posts and your comments have long since been sacrificed to the link rot gods), those weekly posts will come to an end.

As for wyoming-basketball.com, it’s time once again to thank “Stat Rat” Jim Craig for all the research he has done into Wyoming high school basketball history. As long as he is willing to do the research, I will continue to post and promote it, hopefully giving it the home and the platform it deserves.

I will be deleting my Twitter account, @wyomingfootball, after more than a decade of posting there, as well as the related accounts @wyominghoops and @champlists. I am strongly opposed to my work being used to train AI models without my consent, and my continued presence there, even in an archived form, would go against what I think is ethically appropriate. The platforms are also intentionally limiting the reach of posts that include links, which is, well, most of mine. Time to go.

A few paragraphs ago, I noted the price of this work. Let’s be clear: The price has been my time. Hundreds of hours each year go toward the current football season alone. It’s time I’m no longer willing to invest. Over the past two decades, but especially over the past decade as I transitioned from sportswriter to educator, I have continually denied myself both personal and professional opportunities so I would have the time to devote to you, this site and this history that, if you’re reading this, you probably think is important, too. For a variety of reasons, those are sacrifices I’m no longer willing to make.

That said, I’m still interested in sharing stories about Wyoming’s sports history, like those of Richard Luman, the 1930 all-state football team, the Queen Marie trophy (still has yet to be found), the history of Armistice Day games, historical fanfic about the state of Absaroka, tracksters like Ned Turner and Bob Wood, or series I’ve done like Wyoming’s underdog teams and all-decade recognition.

For football, I put 26,613 Wyoming high school football games, the records of 5,880 seasons, in one place. Across all sports on Champlists, I’ve strung together 16,022 individual/relay state champions across 20 individual sports and 22,623 all-state selections across seven team sports, and I’ve posted more than 3,100 team champions. Thanks to the research therein, we’ve been able to answer questions that were previously unanswerable without, well, the investment in time that those answers would have required — like, who’s Wyoming’s winningest high school basketball coach? or who were the state football champions in World War II? or, well, how did we get here?

That’s the kind of storytelling I am eager to continue. They are the kind of stories that I hoped my research would help to unearth in the first place.

I’m still digging. But I’m also close to done, and I’m proud of the archives I’ve built and that you all have helped me to build. I hope the archives I’ve created long outlive me, and I hope they can be used to answer questions I haven’t even thought to ask yet.

My focus on this site now will be nearly exclusively on the past, much like I already do with other sports. I’ll leave the present and the future to others, at least when it comes to Wyoming sports.

I’ve been reminded many, many times in the past 20 years that there are bigger things in life than sports. “Cheese,” “kitty kat,” “tree,” “kaboom” — maybe those words from my baby word list are just as deserving of my time as “basketball.” Maybe more deserving. Maybe it’s time to devote my talents and time to those. For now, the three words I’m choosing to focus on that even 17-month-old me knew how to say? “Hug,” “done,” and “bye.”

–patrick

Zero Week picks: When a historically meaningful game gives you the ick

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Sheridan’s game with Cheyenne South on Friday will be a historic game, even before the opening kickoff.

The Broncs enter the 2024 season on a 31-game winning streak, just four short of the state record for consecutive victories and six short of the record for an unbeaten streak (which include ties).

Across the field will be Cheyenne South, losers of 38 consecutive games back to 2019, which in and of itself is already tied for the state record. A loss against Sheridan will put the Bison alone in “first” for this record.

Either streak alone would be deserving of attention. But the fact that they’re criss-crossing each other at this point, where each program’s streak is already at least 30 games, is truly historic.

Wyoming teams have built six winning streaks and nine unbeaten streaks that went at least 30 games. Oddly enough, Wyoming has also had programs build six losing streaks and nine winless streaks of at least 30 games.

But never in the history of Wyoming high school football have two teams on active streaks of 30 or more games — either unbeaten or winless, or any combination therein — played each other.

In fact, I can’t find a single instance of two teams with active unbeaten or winless streaks of even 20 consecutive games playing each other.

The closest I can find are three instances of teams putting 19-game streaks on the line against teams with streaks of at least 20 games. In all three cases, the games shaped up much like we will see on Friday — a team with a long losing streak facing a team with a long winning streak. In all three cases, the team with the winning streak continued to win, the team with the losing streak continued to lose:

  • Oct. 18, 1968: Saratoga took a 24-game losing streak into its game against Glenrock, which had an active 19-game winning streak. Glenrock won 72-0.
  • Oct. 20, 1989: Cokeville, winners of 20 straight, faced Kemmerer, losers of 19 straight. Cokeville won 49-20.
  • Oct. 1, 1999: Rocky Mountain, which had won 24 in a row, played Greybull, which had lost 19 in a row. Rocky Mountain won 60-18.

Although Cheyenne South could pull the absolute biggest upset ever seen in a century of Wyoming football — hey, the game always starts 0-0 — Sheridan is the obvious favorite entering Friday’s action.

I think this game, coincidentally scheduled to be the season opener for both squads, deserves special attention because of its historic nature.

However, I also think that the fact that these streaks are crossing paths at all should be a red flag for Class 4A football. Or, in the language of kids these days, it should give you the ick.

This game’s nature should be an indictment of 4A’s scheduling system as a whole.

Since 2009, Class 4A schools have used a 10-team, nine-game round-robin regular-season schedule, where each 4A team plays all the others. What this nine-week schedule does, though, is prohibit schools from seeking nonconference games. Every game is a conference game. And it’s the same teams over and over again every year. Long streaks aren’t a surprise in that kind of closed environment.

The thing that many people overlook? That round-robin schedule is just as bad for Sheridan as it is for Cheyenne South.

It means Sheridan has to wait for someone in 4A to rise up to give them a serious challenge to its winning streak. And it means the Broncs can’t look outside the state’s borders for a new challenge — say, from traditional regional rivals in Montana or for opportunities like Idaho’s Rocky Mountain Rumble, where state champions from across the region face off for a weekend full of games. Most coaches would rather face a tough opponent with the possibility of a nonconference loss in preparation for league games. They’d sacrifice a winning streak in August to make their team better for the games in November. Sheridan hasn’t even had the chance to make that choice since 2009.

The round-robin also means Cheyenne South can’t schedule a nonconference game against a more equitable regional opponent with the hopes of picking up a victory. Captain Obvious will note here that it’s not good for a program to lose 38 games in a row — for that program or for any of its opponents — but it might be even worse to hamstring that team’s schedule in a way where they can’t find teams of equal or near-equal talent to have both a chance to win and a chance to gain confidence even in a loss.

Personally, I’d love to see South go up against a 3A or 2A team like Green River, Lander, Torrington, Douglas, Wheatland, or any number of teams from western Nebraska or northern Colorado. But in its existence — its entire 13-season, 10-victory, 108-loss existence — the Bison have never had that freedom.

The intercepting streaks should be a call for a return to conference play, and nonconference freedom, for 4A’s biggest schools.

It’s kind of like income inequality. It’s better for society when everyone has a chance to be a part of it. And it makes for better for football when everyone has the chance to play at least a few games against opponents that fit your skill level and experience.

Conference play would mean fewer streaks like Sheridan’s and South’s, fewer opportunities for historic games where those streaks cross ways, fewer records.

But probably, it would mean better football, and better experiences for those playing and coaching.

The second option sounds like the better one.

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Some other action I’m keeping a closer eye on than usual this week:

The 4A schedule is absurdly front-loaded this season, with all four semifinal teams playing each other in the first five weeks of the season. That starts with Thunder Basin, who has the challenge of playing the other three semifinalists from 4A last year in the first three weeks. That journey starts with a trip to Casper on Friday to play Natrona in a super-intriguing, and important, season opener for both teams. …

One late change to the schedule has Lovell going to Buffalo instead of the other way around for their scrimmage. Lovell’s facilities are undergoing a bit of a facelift, and things weren’t going to be ready by this weekend, hence the switch. Newcastle and Thermopolis are also scheduled to be scrimmaging (quick-whistle special teams) in Buffalo on Friday night (in what could be the most intriguing showdown of the week across the state) in what will become Wyoming’s temporary football capital. …

Are jamborees dying? This season, only three jamborees are scheduled — Farson, Pine Bluffs and Greybull will host — with a total of 12 teams participating. That seems down. …

Evanston’s opponent this week, Ben Lomond, Utah, has already played two games. However, Evanston and Ben Lomond have scored an equal number of points so far this season. Do the math; I’ll wait.

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On to this week’s picks. By the way, the 2024 season is my 20th consecutive year of picking winners of Wyoming high school football games. Fortunately, I’m not always right, and the game and the sport are a lot more fun to follow with some chaos in the mix. I’ll still try, though, with projected winners in bold:

Friday
Class 4A
Cheyenne Central at Rock Springs
Cheyenne South at Sheridan
Kelly Walsh at Campbell County
Laramie at Cheyenne East
Thunder Basin at Natrona
Class 3A
Riverton at Powell
Class 1A nine-man
Wright at Shoshoni
Class 1A six-man
Midwest at Hanna
Ten Sleep at St. Stephens
Interclass
Glenrock vs. Jackson (at Riverton)
Interstate
Evanston at Ben Lomond, Utah
Lyman at Malad, Idaho
Shelley, Idaho, at Star Valley
Torrington at Gering, Neb.
Wheatland at Mitchell, Neb.
Saturday
Class 1A six-man
Kaycee at Casper Christian
Interclass
Mountain View at Green River
Rawlins at Burns

The Zero Week schedule also includes several scrimmages and jamborees. As usual, here are the guidelines I use to determine whether something played in Zero Week “counts” or not:

  • 1. Was the game played with four 12-minute quarters (10 for six-man) with normal timing rules?
  • 2. Were officials used? And were normal rules of play instituted for the game?
  • 3. Was score kept?

If these three criteria are met, I call it a game and record it as such on this site.

I reached out to most of the non-4A coaches and ADs this week for clarification. Turns out, a few of the scrimmages are just that — controlled contact, with coaches on the field and scenarios in play. A few of the scrimmages are almost games — no or limited special teams, quick-whistle plays, and so on. And there’s some stuff in between. Still others may not have their format decided until just before kickoff. So that’s fun. I tried to confirm every contest on the schedule this week with the coaches and ADs across the state, and almost everyone got back to me. The schedule I have is the best I can do. With that:

For a full schedule including kickoff times, click here.

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Which team do you see making that indelible impression on the 2024 season here in Zero Week? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.

If you like what you see here, consider a page sponsorship. 

–patrick

Wyoming high school football’s most anticipated season openers, ever

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In case you missed it, the 2024 season starts on Friday — well, technically Thursday with a couple scrimmages, and then Friday with the first count-’em games of the year.

In the first week of the season, it’s hard for games to stand out. We just don’t know enough about the year to say which games are “big” ones (as if they aren’t all big, right?). Occasionally, though, the start of a season is marked by a highly anticipated game, one that everyone knows from the outset could make or break a season, or at minimum set its direction.

Here are 10 such games, in chronological order, where the season opener was one that everyone knew was going to be bigger than usual:

1956: Laramie 40, Cheyenne Central 7. The finish of the 1955 season came with controversy, as Laramie won a disputed 18-14 game against the Indians, who claimed “timing irregularities” in Laramie gave the Plainsmen the advantage (and, oh, Cheyenne players fought an official on the field). The game decided the AA title, as Laramie finished second in the polls (behind Class A champ Worland) and Cheyenne finished third. So when they faced off to start the 1956 season, the Plainsmen wanted to leave nothing to chance. They didn’t, as Larry Bowman scored four times in an absolute rout. Eventually, Laramie won its third consecutive AA title, finishing 8-1; Central finished 5-3 and as Class AA runners-up, with two of its three losses to Laramie.

1968: Byron 40, Cokeville 32; 1969: Cokeville 20, Byron 18. Both Byron (7-0-1) and Cokeville (7-0) had finished the 1967 season undefeated, and they finished second and third, respectively, in the final Class B rankings at the end of the season behind Tongue River. With that in mind, the two teams scheduled a home-and-home for the 1968 and 1969 seasons, with Byron heading to Cokeville in 1968 and Cokeville making the trip north to Byron in 1969 in games sure to be decisive statewide for eight-man bragging rights. In both seasons, the season opener helped decide the eventual Class B champion. In 1968, Byron came back from a 25-7 deficit to win 40-32 as the Eagles outscored the Panthers behind four touchdowns from Rick Tanner. By the end of the season, Byron was 9-0 ranked first, tying with Glenrock in the final UPI poll for state champion; Cokeville didn’t lose again and finished third in the rankings at 7-1. In the rematch one year later, the Panthers eked out a two-point victory. The victory was the start of a historic 1969 season in Cokeville where the Panthers went 8-0; Byron only lost one more game the rest of the season, in the finale against Basin, and finished 7-2.

1973: St. Mary’s 18, Glenrock 6: The 10-0 Gaels and 9-0 Herders split the 1972 Class A championship in the final polls, with Glenrock winning the AP poll and St. Mary’s the UPI poll — and the other team finishing second in both. When the 1973 season opener came around, a lot of pride was on the line for two teams that would have preferred to be an outright champion the year before. Months of what-if talk culminated in Glenrock, where the Gaels sapped all the air out of the matchup by taking an 18-0 lead in the first half and then holding on to win. It didn’t change the 1972 results, but it did give the Gaels temporary bragging rights.

1975: Basin 30, Tongue River 24, 2OT: The Eagles entered the 1975 season on the momentum of two consecutive 9-0 seasons, but they knew they couldn’t take the season opener against the Bobcats for granted. After all, the year before, Basin’s only loss in a 7-1-1 season came against Tongue River in a 15-8 slugfest. The rematch lived up to the hype, as the Bobcats won in double overtime with Mike Dellos’ three touchdowns leading the way. Basin eventually reached the first modern version of the Class B playoffs at 7-2; Tongue River finished 5-3 and out of the playoff bracket.

1990: Meeteetse 29, Hanna 7. As Class 1A nine-man went through a transitional year in 1990 — the first year of a five-class system in Wyoming and the second year of nine-man football — a couple things were clear. First, Hanna was the defending champ and had enough firepower to contend again. Second, Meeteetse had been one of the state’s most consistent winners in the late 1980s, and with the preseason No. 1 ranking, that trend was expected to continue into the 1990s. The Longhorns made more good on their potential than the Miners did on the momentum of their trophy, as Chris Miller’s two second-half touchdowns put the Miners away for good. With the victory, Meeteetse set the standard for the rest of the classification to follow. The Longhorns stayed ranked No. 1 all season but lost to eventual champion Lingle in the semifinals; Hanna recovered from a 1-3 start to win its final four games but missed the playoffs after a loss to — get this — Lingle left them out of the playoff chase.

2003: Natrona 48, Rock Springs 6. After back-to-back 11-0 seasons and consecutive Class 5A championships, the question circling throughout the 2003 offseason was simple — is the Tigers’ run over? Natrona emphatically answered that question in the season opener: Yes. The Mustangs jump-started an undefeated season of their own by ending the Tigers’ 22-game winning streak behind three touchdowns from Scott Cogdill. Rock Springs rebounded to finish 6-4 and make the 5A semis, but the Tigers haven’t won a state title since; Natrona won Class 5A’s title that year.

2005: Buffalo 45, Lander 20. Everyone knew the Buffalo Bison of 2005 were something special, long before the first snap of the season. By season’s end, the Bison had back-to-back 11-0 seasons, a trio of Super 25 players and maybe the best/worst original season highlight rap ever. However, the preseason thinking was that if anyone could give the Bison trouble, it just might have been the Tigers, the team Buffalo beat in the 2004 Class 4A championship. Actually, a 25-point Buffalo victory was one of the closer games the Bison had; the Tigers were still ranked by season’s end but finished 5-4.

2017: Glenrock 12, Greybull 7: It doesn’t happen often — No. 1 vs. No. 2 in a season opener. But that’s what we got in Class 2A in 2017, when the Herders and the Buffs staged a classic season opener as both teams fought for early supremacy of a tight classification. The game was a rematch of the 2016 2A semifinals when Greybull upset Glenrock in Converse County before falling to Big Horn in the championship. The hype faded, though, as Greybull eventually lost in the 2A quarterfinals while Glenrock fell to Mountain View in the 2A title game that year.

2022: Pine Bluffs 34, Shoshoni 26: In the most talent-filled and anticipated season of nine-man football since its return in 2020, this season opener between the defending champion Wranglers and upset-in-the-semifinals Hornets was a huge one — well, as huge as a non-conference season opener can get, anyway. The Hornets staked an early lead and held off the Wranglers as they tried to rally. This game was a precursor of what was to come, as both teams held up their ends of the bargain in their respective conference schedules and throughout the playoffs. They met again a couple months later in Laramie in the 1A nine-man championship game, with Pine Bluffs winning 33-27. Shoshoni’s only two losses in its title defense season were to the Hornets.

What game are you most looking forward to for the start of the 2024 season? And, looking back, what season openers stand out to you in retrospect from any season? Leave your thoughts in a comment below; I’d love to hear from you.

–patrick

The first (and only?) consensus all-America college football player with Wyoming roots

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Quick: Name the first consensus all-America college football player who grew up in Wyoming.

Even the most seasoned Wyoming sports trivia veteran might struggle to come up with the name that answers this question. The reason makes sense, though: The first all-America pick to come from the Equality State never played football in the state, opting instead to make a name for himself back east before returning to Wyoming.

Richard “Dick” Luman was a consensus all-America choice while playing end at Yale in 1924. The Pinedale native is believed to be the first Wyoming native to be chosen as a consensus all-America football player.

A photo of Richard "Dick" Luman from the Dec. 14, 1924, Chicago Tribune.
Richard “Dick” Luman is highlighted as an all-America football team selection in this article from the Dec. 14, 1924, Chicago Tribune.

Luman was born in 1900 in Sublette County into a prominent ranching family. For secondary school, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, which eventually led him to Yale. As a Bulldog, he emerged as an equally effective offensive and defensive player at end and a hard-to-stop center for the basketball team.

In 1924, Luman earned consensus all-America status by being named to two of the six all-America teams — the All America Board team and the International News Service team. He was one of four ends to earn consensus all-America status.

He was also named the Yale basketball team’s captain in 1925.

After Yale, Luman lived in a few different places before he returned to work the Luman family ranch near Pinedale. He later embarked on a career of public service. He served in both the Wyoming Senate and House of Representatives before becoming the chairman of Wyoming’s state Board of Equalization and Public Service Commission; he was also Wyoming’s deputy state treasurer. His career ended in 1969.

Luman died on his 73rd birthday — April 26, 1973 — in Houston, Texas, where he had been living with his son, Edgar.

The list of college all-American football players with roots in Wyoming is indeed short; looking only at consensus all-Americans produces a list that’s even shorter. At a glance, I can’t find any other consensus all-America choices with Wyoming roots — something beyond being born in the state’s borders. Does that make Luman the first, and only, of his kind? Trivia buffs can help me out with this one. I’d love to hear from you! Comment below.

–patrick

Using Pythagorean win expectations in Wyoming high school football to find the most surprising seasons in state history

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If you just look at the cumulative effect of NSI Academy’s scores from the 2007 season, you would not have expected much from the Wolves.

For the year, the Wolves were outscored 281-150.

And with a score differential like that, what kind of record would you expect?

Well, there’s some math we can do to figure that out.

Using something called the Pythagorean expectation, the Wolves — who played 10 games that season — would have been roughly expected to finish with a record of about 2-8. After all, most teams with that kind of score differential across that many games finish with about that kind of record.

But the Wolves finished 6-4. They won 4.2 more games than the Pythagorean model would have expected them to.

And across more than 100 years of Wyoming high school football, the Wolves’ 4.2 wins above expectation is the highest difference for a single team in state history.

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Here’s the math part, as simplified as I can make it: In short, the Pythagorean expectation model looks at a team’s scoring differential and then tries to estimate what a team’s win-loss record should be based on that differential alone. For example, a team that goes 4-4 and finished with a scoring differential of zero would have a Pythagorean score of 0.0 — and the logic follows that you’d expect a team that scored as many points as it gave up to have a .500 record.

A positive Pythagorean score means you won more games than the model would predict; a negative Pythagorean score means you lost more. (For a breakdown of the math used in this post, check out Wikipedia’s article on Pythagorean expectation.)

For a more recent example of the Pythagorean model, let’s look at the 2023 season, and two teams that share a both a 2023 victory total and a first letter: Worland and Wright.

Worland, playing in Class 3A, finished 3-6. Wright, a Class 1A nine-man team, finished 3-5. So we would expect their point differential to be about the same, right?

Well… Would you believe that Wright outscored its opponents 201-124, while Worland was outscored 286-69?

The Pythagorean expectations vary greatly because of those totals. Through that math, we would have expected Wright to win 6.1 games out of its eight with that kind of scoring margin. Instead, Wright won three, giving Wright a score of negative 3.1 (3 wins minus 6.1 predicted wins = negative 3.1). Meanwhile, we’d expect Worland to win 0.3 games out of its nine, so the Warriors’ Pythagorean score is a positive 2.7 (3-0.3=2.7).

In short: With their score differentials, Wright should have won about six games; Worland should have won zero. Instead, both teams won three games. Together, they were the biggest outliers of the 2023 season, Wright the team with the lowest number of victories from what would be expected from their season point differential, Worland the highest.

But they are still far from some of the biggest single-season outliers we’ve ever seen.

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Across the 5,469 Wyoming high school football seasons where a team played at least five games, the Pythagorean expectations correctly predicted a team’s record within one game in 3,596 cases, or about 66% of the time. (Yes, I ran the math for all 5,469.)

The outliers, though — like NSI’s 2007 season — are the most interesting.

NSI’s 2007 season was by far the biggest outlier on the positive side. On the negative side, well… meet Rawlins, whose 1928 team had a Pythagorean win expectation of 7.3 wins over their eight games. The Outlaws finished the season with a 151-56 point differential. Still, Rawlins only mustered a 3-3-2 record, a Pythagorean win expectation that was -4.3 fewer than expected. It’s the lowest mark in state history.

Oddly enough, just two years later, basically the same thing happened to Rawlins, which tied with Green River’s 1940 team for the second-worst Pythagorean outcome in state history. That year, Rawlins outscored opponents 112-41 and had a Pythagorean win expectation of 8.2 across nine games. The Outlaws went 4-4-1, a -4.2 below expectations.

The Pythagorean expectations can also be extrapolated to predict winning percentage, as well. Below are some of the best and worst outcomes we’ve seen using the Pythagorean expectations model for teams that played a minimum of five games in their season:

Best Pythagorean win differences (overachievers)
1. NSI 2007 (+4.2): Predicted 1.8 victories, actual record 6-4, point differential 150-281
2. Gebo 1932 (+3.6): Predicted 1.4 victories, actual record 5-3, point differential 66-126
3. Cheyenne East 2008 (+3.4): Predicted 3.6 victories, actual record 7-3, point differential 207-263
4t. Glenrock 1995 (+3.3): Predicted 1.7 victories, actual record 5-4, point differential 85-157
4t. Greybull 1991 (+3.3): Predicted 1.7 victories, actual record 5-3, point differential 93-161
4t. Kemmerer 1981 (+3.3): Predicted 1.7 victories, actual record 5-4, point differential 80-146
7t. Cody 1926 (+3.2): Predicted 1.8 victories, actual record 5-2, point differential 72-113
7t. Natrona 1945 (+3.2): Predicted 1.8 victories, actual record 5-4, point differential 75-134
7t. Big Piney 2007 (+3.2): Predicted 2.8 victories, actual record 6-3, point differential 122-169
10t. Evanston 2021 (+3.1): Predicted 1.9 victories, actual record 5-4, point differential 135-238
10t. Torrington 1980 (+3.1): Predicted 0.9 victories, actual record 4-3, point differential 42-94
10t. Lovell 1976 (+3.1): Predicted 0.9 victories, actual record 4-5, point differential 64-161
13t. Midwest 1956 (+3.0): Predicted 1.0 victories, actual record 4-5, point differential 65-160
13t. Cody 1953 (+3.0): Predicted 1.0 victories, actual record 4-4, point differential 113-261
13t. Pine Bluffs 1975 (+3.0): Predicted 1.0 victories, actual record 4-4, point differential 65-147
16t. Rawlins 1931 (+2.9): Predicted 1.1 victories, actual record 4-3-1, point differential 47-103
16t. Wright 2005 (+2.9): Predicted 4.1 victories, actual record 7-4, point differential 123-153
18t. Ten Sleep 1978 (+2.8): Predicted 1.2 victories, actual record 4-4, point differential 66-139
18t. Cody 1978 (+2.8): Predicted 1.2 victories, actual record 4-5, point differential 60-132
18t. Star Valley 1974 (+2.8): Predicted 1.2 victories, actual record 4-4, point differential 79-162
18t. Superior 1955 (+2.8): Predicted 1.2 victories, actual record 4-4, point differential 84-172
18t. Lingle 1925 (+2.8): Predicted 0.2 victories, actual record 3-7, point differential 58-274

Worst Pythagorean win differences (underachievers)
1. Rawlins 1928 (-4.3): Predicted 7.3 victories, actual record 3-3-2, point differential 151-56
2t. Rawlins 1930 (-4.2): Predicted 8.2 victories, actual record 4-4-1, point differential 112-41
2t. Green River 1940 (-4.2): Predicted 7.2 victories, actual record 3-2-3, point differential 94-37
4. Cheyenne Central 1920 (-4.0): Predicted 8.0 victories, actual record 4-3-2, point differential 98-40
5t. Torrington 1925 (-3.9): Predicted 6.9 victories, actual record 3-4-1, point differential 159-72
5t. Green River 1965 (-3.9): Predicted 5.9 victories, actual record 2-3-3, point differential 115-74
5t. Lingle 1936 (-3.9): Predicted 7.9 victories, actual record 4-2-3, point differential 71-31
8. Torrington 1922 (-3.8): Predicted 7.8 victories, actual record 4-5, point differential 222-101
9t. Kemmerer 1956 (-3.7): Predicted 7.7 victories, actual record 4-4-1, point differential 149-70
9t. Green River 1929 (-3.7): Predicted 6.7 victories, actual record 3-2-2, point differential 72-20
11t. Sheridan 1954 (-3.6): Predicted 7.6 victories, actual record 4-3-2, point differential 168-81
11t. Natrona 1936 (-3.6): Predicted 10.6 victories, actual record 7-1-3, point differential 156-40
11t. Kemmerer 1931 (-3.6): Predicted 9.6 victories, actual record 6-2-2, point differential 169-46
11t. Rawlins 1940 (-3.6): Predicted 9.6 victories, actual record 6-3-1, point differential 191-52
Since 2000:
1. Burlington 2005 (-3.5): Predicted 8.5 victories, actual record 5-4, point differential 322-101
2. Mountain View 2000 (-3.3): Predicted 8.3 victories, actual record 5-5, point differential 253-131
3. Wright 2023 (-3.1): Predicted 6.1 victories, actual record 3-5, point differential 201-124
4t. Rock Springs 2019 (-3.0): Predicted 7.0 victories, actual record 4-6, point differential 246-172
4t. Sheridan 2020 (-3.0): Predicted 10.0 victories, actual record 7-4, point differential 390-148
6. Pine Bluffs 2011 (-2.9): Predicted 7.9 victories, actual record 5-4, point differential 196-84

Best Pythagorean win percentage differences (overachievers)
1. Superior 1944: Predicted win percentage 0.083, actual win percentage 0.600, difference +0.517, point differential 21-58
2. Cody 1926: Predicted win percentage 0.256, actual win percentage 0.714, difference +0.459, point differential 72-113
3. Gebo 1932: Predicted win percentage 0.178, actual win percentage 0.625, difference +0.447, point differential 66-126
4. Torrington 1980: Predicted win percentage 0.129, actual win percentage 0.571, difference +0.442, point differential 42-94
5. Rawlins 1931: Predicted win percentage 0.135, actual win percentage 0.563, difference +0.428, point differential 47-103
6. Lovell 1942: Predicted win percentage 0.158, actual win percentage 0.583, difference +0.425, point differential 38-77
7. NSI 2007: Predicted win percentage 0.184, actual win percentage 0.600, difference +0.416, point differential 150-281
8. Greybull 1991: Predicted win percentage 0.214, actual win percentage 0.625, difference +0.411, point differential 93-161
9. Sunrise 1949: Predicted win percentage 0.208, actual win percentage 0.600, difference +0.392, point differential 100-176
10. Guernsey 1937: Predicted win percentage 0.215, actual win percentage 0.600, difference +0.385, point differential 33-57
Since 2000:
1. NSI 2007: Predicted win percentage 0.184, actual win percentage 0.600, difference +0.416, point differential 150-281
2. Big Piney 2007: Predicted win percentage 0.316, actual win percentage 0.667, difference +0.351, point differential 122-169
3. Evanston 2021: Predicted win percentage 0.207, actual win percentage 0.556, difference +0.349, point differential 135-238
4. Cheyenne East 2008: Predicted win percentage 0.362, actual win percentage 0.700, difference +0.338, point differential 207-263
5. Saratoga 2015: Predicted win percentage 0.070, actual win percentage 0.375, difference +0.305, point differential 98-291

Worst Pythagorean win percentage differences (underachievers)
1. Sundance 1933: Predicted win percentage 0.834, actual win percentage 0.333, difference -0.500, point differential 79-40
2. Gebo 1930: Predicted win percentage 0.884, actual win percentage 0.400, difference, -0.484, point differential 59-25
3. Sunrise 1939: Predicted win percentage 0.875, actual win percentage 0.400, difference -0.475, point differential 59-26
4. Wheatland 1981: Predicted win percentage 0.816, actual win percentage 0.375, difference -0.441, point differential 133-71
5. Cowley 1925: Predicted win percentage 0.576, actual win percentage 0.143, difference -0.434, point differential 82-72
6. Lingle 1940: Predicted win percentage 0.931, actual win percentage 0.500, difference -0.431, point differential 132-44
7. Torrington 1925: Predicted win percentage 0.867, actual win percentage 0.438, difference -0.430, point differential 159-72
8. Torrington 1922: Predicted win percentage 0.866, actual win percentage 0.444, difference -0.422, point differential 222-101
9. Rawlins 1942: Predicted win percentage 0.916, actual win percentage 0.500, difference -0.416, point differential 107-39
10. Rawlins 1930: Predicted win percentage 0.915, actual win percentage 0.500, difference -0.415, point differential 112-41
Since 2000:
1t. Burlington 2005: Predicted win percentage 0.940, actual win percentage 0.556, difference -0.384, point differential 322-101
1t. Wright 2023: Predicted win percentage 0.759, actual win percentage 0.375, difference -0.384, point differential 201-124
3t. Mountain View 2000: Predicted win percentage 0.828, actual win percentage 0.500, difference -0.326, point differential 253-131
3t. Pine Bluffs 2011: Predicted win percentage 0.882, actual win percentage 0.556, difference -0.326, point differential 196-84
5. Lusk 2019: Predicted win percentage 0.803, actual win percentage 0.500, difference -0.303, point differential 304-168

–patrick

As Sheridan chases state record, Byron’s alleged 43-game win streak comes under the microscope

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As Sheridan enters the 2024 season on a 31-game winning streak, the talk of a state record is inescapable.

Sheridan is just three games away from tying, and four games from breaking, the winning streak of 34 games set by Laramie from 1959-63. The Broncs are also six games from breaking Worland’s unbeaten streak of 36 games (34-0-2), set from 1953-56.

Already, Sheridan’s winning streak is the longest of the past 60 years of Wyoming high school football.

But four games from the winning streak record and six games from the unbeaten streak record, another football winning streak from a Wyoming high school looms like a ghost over them all.

Now-defunct Byron High School, a community in northwestern Wyoming that now provides a big chunk of the students for Rocky Mountain High School, has a streak that could top them all.

The Eagles, in a streak from 1945 to 1950, won 43 consecutive games. Or 42. Or 35. Or 33. Or 28. Or maybe it was a conference winning streak. Not sure.

That uncertainty of the actual length of the streak keeps it from being listed at the claimed length of 43 on this site’s state record streaks.

We do know when the streak ended. Here’s a portion of a report in the Billings Gazette from Oct. 14, 1950:

“The Cowley Jaguars, relying heavily on a good passing attack, defeated the Byron six-man football team, 35 to 6, at Byron Friday to halt a 43-game winning streak by the Eagles who established a national record. The Big Horn Basin conference defeat was the first for Coach W.A. Mower’s team since 1944.”

Yep. A Wyoming team held the national six-man record for consecutive victories.

Well, allegedly.

Of the 43 games claimed as a part of this streak, only 28 can be verified — one to end the season in 1945, four in 1946, five in 1947, seven in 1948, eight in 1949 and three to start the season in 1950.

Trying to count Byron’s 43 victories feels like chasing ghosts, a pursuit of phantom games that exist only in a tally but not independently, separate from it.

The problems in the count are immediately evident from the report above. We know Byron lost at least one game in 1945, that a 34-12 loss to Bridger, Mont., on Oct. 26. Already, we have a direct contradiction to the idea in the article that the streak started in 1944. That said, the loss to Bridger was a nonconference game, and Byron’s last conference loss did come in 1944, that a 54-6 loss to Basin.

So maybe the streak was just conference games? If the Bridger loss in 1945 isn’t counted, the streak grows to 33. Byron’s final game of the 1944 season was a 46-0 loss to the Heart Mountain JV team. If you don’t count that nonconference game, then the streak grows to 35, with that 48-point loss to Basin interrupting the win streak — except, one thing. We don’t know what date the Basin game was played on.

With all that in mind, we have a much harder time figuring out when the streak started in the midst of all of that rigmarole.

Finding the starting point isn’t the only problem. Games also might be missing from the middle of the streak.

A Nov. 6, 1946, Billings Gazette report says Byron had “six conference wins” during the 1946 season by a total margin of 241-66 for the Eagles’ “second undefeated season.” (Again, are we not counting that Bridger loss in 1945?) But only four games in that season are accounted for. Chasing ghosts.

A year later, a Nov. 15, 1947, Billings Gazette report says the 1947 Eagles finished 6-0 in conference play with a scoring margin of 271-66. But only five games are listed in the article — not coincidentally, the five games listed on this site. The game had to come before Oct. 17, though… as an Oct. 20, 1947, report in the Gazette noted Byron’s victory against Cowley was the team’s fourth consecutive victory that season. On this site, it’s Byron’s third game. Another phantom.

Finally, as the Eagles polished off another championship in 1949 by beating Reliance in the title game, another Billings Gazette report said the title-game victory was Byron’s 40th in a row over a five-year period; another Gazette report earlier in the month said Byron hadn’t lost since losing to Bridger in 1944. Two problems: Byron and Bridger didn’t play in 1944; they played in 1945. And a five-year period only goes back to 1945.

To get to 43 victories between the Bridger loss on Oct. 26, 1945, and the Cowley loss on Oct. 13, 1950, the Eagles would have played more than eight games per season. It’s possible… but knowing the Eagles only played six games in 1947, right in the middle of the streak, puts a big question mark on the veracity of that mark of 43. Right now, no full season in Byron’s streak has more than eight verified games.

In short, right now, the only way Byron’s streak gets to 43 consecutive victories is if you don’t count losses. And, well, that’s antithetical to the idea of a winning streak. Even then, we’re still eight games short.

Let’s make this a little more confusing. A note in the May 3, 1951, Casper Star-Tribune said the “Six-man Football” magazine listed Byron’s national record at 42 games, not 43. The Billings Gazette echoed the 42-game mark in an article in December of that same year. The reason for all this attention to Byron’s record at the end of 1951? Well, the record, whatever it was, did not last a year. Claremont, South Dakota, overtook Byron for the national six-man record and had won 44 straight by the end of the 1951 season on its way to a 61-game winning streak.

I have always been hesitant to list Byron’s alleged 43-game winning streak as Wyoming’s best. The math just never added up. The ghosts are just too elusive.

Yet, as Sheridan engages in a chase for state records this fall, I felt it was important to at least acknowledge the possibility that the Eagles did, indeed, win 43 straight. It’s possible the Eagles have had the record all along. It’s possible that Sheridan could go 12-0 again in 2024 and still only have enough victories to tie Byron for the record.

But I don’t believe in ghosts. I believe in what I can see. For now, I see 28 games. And for me, that’s what Byron’s win streak has to be.

–patrick

1986 Class 3A: The championship nobody wanted

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“Sometimes the distance from point A to point B is not always a straight line. Sometimes it takes funny curves along the way.” –Jackson football coach Jim Rooks, speaking to the Jackson Hole Guide, Nov. 11, 1986

In the history of Wyoming high school football, no championship chase has seen more curves than the Class 3A championship race from 1986.

In that season, six different teams were ranked No. 1, and neither of the two teams ranked No. 1 in the final two weeks of the regular season played in the state championship game. Every team in the classification finished with at least three losses. Neither the East nor the West Conference had an undefeated champion. And every single top-ranked team eventually fell victim to “the curse.”

Ultimately, the Class 3A title race of 1986 was one where several teams had a chance, but seemingly none of them wanted to win.

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(Optional but recommended: To establish the correct atmosphere for reading this post, I recommend that you click on the following YouTube video and let it play in the background as you read.)

The preseason buzz in Class 3A heading into 1986 was where it belonged: squarely on the shoulders of the defending champions. In 1985, Evanston overcame a pair of early losses and swept through the 3A West part of its schedule. The Red Devils, in doing so, earned the right to host the championship game, and once there Evanston blew out Torrington by 39 points to win its first championship since 1951.

But Evanston had a problem. All six of its all-state choices had been seniors, and none of the seniors entering 1986 were returning starters, leaving the defending champs inexperienced all over the field — and, as it turns out, overrated.

A bunch of suitors were ready to take the Red Devils’ place. As a Class 3A preseason story in the Casper Star-Tribune on Sept. 5 of that year noted in its lead: “At least eight teams could win the 1986 3-A state title…”

There was Torrington, runner-up the year before and talented. There was Glenrock, 6-2 the year before and experienced on the backfield. There was Douglas, 5-4 in 1985 but with a dozen returning starters. There was Star Valley, traditionally tough and rebuilding. There was Wheatland, steadily improving and just a year removed from the title it had earned in ’84. There was Jackson, which brought back eight senior starters. There was Powell, which boasted 21 returning lettermen in the senior class alone. And then there were Buffalo, Worland, Newcastle and Thermopolis, all eager to prove they, too, belonged in the discussion.

Then came Week 1, the first curve in the road.

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WEEK 1

Of those 12 Class 3A teams, only three earned victories to open the season — Glenrock’s 14-8 nail-biter against Thermopolis; Jackson’s 27-0 shutout of Livingston, Montana; and Star Valley’s 15-14 squeaker against Rock Springs.

Preseason No. 1 Evanston lost, 15-12 to Green River. So had No. 2 Torrington, losing 12-7 to Kimball, Neb. So had No. 3 Wheatland, losing 12-6 in overtime to Cheyenne East. So had No. 5 Douglas, taking a 19-6 beating from Rawlins.

Jackson’s Broncs, the only ranked team to win, shot to the top of the polls.

Rankings after Week 1: 1. Jackson, 2. Evanston, 3t. Torrington, Star Valley, 5. Wheatland.

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WEEK 2

If Week 2 was supposed to bring stability to the Class 3A race, it didn’t.

Jackson’s good fortune ran out in a 12-10 loss to South Fremont, Idaho. Defending champion and No. 2 Evanston lost again, this time 28-0 to Rawlins. And Torrington lost again, this time 24-6 to Cody.

Just like that, the three teams ranked 1-2-3 all lost.

Star Valley emerged as the shining beacon of hope in the second week, taking out Bear Lake, Idaho, 13-3 to join Wheatland (35-8 over Thermopolis) as the only ranked teams to win. Meanwhile, Powell — idle in Week 1 — made a statement by beating Buffalo on the road, 13-6, and Glenrock improved to 2-0 by beating Morrill, Neb., 34-18.

And in a game few people paid attention to at the time, Worland knocked off Douglas 14-6. By the time the season would finish, both teams would be key players in the championship race; right now, it was a nonconference game between two unranked opponents.

Rankings after Week 2: 1. Star Valley, 2. Wheatland, 3. Glenrock, 4. Jackson, 5. Powell.

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WEEK 3

In three weeks of rankings and two weeks of play, three different West teams had enjoyed the top spot in the rankings. Star Valley, lightly regarded but still a threat after a 2-6 season in 1985, became the first to enjoy it, taking a bye in Week 3 and keeping the threats to the No. 1 spot at bay.

Meanwhile, Wheatland caved to the pressure. As did Jackson. As did Powell. All three ranked teams lost: No. 2 Wheatland 43-17 to Rock Springs, No. 4 Jackson 7-6 in overtime to Green River and No. 5 Powell 7-0 to Cody. Once again, it was Glenrock — unranked to start the season — that came out on the other end victorious, a 15-8 W against Rawlins to its credit.

But defending champ Evanston lost, again, as did Worland; Buffalo beat a JV team; Torrington barely survived against a smaller Mitchell, Neb., team. Who wants to win this thing?

Rankings after Week 3: 1. Star Valley, 2. Glenrock, 3. Jackson, 4. Powell, 5. Wheatland.

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WEEK 4

Star Valley’s first chance to defend its No. 1 ranking went just as well as it had for the other teams who had been in the same position so far this year.

Not well.

The Braves couldn’t put a single point up against Green River, falling 6-0 and losing their grip on the top spot in the rankings in the process. And they lost that No. 1 spot to… Glenrock, which couldn’t screw up its fast start while taking a bye week.

But Jackson lost, as did Wheatland — Jackson 23-13 to Lander, Wheatland 36-6 to Rawlins — as the majority of ranked teams again lost. Powell was the only ranked survivor, and even that wasn’t all that impressive, a 20-14 overtime victory against a struggling Riverton program. Evanston and Worland also lost nonconference games, but the East started to take shape as Douglas beat Buffalo 14-0 to move to 2-0 in league play.

At this point, 3A teams were a combined 17-28.

Rankings after Week 4: 1. Glenrock, 2. Star Valley, 3. Powell, 4. Torrington, 5. Jackson.

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WEEK 5

By virtue of its non-loss against “bye” in Week 4, Glenrock jumped into the top spot of the 3A rankings heading into Week 5.

Guess what? The Herders promptly lost, continuing a streak of losses by 3A No. 1 teams — who were now 0-4 while playing with that ranking to start the 1986 season.

A 17-0 thumping at the hands of unranked Wheatland ended the Herders’ perfect start and sent them freefalling down the East Conference standings, where Douglas and Wheatland shared the top spot at 2-0 despite mirroring overall records of 2-3. While Wheatland was beating Glenrock, Douglas was losing, again, this time to Scottsbluff, Neb., in a game that didn’t affect the conference race.

In the 2-vs.-3 matchup between Star Valley and Powell, the higher-ranked team lost. Because of course they did, as was now tradition in 1986 3A play. Powell survived the trip to Afton and left victors, 24-22, and were the highest-ranked team to win that week.

Torrington did survive despite being in the rankings, blanking downtrodden Newcastle 21-0, and Jackson, too, came away victorious, 22-6 against Worland in a game that few realized the importance of at the time.

Rankings after Week 5: 1. Powell, 2. Torrington, 3. Glenrock, 4. Star Valley, 5. Jackson.

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WEEK 6

The Powell Panthers had earned their spot atop the 3A rankings, coming in with a 3-1 record and a focus on ending the curse that had plagued No. 1 teams all year.

Did it work?

Do you even need to ask?

Final score: Worland 3, Powell 0.

Just like every other 3A No. 1 team before them, Powell failed at its opportunity to retain its prestige.

Two East teams, however, proved up to the pressure. Both Torrington and Glenrock won — the Trailblazers beating rival Wheatland 27-12 and Glenrock edging past Buffalo 21-7 — to justify their spots. And Star Valley won big, 41-6 over Thermopolis.

As for Jackson? Well, winless Evanston (Remember Evanston? This is a story about Evanston.) picked up its first victory of the year, and how, in a 27-7 shellacking of the Broncs in Uinta County. With the victory, Evanston was now the lone remaining undefeated team in West Conference play at — get this — 1-0.

Rankings after Week 6: 1. Torrington, 2. Glenrock, 3. Star Valley, 4. Powell, 5. Douglas.

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WEEK 7

Just seven weeks into the season, Torrington became already the sixth different Class 3A program to be voted to the top of the rankings.

For their sins, Torrington was scheduled to face Glenrock, who just happened to be ranked second and was the only one-loss team remaining in 3A at 4-1. (Remember how Wheatland beat Glenrock 17-0? Yeah, Wheatland, now 2-4 and unranked… yeah.)

But curses don’t last forever, and the Trailblazers did everything they could to end this stupid trend. And they did just that, embarrassing the Herders on their own field in doing so in a 35-0 Trailblazer road romp.

No. 1 had finally proven worthy of the ranking.

No. 3 wasn’t, though. Star Valley’s resurgence ended with a 22-21 loss to Worland that sent the Braves to the West Conference cellar at 0-2 in league play. Evanston couldn’t keep its West record spotless any longer either, though, and Powell’s 32-0 beatdown of the Red Devils turned some heads.

Torrington looked set. With Wheatland beating Douglas 20-13 to KO the No. 5 team, the Trailblazers were alone as the only undefeated team in East play. And they were still No. 1.

Rankings after Week 7: 1. Torrington, 2. Powell, 3. Glenrock, 4. Star Valley, 5. Worland.

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WEEK 8

At home, No. 1, in control of their postseason destiny and facing an unranked team with a losing record, Torrington had every reason to be confident heading into Week 8 against Douglas.

But the curse? The one they had buried deep in the end zone in Glenrock? Well, it crawled out of the dirt, attached itself to the team bus before it left town, hung around Goshen County for a few days and showed up at Wiseman Field right around kickoff to take a big ol’ dump on Torrington’s plans. At the end of it all, Torrington had lost control of everything — ranking, championship hopes, all of it — in a 12-6 loss to Douglas.

No. 1, losers again.

The East race was just as exciting in the middle, as Buffalo upset Wheatland 22-7. Heading into the final week of the regular season, five of the six playoff-eligible East teams — Douglas, Torrington, Wheatland, Glenrock and Buffalo — were still alive for the conference championship. ADs actually set plans for what would happen in case of a five-way tie for the East title, which was a mathematical possibility.

Powell smelled its opportunity to jump back to No. 1 all the way from Goshen County, and the Panthers made good by shellacking Thermopolis by 40. But Star Valley couldn’t make good on its ranking, losing to Jackson for the first time since 1981, 17-6, to all but fall out of title contention. And Worland barely survived against one-win Evanston, 15-8.

Rankings after Week 8: 1. Powell, 2. Torrington, 3. Glenrock, 4. Worland, 5. Douglas.

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WEEK 9

Powell was in the absolute dumbest of situations as the No. 1-ranked team heading into the final week of the regular season.

Powell and its Week 9 opponent, unranked Jackson, were both 2-1 in the West. They were both chasing Worland, which was 3-1 and off playing winless Thermopolis in a nonconference game to end the regular season.

If Powell lost, Jackson and Worland would tie, and Jackson would win the tiebreaker. If Powell won, Powell and Worland would tie, and Worland would win the tiebreaker.

So despite being top-ranked, tied with Glenrock for the best 3A record (5-2) and potential conference co-champion, Powell’s season would end against Jackson, no matter what.

You could call it a curse. But this was simply a case of one team having something to play for and the other one not. Jackson took that spot, beating Powell 12-0 in the shadows of the Tetons to tie for the conference title, win a tiebreaker and earn its spot in the 3A championship game.

Yes, that Jackson. The one that’s not anywhere to be found in this week’s rankings, that entered the final week at .500, victim of the curse in Week 2, losers to one-win Evanston. Those guys. Title game.

And No. 1 had lost again.

Meanwhile, in the East, it was Douglas — ranked behind conference rivals Torrington and Glenrock — that has the biggest say in its postseason fate. With the potential five-way tie looming, the Bearcats did their part to avoid it, beating Converse County rival Glenrock 25-22 to win the East’s bid to the title game. Never mind what Torrington did. Incidentally, the Trailblazers beat Buffalo 8-0. Didn’t matter. With both teams at 4-1 in league play, Douglas had won the tiebreaker with its victory against Torrington (the curse game last week).

Ranked No. 5 to start the week, Douglas was in. And hosting.

Rankings after Week 9: 1. Torrington, 2. Douglas, 3. Jackson, 4. Powell, 5. Wheatland.

Standings after Week 9
East
Douglas 5-1 5-4
Torrington 4-1 6-3
Wheatland 4-2 4-5
Glenrock 3-3 5-3
Buffalo 3-3 4-5
Newcastle 1-5 2-7
Thermopolis 0-5 0-9
West
Jackson 3-1 5-4
Worland 3-1 5-4
Powell 2-2 5-3
Star Valley 1-3 4-4
Evanston 1-3 1-7

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CHAMPIONSHIP

Entering the final week of the regular season, Jackson was unranked, Douglas was No. 5. Now, with identical nonthreatening 5-4 records, and with neither team sporting the No. 1 ranking (no threat of a curse, at least…), they faced off for the 3A championship.

Again, the question arose: Does anyone actually want to win this thing?

Douglas took a 16-0 lead in the third quarter, but the fact that the Bearcats only had 16 points after four Jackson turnovers, including several in Douglas territory, kept the momentum from totally swinging Douglas’ way. Once Jackson did get on the board to cut it to 16-8, Douglas lost the momentum war and fumbled deep in its own territory. However, when Jackson scored again to make it 16-14, the Broncs couldn’t convert on the potential game-tying 2-point conversion.

Late in the fourth quarter, Douglas fumbled, again, near midfield, and Jackson got a big pass play to get inside the Bearcat 5-yard line. But three rushes produced less than three yards, meaning the foot of Bill Wiley — later head coach of the Broncs, but just a sophomore lineman/kicker at the time — would be the one to decide it all.

For once, someone decided that No. 1 wasn’t such a bad thing.

Wiley’s field-goal kick from 19 yards was true. Douglas’ last drive ended with an interception, and Jackson ran out the clock to win the title 17-16 in the weirdest, wackiest, most curse-ridden season across a single classification in state history.

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POSTSCRIPT

As defending champion, Jackson started the 1987 3A season ranked No. 1. The Broncs lost to Lander 29-7 in their season opener.

–patrick

Go Panthers! Go Camels! Wait… which one?

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On eBay right now, you can buy this custom license plate supporting the Powell Panthers.

If you happen to live in eastern Park County, it would be a pretty cool move to have one of these hanging in your office or den.

It’s just that your dollars would be going to Tennessee, not Wyoming.

And that is because Wyoming’s orange-and-black Powell High School Panthers are not the only orange-and-black Powell High School Panthers in America.

In fact, Wyoming’s cats share a name, a mascot and a set of colors with Powell High School in Tennessee.

Powell is one of two Wyoming high schools to share a name, a mascot and a color scheme with another American high school. Campbell County’s Camels have doppelgangers in Alexandria, Kentucky. I mean, come on — none of these shirts would look out of place in Gillette. But your dollars would support the Bluegrass State.

Using MascotDB.com’s search capabilities, I found that Campbell County and Powell are the only two Wyoming high schools to have their name and colors replicated by another high school program somewhere else in America. That said, three others have had their name and mascot repeated — just not their colors.

The United States is a big country. Those kinds of repeats are understandable.

But I still think it would be fun to settle it, once and for all, on the field.

I’d like to see the two Powell teams and the two Campbell County teams on each other’s schedules next year. And, heck, let’s make the stakes high: Winner gets to keep their mascot and colors. Loser has to change at least one of them.

Logistics aside — distance, cost, 4A round-robin schedule, the fact that no one at any of these four schools would actually want to risk giving up their identity on the result of one game — it’s a fun thought. If the visual identity of your entire school or community was on the line, how hard would you play? How hard would you cheer? How many shirts or novelty license plates would you buy? And, wait a minute… isn’t having a twin actually kind of fun?

Regardless, if you ever find yourself in Alexandria, Kentucky, or Powell, Tennessee, keep your eyes peeled. You just might see a little slice of Wyoming.

–patrick

Does six-man football have a blowout problem?

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From the perspective of a fan who has no rooting interest, a close game always makes for a more interesting experience than a blowout.

And from that perspective, Wyoming’s six-man classification in 2022 may have given us some of the most boring football we’ve ever seen.

Last year in Class 1A six-man, the chances were significantly better that the game would end with a running clock than in a down-to-the-wire finish — and it wasn’t even close.

More than 61% of six-man games in 2022 (36 of 59) ended with the winning team winning by at least 45 points, the cutoff point for the mercy-rule running clock. This included all seven playoff games. Only two of those 59 six-man games (3.4%) were decided by a margin of a single possession or less. Overall, only 10 of those 59 games last season were decided by less than 20 points.

The average margin of victory was 44.3 points.

Not all that exciting.

The hope is that the blowout trend in 2022 was just an anomaly. After all, the 61% blowout rate was the highest at the six-man level since its return to Wyoming in 2009. And the 3.4% single-possession game rate was the lowest.

Blowouts have always been more plentiful than single-possession games, but the differences in 2022 were stark:

YearTotal gamesMargin 45 or moreMargin 8 or lessPercent finishing with mercy rulePercent single-possesison
20094113431.7%9.8%
20104118443.9%9.8%
20114819339.6%6.3%
20124816933.3%18.8%
20136231450.0%6.5%
20145930750.8%11.9%
20155922537.3%8.5%
20167234447.2%5.6%
20176736453.7%6.0%
20186626739.4%10.6%
20196833748.5%10.3%
20205718731.6%12.3%
202150211042.0%20.0%
20225936261.0%3.4%

Some hope that 2023 might return to some kind of normalcy is the fact that the 2021 season was maybe six-man’s most exciting. In that season, 20% of six-man games finished as one-possession games, the highest rate since six-man’s return in 2009.

–patrick

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