Not a lot of surprises, but some good tough football was the order of the day under the Friday Night Lights

Things went pretty much according to plan for the 4A Classification over the weekend, where yours truely, the Dahl E. Llama of sports, went 5-1 on predictions, moving the percentage up a tad to levels where it should be.

On the season, the Llama is 28-11 for a percentage of (.720)

The Farmer Awards for the week (outstanding in their field) include the Jackson Broncs, who have not allowed more than 11 points to any opponent this season. An award also must go out to Douglas, who when faced with the prospect of losing to winless Lander despite not giving up an offensive touchdown, rallied in the fourth quarter to collect the W. The final award goes to Torrington who took my slight of them personally last week and shut out the Newcastle Dogies for their second straight win.

Of course, I would be remiss if it didn’t give a big shout out to the Braves who executed when the chips were down. When Powell was ready to score? The defense forced turnovers. When the game was on the line? The kicking unit delivered in wet cold conditions. The Star Valley run defense is starting to really get on track and has been the catalyst for their wins, now three in four weeks. In those games, the defense has allowed a TOTAL of 132 yards, or 44 yards per game. Generally, in high school football, if you can do that, you’re going to have a chance to win.

This week’s game is for pride as the Braves take on the very tough Evanston Red Devils in the longest running rivalry for Star Valley football. This Friday’s game will be the 85th meeting between the two, including playoff contests in a series that dates back to 1932. In that time, the Braves hold a 48-32-4 record with the Devils, including wins in the last two games. While the home field has been important historically for this matchup, break out the Cowbells and the Carhardts, the road team has won the last three meetings in this border war between Lincoln and Uinta counties. This is the last regular-season home game for the Braves, and one can’t assume anything about the playoffs just yet.

Kelly Walsh def. Cody – 29-12 - (Correct, although this wasn’t as close as I was expecting)

Jackson def. Worland – 39-11 ( Correct, It took two safeties for the Warriors to break into double digits.)

Douglas def. Lander – 19-13 (Correct, Two fourth quarter scores clinched the win for the Bearcats)

Buffalo def. Rawlins – 42-0 (Correct, Buffalo roamed all over the Outlaws who are in danger of not making the playoffs)

Torrington def. Newcastle – 19-0 (Wrong, I mentioned that the Blazers needed to win a couple in a row for me to start picking them again, they’ve now done so and are threatening the likes of Powell for playoff positioning.)

Star Valley def. Powell – 20-13 OT (Correct, Cold, wet and hard fought, it was everything a football game is supposed to be about. Should the Panthers make the post-season, their opponent will be sweating a bit)

If the playoffs started today, here’s what the matchups would look like:

Cody @ Buffalo

Torrington @ Jackson

Douglas @ Wheatland

Star Valley @ Worland

Keep in mind, that the final week of the season is loaded with conference games where Star Valley and Worland could swap, as could Douglas and Wheatland. Powell, Rawlins and Lander are all on the outside looking in at this point, while one team in the pool of Powell, Cody and Torrington has a very legitimate chance of missing the playoffs. This is the final year that power ratings will be used in the 5 through 8 seeds and mileage considerations are not in effect for this year’s post-season. Next year, the bracket will look something like this:

1W vs. 4E

2E vs. 3W

2W vs. 3E

1E vs. 4W

Well, there you have it. Have any comments, questions or ideas, I’d love to hear them at svidahl@silverstar.com. Let your vote also count as the site is asking who will win the 4A state title. Also, be sure to tell friends and family about the live streaming internet version of the game available on this site Friday afternoons.

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