Mountain View’s 42-35 Week 2 victory against Lovell was more than just an important 2A West victory for the Buffalos.
It also represented a changing of the guard atop the Buffalos’ school records.
With the victory, coach Brent Walk earned his 91st W as head coach at Mountain View. That surpassed the total of Don Dinnel, who led Mountain View to 90 victories in 14 seasons as the Buffalos’ head coach from 1989 to 2002.
Walk, now in his 13th season leading Mountain View, is now the all-time leader in victories in school history. He joins a group of 13 other Wyoming head coaches who are the career victory leaders at their schools.
By the end of this season, three other coaches could join that club.
In addition to Walk, the other school leaders, with their victory totals entering this week, are:
- Steve Harsman, Natrona, 236
- Chad Goff, Cheyenne East, 134
- Larry Yeradi, Wright, 97
- Dale Anderson, Lyman, 80
- Andy Garland, Upton-Sundance, 79 (He has 113 total victories between Upton and Upton-Sundance.)
- Will Gray, Pine Bluffs, 72
- Jack Cobb, Snake River, 61
- Matt Conzelman, Newcastle, 59
- Trent Pikula, Thunder Basin, 52
- Trent Aagard, Burlington, 49
- Zack Scott, Hanna, 40
- Kegan Willford, Encampment, 35
- Ryan Harrison, Casper Christian, 6
The coaches within striking distance of their school records this year are Cheyenne South’s Eli Moody, Kaycee’s Dave Largent and Star Valley’s McKay Young — and they’re all approaching their records from different angles.
Moody’s Bison have yet to win a game, but South’s career victories record (seven by Dan Gallas) is technically still achievable this season.
Largent’s Buckaroos are 1-3, but with five weeks left in the regular season, reaching five victories — what it would take to overtake current school leader Dustin Sipe at 32 — is still attainable, as well.
And Young’s Braves have potentially the most achievable task ahead. Young enters this week with 78 victories at Star Valley. The school record, set by both Jerry Hart and Robert Linford, is 83. Five more victories for a team that’s already 4-0? Definitely doable.
This week, South hosts Rock Springs, Kaycee travels to Basin to play Riverside and Star Valley makes the trip to Jackson.
And, yes, Mountain View hosts Kemmerer as Walk tries to build on his own school record, just like 13 other coaches will try to do this weekend. (Oddly enough, two of those games this week are Natrona at Cheyenne East, and Casper Christian hosting Encampment, games matching up two programs with coaches who have their school records.)
Their coaches’ records will be a small part of the season’s story — but a part nonetheless.
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Other stuff to keep an eye on in Week 4? Well…
The 3A West will have some of the best football of the week as we get two definitive rival games — Cody heading to Powell and Star Valley trekking to Jackson — and another one with a lot of deep history, with Evanston hosting Green River. It’s a heck of a way to start conference play. …
The Class 1A nine-man East Conference has four teams that are 3-0 in Lingle, Pine Bluffs, Saratoga and Southeast. They don’t play each other this week. They don’t play each other next week. If they win out, we could enter Week 6 with four teams at 5-0 in that conference. Wild. (And if you’re looking ahead, it’s Lingle/Southeast and Pine Bluffs/Saratoga in Week 6, Lingle/Pine Bluffs and Saratoga/Southeast in Week 7, and Lingle/Saratoga and Pine Bluffs/Southeast in Week 8.) …
I mentioned it briefly above, but Natrona’s game with East is one of the most interesting on the schedule not only for this week, but for this season. A home playoff game might be on the line. …
This week’s coin-flip, I-have-even-less-of-a-clue-than-usual games? Cheyenne Central playing at (winless how?) Thunder Basin, and Dubois traveling to Hanna. Yes, I literally flipped a coin. Both are really intriguing matchups that will help clear up my confusion about some things. Or maybe add to it.
Streak watch: Sheridan can tie the state record for longest unbeaten streak this week with a victory against Kelly Walsh. That would give the Broncs 36 consecutive games without a loss, potentially tying the record set by Worland from 1953-56, which went had 34 victories and two ties in its 36-game stretch.
Meanwhile, Cheyenne South is still on the losing end of 42 consecutive games, already a state record. Friday’s game against Rock Springs will be South’s second of four home games this season, and a loss at home on Friday will give South the state record for longest home winless streak at 20 games. That record right now belongs to Saratoga, which went 0-18-1 over 19 home games from 1965-70.
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A quick note on last week’s game between Torrington and Yuma, Colo., an 8-3 loss for the Trailblazers. Turns out 8-3 is Wyoming high school football scorigami, meaning it’s the first time in state history that a game has ended with a final score of 8-3. It’s also a super-rare “low” scorigami, with both teams in single digits.
So far this season, seven other games have been scorigami games, with six of those seven happening in the six-man ranks. Oddly enough, Hulett has played in three straight: 85-74 (Hulett over Hanna in Week 1), 66-36 (Riverside over Hulett in Week 2), and 53-48 (Meeteetse over Hulett in Week 3). Others achieved this season include 64-52 (Hanna over Midwest in Week 0), 84-6 (Cheyenne East over Cheyenne South in Week 1), 71-32 (Encampment over the Natrona JV in Week 2), and 52-41 (Farson over Hanna in Week 3).
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Picks in bold. Efficiency.
Thursday
Class 1A nine-man
Wind River at Wyoming Indian
Interclass
Cheyenne South JV at Pine Bluffs
Friday
Class 4A
Campbell County at Laramie
Cheyenne Central at Thunder Basin
Kelly Walsh at Sheridan
Natrona at Cheyenne East
Rock Springs at Cheyenne South
Class 3A
Buffalo at Rawlins
Cody at Powell
Douglas at Riverton
Green River at Evanston
Star Valley at Jackson
Torrington at Lander
Class 2A
Big Horn at Burns
Glenrock at Wheatland
Lyman at Worland
Pinedale at Cokeville
Thermopolis at Lovell
Upton-Sundance at Moorcroft
Class 1A nine-man
Greybull at Shoshoni
Lingle at Wright
Rocky Mountain at Big Piney
Southeast at Lusk
Class 1A six-man
Dubois at Hanna
Ten Sleep at Meeteetse
Saturday
Class 2A
Kemmerer at Mountain View
Tongue River at Newcastle
Class 1A six-man
Burlington at Hulett
Encampment at Casper Christian
Farson at Snake River
Kaycee at Riverside
Saratoga’s game at Guernsey was canceled, while Midwest’s game with the Kelly Walsh JV on Saturday has been shifted to a scrimmage. For a full schedule including kickoff times, click here.
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Here are the results of my picks from last week and this season:
Last week: 20-12 (63 percent). This season: 80-31 (72 percent). By the way, I’m not counting forfeits. Maybe I should, because last week was the roughest week for picks in awhile.
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What teams are you watching for the midway point of the regular season? Who’s been surprising, in either direction, for you? Leave a comment here, or hit me up on the Facebook page or on Twitter.
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–patrick
Updated 7:58 a.m. MDT Sept. 26 to fix Walk’s first name. My apologies.