A late shootout

"The Six-Man All-Star game was played at Sioux County High School in Harrison, Nebraska on July 23, 2020.Team Wyoming was represented by 16 recent graduates from across the state," Cliff Jones, an assistant coach for the Wyoming team said.

Jones was the Hanna, Elk Mountain, Medicine Bow (HEM) High School assistant football coach last season when HEM went to the State championship.

Although the world of high school sports has seen many cancellations of events since the novel coronavirus sprang up in the U.S., the ninth annual six-man all-star football game between Wyoming and Nebraska that features only high school seniors still played this year.

"Carbon County was well represented. Players from Snake River, HEM, and Saratoga were joined by others from Hulett, Guernsey, Meeteetse, and St. Stephens," Jones said.

The game was originally scheduled for Saturday, June 6 but, in late May, it was announced that the game was pushed back due to COVID-19 concerns to July 23.

"The group (Wyoming) stayed in Lusk, and practiced there before making the trip to Nebraska for the game," Jones said. "The Wyoming team lost 25-52 but represented themselves well against a big and physical Nebraska group."

Wyoming holds a 5-4 lead in the all-time series after this game. Wyoming won last year, 52-50, with a "Hail Mary" on the game's final play making for a spectacular win.

Although nothing like that happened this year because the Nebraska team scored early and were in control for most of the game, HEM player Conor McGraw scored four Wyoming touchdowns.