Wyoming high school football all-decade teams: The 1920s/1930s

The roster

Don Harkins	QB	Worland
Irvin Redhair	QB	Sheridan
Wayne Colvin	RB	Cheyenne Central
Carl Dir	RB	Worland
Lee Kizzire	RB	Greybull
Martin Krpan	RB	Rock Springs
Buster Long	RB	Buffalo
Harry Braisted	WR	Laramie
Ralph Cottrell	WR	Worland
John Hancock	WR	Natrona
Lewis Roney	WR	Powell
Wedge Thompson	WR	Thermopolis
Taft Harris	TE	Natrona
Ben Joyce	TE	Sheridan
Leonard Scott	TE	Natrona
Jack Astle	OL	Cheyenne Central
Oscar Erickson	OL	Cheyenne Central
John Erickson	OL	Cheyenne Central
Verle Harlow	OL	Natrona
Thomas Kassis	OL	Natrona
Tim Moynihan	OL	Rawlins
Gene Moore	OL	Natrona
Clayton Thobro	OL	Rock Springs
Roy Thompson	OL	Sheridan
Walter Bentley	DL	Natrona
Win Croft	DL	Lovell
Sam Mavrakis	DL	Sheridan
Fremont Miller	DL	Lander
Pete Sedar	DL	Natrona
Vince Smith	DL	Cheyenne Central
Ken Sturman	DL	Lusk
Herbert Gage	LB	Cheyenne Central
Lucien Moncini	LB	Sheridan
Vic Niethammer	LB	Natrona
Bob Price	LB	Natrona
Ivan Threet	LB	Lovell
Lewis Williams	LB	Laramie
Johnny Winterholler	LB	Lovell
Willis Ball	DB	Rock Springs/Sheridan
Walter Cook	DB	Natrona
Franklin “Duke” DeForest	DB	Laramie
Thurlow Doyle	DB	Sheridan
Jesse Ekdall	DB	Cheyenne Central
Fred Marble	DB	Cheyenne Central
Paul Sanders	DB	Basin
Glenn Stanton	DB	Natrona
Ken Bird	Rover	Sheridan
Ervin Cheney	Rover	Lander
Bill Albright	K	Natrona
Bill Strannigan	P	Rock Springs
Jeff Doyle	RS	Sheridan
William “Kayo” Lam	ATH	Glenrock
Earl “Shadow” Ray	ATH	Natrona

Hardest players to leave off the team: Walt McDonald and Harry Barnes (Worland); Wes Christensen (Laramie); Ken Gardner (Star Valley); Dan Sedar, Bill Logan, Lee Shrum and Stan Hendrickson (Natrona); Fay Thompson (Midwest); Hugh Crawford and Clarence Smith (Cheyenne Central).

Impressions: The first of eight all-decade teams kicks off with this combined team from the 1920s and 1930s, although I probably could have made separate teams for both decades. … This is by far the smallest of the teams, weight-wise. For players whose weights could be found, the offensive line averages only 188 pounds; the defensive line only averages 182. The offensive line is the second-smallest of any team. … Several team members were not stars in high school but flourished in college. That includes Kayo Lam, who didn’t even play high school football in Glenrock but became a star in the Colorado backfield. Two others are Rawlins’ Tim Moynihan and Natrona’s Thomas Kassis, who were mainstays in the offensive line at Notre Dame while the Irish were busy winning national championships and piling up unbeaten seasons. … Several members of Wyoming’s 1943 national championship basketball team are also all-decade selections (on this team, Shadow Ray), while Taft Harris was part of Wyoming’s 1934 national championship team, proving that athleticism goes well beyond one sport. … World War II took a notable toll on both this team and the 1940s/1950s team, but Lee Kizzire’s story deserves to be told more often.

Up next: The 1940s/1950s, Monday.

–patrick