Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

MEETEETSE - 2001 was the last time the Meeteetse Longhorns and Burlington Huskies met on the football field. The Huskies won in 40-0 rout over the Longhorns. The following season Meeteetse would play in 6-man football while Burlington stayed in 11-man until this season. Today the rivals will meet match up again jumpstarting their football rivalry.

The 6-man WyoPreps No.1 ranked Longhorns and their coach Matt Jensen are excited to see Burlington on the football field again, "Our kids know it's an important game with a school we have a rivalry with in other sports. This is the first 6-man football game between the two teams and both have the playoffs in our sights. The kids are aware of the challenge and know if they take care of business we're closer to having some home field games in the playoffs," said coach Jensen.

"There's definitely history between the two schools that goes back years and years," said Burlington football coach Trent Aagard. "The kids are excited for the game and they're looking to prove themselves against an excellent program like Meeteetse."

Both coaches were quick to praise their opponents. Coach Aagard sees how well coached the Longhorns are and how their athletes are going to be a challenge, "Quarterback (Dalton) Abbar is one heck of an athlete, containing him is going to be a tough task for our defense," said Aagard, "Their coaching staff is great as well, you can see on the tape that their kids are well-disciplined and play hard. Friday is going to be a good measure stick for our team and how much we've improved this season."

For coach Jensen, he sees a program that not only quickly adjusted to the 6-man game but also one of the better teams in the state. "Them making the switch last year and playing against the Montana schools and a JV game against us has helped them in their transition. When I look at a team like Burlington I see a team that's very balanced in regards to formations they run and definitely a team that's very dangerous and gets better every week. We're going to have to play the best game of our season because I look at them as one of the top teams we're going to see this year," said coach Jensen.

The midpoint of the Wyoming football season has been crossed and with the playoffs in sight coaches Aagard and Jensen are preparing their teams but being sure not to overwhelm their players.

"There has not been a lot of added pressure," said coach Aagard. "We're now entering the tougher part of our schedule with games against Meeteetse, Dubois, Snake River and Riverside. But our kids have been growing with each week and have really embraced the schemes."

"We understand that the first conference game is as important as the last conference game," said coach Jensen, "We're at the midpoint of the season and the playoffs are starting to take a little shape but at the same time we're jockeying for seeding. I'm really happy with how our younger kids have been coming along. We've been led by our upperclassmen and they've played tremendous up to this point but I really think if we want to get to the next level we have to have those younger guys come along. I'm happy with where they are at and I'm looking forward to them to helping out and taking another step. We are not where we want to be but we're taking the steps to get there."