Out-of-state football games were once commonplace. When football started in Wyoming with Cheyenne High School in 1895, they played whoever they could get. Cheyenne routinely played the University of Wyoming for the first decade.
On November 5, 1904, Cheyenne High School edged the State Normal School of Colorado, later renamed the University of Northern Colorado, 6-5 in a game played in Greeley.
Schools on the border used to have at least a third of their schedules against out-of-state opponents. In the heyday of Laramie Plainsmen football, John Deti Sr. took his teams into the Denver Metro and rarely lost.
Torrington always lined up with Gering or Alliance, Nebraska. Cody, Sheridan, and Gillette have played home-and-away games against Billings high schools in recent memory.
The Wyoming High School Activities Association ended these out-of-state rivalries when they began scheduling for schools rather than letting individual high schools do their own scheduling.
Class 4-A is riveted to an entire in-state schedule, since all 10 teams are in a single conference and play only 9 games.
A few schools still squeeze in games against Idaho, Colorado, Nebraska, Utah, Montana, or South Dakota squads.
Some even play in Alaska, as the Star Valley Braves did last Friday in a 35-28 win over Soldotna.
Smaller schools like Lusk, Newcastle, Upton and Cokeville have long established traditions of crossing the state line to pick up a game.
My first away game as a coach came in the second week of the 1980 season when my Lusk Tigers traveled to Hemingford, Nebraska. We beat the Bobcats 13-0 on a pair of field goals and a 77-yard tight end screen.
In more than a century of Riverton football, the Wolverines have been outside the friendly 98,000-square-mile confines of the Cowboy State only once. On October 19, 1973, the Wolverines lost 27-21 at Bear Cat Stadium to the Scottsbluff, Nebraska, Bearcats.
Flat Second Half Costs Riverton Win – Riverton Ranger – Roy Peck
“A proud Riverton team displayed a remarkable first half Friday at Scottsbluff, Neb., but turned flat in the second half, losing 27-21.
Three key fumbles set up the Scottsbluff win, and two long passes were the Wolverines’ undoing. The last pass, a 62-yard bomb to Terry Bastron, put the Bearcats ahead 27-21.
Scottsbluff played a perfect game in many areas. There were no Bearcat fumbles and punter Jay Neibauer kept Riverton with its back against the wall on one kick after another, hanging the pigskin high to prevent any long returns.
Cracks 1000
Dirk Bush turned in a superlative effort, and only one fumble marred an otherwise perfect game.
The junior tailback shocked Scottsbluff with an opening kickoff return up the middle behind good Riverton blocking for a 96-yard touchdown. A bad snap on the PAT left the score at 6-0.
Bush went on to crack the 1000-yard barrier in rushing, carrying the ball 27 times for 134 yards. For the season the 186-pound back has 159 carries for 1080 yards. (Last season Randy Pickinpaugh, regarded as one of the best-ever rushers at RHS, carried 151 times for 1021 yards.)
But Bush’s performance didn’t end there. He scored 20 of the 21 Riverton points and caught three passes for 96 yards and one more touchdown. His third touchdown came on an eight-yard burst. He also had a two-point conversion run.
Offensively then he produced 326 yards on runs, kick returns and pass receptions.
Big Loss
The biggest loss was probably not the game, however.
Wingbck Jeff Vincent might have been the most improved player on the Riverton squad. He worked his way back to the starting lineup the past two weeks.
Then after he had carried for 33 yards on six attempts, Vincent injured a knee. He was taken from the field, and Coach Don Pomeroy stayed with him. The next day the 150-pound junior underwent knee surgery.
Vincent is recuperating in Scottsbluff.”
It was arguably the greatest era in Riverton football history with back-to-back state championship appearances in 1972 and 1973.
The Wolverines didn’t make the playoffs in 1974. In those years, only the conference champion went on to the title game, but Riverton was still an outstanding team with speed, size, and a tenacious defense.
On October 18, they returned the favor to Scottsbluff with a 35-20 win at Tonkin Stadium. Riverton’s Dirk Bush scored all five touchdowns in the game in a memorable rushing performance.
Legendary Riverton Ranger sports reporter and co-publisher Roy Peck had the complete story the following Monday.
Riverton Ranger October 21, 1974
It Was Dirk Bush Night at Tonkin Stadium By Roy Peck
“Dirk Bush closed out his home season as a Riverton Wolverine in a blaze of scoring as he tallied all five touchdowns in the RHS win over the Scottsbluff Bearcats 35-20 Friday evening at Tonkin Stadium.
The game wasn’t nearly as close as the score or the statistics indicate. Riverton built a 35-7 lead behind the running of Bush, and some strong defensive play. Then in the final two minutes, with the reserves in the lineup, the Bearcats piled up 150 yards and two touchdowns.”
Bush averaged 13.9 yards per carry that night. He scored on runs of 26, 63, 50, 70 and 26 yards.
Darwin Stark was devastating on defense, Scott Morrow was money on punts and conversion kicks, and Paul Pollard at slotback took the pressure off Bush when he apparently scored on a 53-yard counter, but it was called back.
Terry Vernon had a couple of interceptions, and Randy Hague, Kort Kinney and Leonard Wempen led the team in defensive points.
That was the first and last time the Wolverines have played an opponent outside Wyoming on the football field.
This Saturday, Riverton has the chance to make a little more history. They’ll play Lethbridge Collegiate Institute from Alberta, Canada, in the Rocky Mountain Rumble at the ICCU Dome on the Idaho State University campus in Pocatello, Idaho.
The Wolverines are the opening game of the day at 10 a.m. They’re followed by Star Valley playing Raymond, Alberta, at 1 p.m., with the final game at 4 p.m. between Rockland and Dietrich, Idaho.
Beginning Thursday, two Utah teams will square off against a pair of Idaho teams before doing it again Friday with two more Utah-Idaho matchups.
Riverton was originally scheduled to play Star Valley in Afton on Friday, but Star Valley officials contacted Riverton head coach Mark Lenhardt and activities director Max Mills with an interesting proposal.
Star Valley was invited to fill out the venue at the Rocky Mountain Rumble and indicated there was another spot open if Riverton wanted to play in Pocatello.
They did.
The green-and-gold Lethbridge Collegiate Institute Rams have an enrollment of 1,550 students, putting them on par with the largest Class 4-A teams in Wyoming.
Canadian football is substantially different than the American variety. In Canada, there are 12 players on the field. Teams have only three downs instead of four to make a first down and the backfield can go in motion toward the line of scrimmage before the ball is snapped.
You can score on punts as well.
“They’ll play American football except one back can move forward before the snap,” Lenhardt said.
The Wolverines will leave Friday and stay overnight in Pocatello before their Saturday morning contest.
When the Braves and Wolverines line up for Saturday’s kickoff, they’ll be the second and third teams from Wyoming to mix it up with a team from north of the border.
Little Snake River beat Hafford High School in Saskatchewan 80-38 last weekend.
Originally, the Rattlers were scheduled to travel to Texas to play a 6-man team, but problems arose in the spring, and the game was canceled.
Not to be denied, Little Snake River football fans began an active fundraising campaign and found the money to send their Rattlers a thousand miles due north to Hafford to play the Vikings.
Canadian 6-man differs from the American version in the three versus four downs. The field is larger as well. Canadian fields are larger than the standard 100 x 53 1/3-yard field used in 8-, 9-, and 11-man American football.
They have the same “rouge” scoring where a team gets a point for a missed field goal, a punt through the end zone or a non-returnable kick from the end zone.
Football with a passport and a little dash of history for the Wolverines. Look for the game at 10 on Saturday morning on County10’s YouTube Channel.