Archive for November, 2009
Friday, November 20th, 2009
More six-man football
As I promised last Saturday, here are some additional quotes from my interviews for the enterprise story I wrote on the addition of six-man football to the Wyoming high school ranks.
Kaycee coach Dustin Sipe
Kaycee used to bus kids to Buffalo to play football. During two-a-days that meant nearly four hours per day spent on a bus.
“They gained a lot of valuable football experience, but it was a lot of work to stay up on studies and commit that time. Having our own football team has been huge for academics because they’ve got so much more time to do homework.”
Sipe also sees Montana’s six-man growth as the model for Wyoming.
“Montana started out with 10 in their league and, I believe, they’ve got 28 now. I see a lot more (Wyoming teams) joining. I’ve heard of more teams that want to join already.”
Guernsey-Sunrise coach Casey Moats
The coach of this year’s state champion also sees a bright future for six-man football in the Cowboy State.
“There are other schools (in Class 1A) that are looking at coming down in two years. I think it will stick around. Enrollment-wise, we’re the biggest. But the number of kids out, we’re the smallest. Some of the other schools are getting good numbers and a lot of kids.”
At the time Guernsey had a quarter of its 12-man roster sitting out with injuries.
Wyoming High School Activities Association commissioner Ron Laird
“We had a meeting two or three weeks ago with the eight remaining teams looking at next year. We started the meeting by asking, ‘How do you think it’s gone for the first year?’ Everyone was positive. That made us feel good. We think it’s been successful for a first venture.”
Farson-Eden coach Ryan Lane
The Pronghorns had 12 boys go out for football, that’s just three short of every boy in the school. Still, Farson was hit with the injury bug, which forced players to learn a part of football that doesn’t appear on a whiteboard or playbook: Playing through pain.
“Our quarterback hurt his knee our third game of the year. One of our seniors dislocated his shoulder twice during the year. It was a tough season for the kids. They really had to battle through some injuries. We had a kid bruise a liver and we put him in a flack jacket and he played. The kids learned how to be football players and play with some pain. We taped every kid’s ankles before every game to try and minimize our injuries.”
Lane had a lot to say about the potential growth of the sport in Wyoming.
“I know there are quite a few teams in 11-man that could move down. Guernsey is a great example. At the end of the year, they ended up with 10 kids. Seven of those were seniors that played for an 11-man state championship as freshmen and sophomores. As the interest in the sport died down in the school, except for those seniors, you’re looking at just three or four kids that got any experience this year.
Dubois’ school population is close to what our school population is. They could possibly come down. I don’t know if it’s a pride thing, but right now, we have eight teams. It didn’t work out for Rock River or Fort Washakie, but I think the eight teams that are in it will do quite well.
You look at Kaycee for example. They never had football and they’re playing in the state championship game. Snake River had more than 20 kids come out. These schools that have an in between population could do well at this level. They may not have the kids to field an 11-man team, but they can easily field a six-man team. I’d like to see other schools come down.”
That pretty much does it. It was a really fun project to work on because the participants were so eager to talk about the sport.
As a linelong Wyoming resident, I think six-man football is a perfect fit for the Cowboy State. There are so many rural schools with small enrollments. Those kids would love nothing more than to play football, but their options are limited. The only option for many schools is athletes getting bused to a neighboring school that has football. But, often times, they ended up buried on the depth chart and see limited playing time — if any. Six-man football gives them a chance to wear their school’s colors, play with their friends and compete for a state championship. Hopefully, it only continues to grow.
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Six-man football breakout
This breakout box explaining some of the differences between six-man football and the standard 11-man game was supposed to accompany my enterprise story on the addition of six-man football to Wyoming high schools. We didn’t have room in our print product, so here it is. Also, the feature on six-man football can be found on the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s Web site by clicking here.
Same game, different rules
Many six-man rules are the same as those fans of 11-man football have grown accustomed to. There are some minor differences, though.
The field: 40 yards wide and 80 yards long, compared to 53-1/3 and 100 in 11-man football.
Time: Quarters are 10 minutes, which is two minutes shorter.
First downs: Teams need to gain 15 yards instead of 10.
Scoring differences: A kicked extra point after a touchdown is worth two points, while running or passing for the conversion is worth one. A field goal is worth four points.
Everyone go deep: Every player, down linemen and centers included, are eligible receivers. Teams must have at least three players on the line of scrimmage.
Don’t be sneaky: The quarterback can’t just take the snap and run. The ball must go from the person taking the snap to another player before it can be advanced. Handoffs, pitches and forward passes are legal, quarter sneaks are not.
Source: www.sixmanfootball.com
Friday, November 20th, 2009
More program of the decade
This “by the numbers” information was supposed to appear with today’s Program of the Decade story, but there wasn’t room for it in our print product.
0 – Playoff appearances for Wyoming Indian since 2000. Its lone playoff berth since the school was founded in 1972 came in 1996.
1 – Seasons this decade that Mountain View missed the playoffs.
3 – Most losses in a single season by Cokeville this decade.
4 – Times Southeast has changed classification since 2000, starting with Class 1A-D2 in 2000 to Class 2A in 2001.
6 – State championships Southeast won over that span – four in 1A and two in 2A. It’s the most state titles of any school during this decade.
8 – Teams that have qualified for the championship playoffs all 10 seasons. They are Big Horn, Buffalo, Casper Natrona County, Cokeville, Gillette, Kemmerer, Southeast and Wright.
9 – Number of Rawlins’ 17 wins this decade that came during its state championship season of 2000. Since that season, the Outlaws have gone winless twice, won one game six times and had a high of two wins.
26 – Number of the 59 schools that played between 2000-08 that won state titles this decade. Thirteen of those won at least two titles, and seven of those claimed the crown three times.
Source: www.wyoming-football.com
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Family matters
I had this saved for some notes we were going to add to our stories from the Class 4A state championship game, but wasn’t able to include it in Sunday’s paper.
Three members of the Mowry clan had a role in Saturday’s game. Bruce Mowry is a longtime assistant coach at Cheyenne Central. His son Zach, a senior, was a starting linebacker for the Indians. Mowry’s nephew, Jeff, is Sheridan’s quarterbacks coach.
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
A season for the record books
Now that all the dust has settled on Cheyenne Central’s 9-3 season that included a trip to the Class 4A state championship game, it’s time for a look at the record books. Here’s a list of where some of this year’s performances rate in the Indians’ record book.
Connor Long
1st in single-season all-purpose yards with 2,187. Andre McWell set the old mark at 2,093 during his phenomenal 1990 season. Long also is sixth on that list with the 1,569 yards he gained in 2008.
2nd in single-season passing touchdowns with 20.
2nd in single-season passing yards with 1,719.
Michael Davis
2nd in single-season rushing touchdowns with 21. McWell set that mark at 23 in 1990.
2nd in single-season rushing yards with 1,441. McWell holds that mark at 1,875 in 1990. McWell also is third at 1,393.
3rd in single-season points with 126.
Kyle Grott
3rd in single-season receiving yards with 742. He’s also fourth with the 670 he gained as a junior in 2008.
Matt Carver
1st in single-season defensive points at 197. The sophomore bested the previous record of 186, which was set by Steve Stowe in 1971.
4th in solo tackles.
3rd in assisted tackles. He’s tied with John Belcher (2005) at 84.
Hayden Jones
2nd in single-season defensive points with 189.5. He’s also sixth with the 173 he posted in his junior season of 2008.
3rd in single-season solo tackles with 35. He’s also holds the mark with the 43 he posted in 2008.
Josh Borm
1st in point after touchdowns with 37. The previous record was 32 by Russ Brown (1979).
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Sheridan vs. Central live blog
BLOG GOING LIVE AT 3:10
Jeremiah will be live blogging the Class 4A state championship football game between Cheyenne Central and Sheridan this Saturday afternoon.
Come back on Saturday afternoon to get up to the minute information from the game.
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Class 1A six-man championship: Guernsey 76, Kaycee 16, 6:57 4th
Manuel Otero rushes down the left side for 66 yards. Snap on the one-point conversion attempt is fumbled.
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Class 1A six-man championship: Guernsey 70, Kaycee 16, end 3rd
The Buckaroos have the ball after a Guernsey fumble. Guernsey got the ball when Kevin Boomhower stripped James Caro. Caro, the quarterback, caught a pass from running back Shawn Straub and had lots of room down the left sideline. Boomhower caught up with him, tomahawked at the ball and stripped it as the pair fell to the turf.
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Class 1A six-man: Guernsey 70, Kaycee 16, 3:17 3rd
Manuel Otero fumbles Shawn Straub’s kickoff, but gets a block from Kevin Boomhower and takes it 79 yards down the left sideline. Kyler Copsey caught a pass for the one-point conversion.
By the way, Cheyenne Central is warming up in the University of Wyoming’s indoor practice facility.
Saturday, November 14th, 2009
Class 1A six-man championship: Guernsey 63, Kaycee 16, 3:33 3rd
Shawn Straub scores a seven-yard touchdown and then kicks the PAT.