When the Classic Air Medical helicopter delivered the game ball to Riverton Homecoming queen Lily Archer before the Friday evening kickoff no one realized that another type of classic was about to take place. A classic that took a full 48 minutes to play and then some over two separate days after Friday’s game was postponed by weather.
A lot of behind-the-scenes preparation must take place when a football is postponed that is already in progress. By its nature, football is a game played in the elements. No matter how bad the conditions can be. Local teams compete regularly in high winds, rain, snow, temperatures above 100 degrees, and in frigid conditions with the thermometer well below zero. It’s all part of the game here in the unpredictable climate we all call home.
Postponements and cancellations were a regular occurrence during the COVID19 outbreak and have occurred since the game began in Wyoming in the early 20th century. Most of the time it’s snow and road closures that create the need to change or cancel a contest. It’s extremely rare to reschedule a game after it has started. Those odds were beaten last Friday in Riverton’s Homecoming game with boys from across the valley, the Lander Tigers.
Riverton posted their best drive of the season, maybe their best drive in the last five years in marching north to take a 7-0 lead.
As the Wolverines scored, the cannon sounded on the northeast corner of the field, but that wasn’t the only booming taking place.
A thunderstorm moved in with flashes of lightning in the distance towards Sand Draw. As the first-period clock dipped below three minutes game officials called a timeout and huddled in the middle of the field with Riverton and Lander athletic directors Reggie Miller and Serol Stauffenberg.
All outdoor athletic events in Wyoming now have lightning meters to measure approaching storms. When lighting is in proximity teams will clear the field. It happens often in football, soccer, and track.
As the rain began to fall, and the lightning moved closer the game was postponed 30 minutes per procedure. The concept is to wait 30 minutes after the last lightning strike then resume play. Only Mother Nature didn’t see it that way. A couple of times the clock moved tantalizingly close to the limit, only to have another strike. When the rain intensified, the thunder boomed and more lightning hit, officials moved the game to Monday at 6 pm with Riverton leading 7-0.
Not everything was bad about the postponement, the Riverton FFA had a pork chop fundraiser in the high school commons which was suddenly a very popular venue. Riverton picked up the tab and fed the Casper officials a great meal while they waited for the storm to pass.
Officials were the first concern in rescheduling on Monday. Crews are so thin that moving any game creates a coverage issue.
As an example, the Worland crew that did the Dubois/Meeteetse game in Dubois on Saturday afternoon officiated the Tongue River/Torrington game on Friday afternoon and the Cheyenne East/Sheridan game Friday night before heading to Dubois the next morning.
Three of five Casper officials from Friday’s Homecoming game were able to return, but two replacements had to be found. In football, crews work together as a team. On occasion, they’ll be shorthanded and pick up another official, but it’s not something anyone desires. Football is the most complex sport to officiate with 22 kids on the field, myriad rules, and sometimes wild game conditions as happened Friday.
Monday rolled around and the game was a classic. Drama, heartbreak, triumph, injuries (thankfully minor ones), and the intensity you only find in a rivalry game.
The Riverton Wolverines and Lander Tigers remain one of the state’s greatest and longest rivalries.
The teams have met 127 times since the inaugural season a century ago when the Tigers walloped the Wolverines twice 60-0 and 47-0 in October 1922.
Riverton mounted the longest non-scoring drive in school history in the third period on Monday.
Lander’s superb punter and kick Matisse Weaver unloaded a classic punt that rolled dead inside the Wolverine one-yard line. Facing a possible safety, the Riverton line met the challenge and a mix of runs and passes, and one excellent hard count by Riverton quarterback Darrick Devries that moved the chains on a key fourth down when Lander’s defense jumped moved the ball to the Tiger one-yard line before a vicious hit knocked the ball loose from Devries and the Tigers recovered just inches from the goal line. They may have been other long drives in the 100-year history of Wolverine football but 99-yards is as far as you can move without scoring.
The game ended 21-21 in regulation.
In most contests, there is a single coin toss to open the game and that’s it. Officials didn’t bring a coin to Monday’s game since it was already in progress.
Chris Edwards from the 307 Officiating crew was one of the replacement officials. As everyone prepared for the overtime Chris came over and asked me for a coin since they didn’t have one. I dug deep into my pockets and found a single, shiny new penny.
Lander won the toss and elected to play defense first. Most teams do in overtime.
The overtime procedure for high school works this way. A coin toss allows the winner to play defense or take the ball. Each team gets four plays from the 10-yard line. All the rules apply including an unlikely safety scored 90-yards away in the other end zone.
Most teams want to play defense first, that way holding your opponent scoreless allows you to kick a field goal and win the game rather than having to score a touchdown.
Devries was knocked out of the game after taking a hard tackle. Nathan Hutchison took the snap, rolled inside the one-yard line, then scored on second down. Branson Saltsgaver converted the kick for a 28-21 Wolverine lead.
It took the Tigers four downs to score, but instead of extending the game into a second overtime, Lander head coach John Scott went for two with Brenon Stauffenberg hitting Gabe Harris for the game-winner on a slant pattern.
Scott is 5-0 against Riverton as Tiger head coach and coincidentally this marks the fifth straight Lander win in the longstanding series.
The game was well played by both teams, there was no extra-curricular nonsense on the field or in the stands and the atmosphere was exactly what high school sports should be about on both sides of the field.