YODER – A year after enjoying only three road games and five home games, the Southeast Cyclones are back to having four home and four road games, with tough opponents coming on the road.
The Cyclones kick off their year by crossing state borders and taking on Mitchell, Neb. in Week 1. A season ago, the Tigers posted a 4-5 record. One of their losses came in double-overtime against Pine Bluffs (20-14), the Wyoming 1A State Champions. 2018 will be the first ever meeting between Southeast and Mitchell.
Week 2 is Southeast’s final non-conference game of the year and it comes against Saratoga. The Panthers have made the postseason each of the last two years, including as the fourth seed from the west in 2017, but they haven’t had a winning season since 2013 when they went 5-3. Since 2014, Saratoga is a combined 9-26.
Most recently, Southeast beat Saratoga on the road in 2016, 46-6. Before 2016, the two teams last played four times in three seasons from 2004-2006, with the teams splitting the four games.
The Cyclones could not have drawn a tougher opponent to kick off their conference schedule, hosting two-time defending champions Pine Bluffs. The Hornets ended the 2017 season on a 15-game winning streak, dating back to 2016. They are a combined 20-2 over the past two seasons.
With 42 games between the Cyclones and Hornets, dating back to 1978, the two programs are familiar with each other. Over the past five years, Southeast is 3-2 against Pine Bluffs, but the Hornets won the last two meetings (32-0 in 2016 and 41-6 in 2017).
After their two-game home stand, the Cyclones hit the road to take on Lusk in Week 4. The last time these two teams did not play at least once in a season was 1978. Over the past five years, Southeast has a 3-2 record against the Tigers, winning the past three. This past season, the Cyclones beat the Tigers 34-20 in Week 8 to punch their ticket to the postseason.
Although the Tigers have not reached the playoffs for the past three years with a combined record of 7-16, they made the postseason nine-straight times from 2006-2014. In that run, they finished as state runners-up four times.
Tongue River is set to come Yoder for a Week 5 matchup. A season ago, the Eagles went 2-6, but they are only one year removed from runner-up finishes in both 2015 and 2016, finishing 8-3 in both seasons.
The Cyclones and Eagles have played each other five times, including each of the past four seasons. In 2017, Southeast picked up a 45-0 win, avenging a home loss in 2016 to Tongue River, 21-6. The win this past year was the Cyclones’ first win over the Eagles since 1993.
In their second-to-last road game of the regular season, Southeast hits the road to play Upton-Sundance in Week 6. The Patriots splashed onto the scene in 2012 and have reached the playoffs every season, including four trips to the semi-finals, including 2017, and a state championship in 2015. Over the past three years, Upton-Sundance is 28-5.
Since 2012, the Cyclones and Patriots have met seven times, with Upton-Sundance leading the series 5-2. Southeast suffered a 28-14 loss at home against the Patriots last season and was defeated on the road in 2016, 34-12. Southeast has not beaten Upton-Sundance since 2013.
Week 7 brings the Cyclones’ final home game of the year, coming against Wright. Last season, the Wright/Southeast game went to double overtime, with the Cyclones snaring the 30-28 win. The last time the Panthers beat the Cyclones was in 2005 (6-2), with five Southeast victories since then.
Wright has hit a bit of a skid over the past several seasons. The last time the Panthers made the playoffs was in 2009 and the last time they had a record over .500 was in 2006. In the past five seasons, Wright has gone 8-32, but they are coming off of back-to-back 3-5 seasons.
As rough as the conference schedule starts for the Cyclones, it possibly ends tougher, with a road game against Big Horn in Week 8. The Rams went 9-2 last year, falling to Pine Bluffs in the state championship game. Before last season, Big Horn was in 2A, where they won the championship in 2016. The Rams have yet to miss the playoffs since 1998, winning four championships and finishing second seven times in that span. Since 2012, they have a combined record of 56-8.
Because the Rams used to be in 2A, their history with the Cyclones is limited, with only three meetings. Two of those meetings came more than a decade ago, with the third ending in a 51-23 win by the Rams in Yoder last year.
The combined record of the Cyclones’ opponents for next year is 41-33. They play three semi-finalists from last year in Pine Bluffs, Big Horn and Upton-Sundance, along with a game against a Nebraska team that came close to beating the 2017 state champions. If the Cyclones want to reach the playoffs for the fourth-straight season, they have a tough road to navigate.
Exact dates and times for the games have yet to be determined.
*The game histories used were compiled by Wyoming-Football.com.
