With graduation ceremonies around the state now officially in the books, all three of the high schools in Uinta County have now officially sent their seniors on to the next chapter of their lives.

For three football players from Evanston, Mountain View and Lyman, however, there is one more game to be played.

Recently-graduated seniors from around the state descended on Casper Monday for the start of practices for the 2024 Shrine Bowl, the annual senior All-Star game. Three of those players — Max Gregory from Lyman, Landon Solaas from Mountain View and Braunson Sims from Evanston — will represent Uinta County on the South Team, led by Pine Bluffs head coach Will Gray. Joining Gray on the sidelines are assistant coaches Nick Yelton from Pine Bluffs, Kyle Jeffres of Laramie, Drew Hodgs of Douglas, Travis Romsa from Burns and H.E.M.’s Zack Scott. The game is scheduled for Saturday, June 14, at Natrona County High School.

The North leads the all-time series 27-20-3, and won last year’s game in a rout, 45-7.

Players began to trickle in to Casper on Sunday, with practices starting in earnest Monday morning. Coach Gray — who led the Hornets to a 1A 9-Man State Championship last fall — said having the opportunity to coach some of the best players the state has to offer will be an honor.

“Anytime you can go coach 36 of some of the best dudes around — get a chance to do some things that maybe you can’t do with your home team, just skill level and stuff — it’s fun,” he said. “We’re going to have a good time.”

With a roster that represents 18 different schools, Gray said the biggest challenge will be deciding who plays where in the very short amount of time he and his coaching staff have to evaluate all of the the talent out of southern Wyoming.

“The biggest thing is just getting to know the kids,” he explained. “We know the kids we’re taking, and the kids we competed against in our class. The first thing we gotta do is get to know the kids, get to know what they’re good at — we watched a lot of film on each of them, but now we want to get to know them as people. We’re looking forward to that, as well.”

Having to narrow down the best senior football players in southern Wyoming to a squad of 36 is a daunting task, as anyone who’s ever coached the Shrine Bowl can attest. Gray said he leaned heavily on his assistants to help him; you don’t want a deserving player to slip through the cracks.

“You get that packet of nominations, and it’s thick — there are lots of good kids,” Gray said. “People don’t think Wyoming has good football players, but we do. We might not have the biggest or the fastest, but we have good football players, all around. So you kind of look at it as, you pick a coach from each classification and you say, ‘All right, tell us who your dudes are in the South.’ And so we do that. Then it’s,  ‘Now we need linemen; now we need DBs.’ And you go through the list, and it’s, ‘Oh crap, we forgot a Super 25 kid.’ So then we have to go back. It’s hard.”

The coaching staff met at Cheyenne Central High School in February to go through the list of nominations, taking the better part of a day to finalize the roster.

“It took us five, six hours to go through the list, just to make sure that we didn’t leave anybody off,” Gray said. “We picked a couple of kids and called them, but they had some surgeries and some injuries. Then we go through the alternate lists. It’s a big undertaking, but it’s fun.”

Uinta County selections

Asked what stood out to him when adding Gregory, Solaas and Sims to the South roster, Gray said the answer is simple.

“Historically, the southwest has always had tough kids — just a toughness to them,” he said. “Growing up in Glenrock, we always played Mountain View and Lyman, and it was always the toughness that stood out to me. So that was the first thing. The second was their athletic ability — they’re just good kids, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do. Those kids will shine next Saturday, for sure.”

The Lyman Eagles had a down year in 2024, finishing with a 2-7 record, though senior linebacker Max Gregory was a dominating force on defense in Class 2A. A 2A All-State and All-Conference selection and the 2A Defensive Player of the Year, Gregory led the state in defensive points with 27.2 per game, finishing the season with 112 tackles (14 tackles per game), including 21 tackles for loss and four sacks; he also forced two fumbles and recovered one. Gregory also won a 3A State Wrestling Championship earlier this year at 215 pounds.

Perennial 2A powerhouse Mountain View steamrolled through the regular season with an 8-1 record, and routed Wheatland 40-0 in the opening round of the WHSAA 2A State Football Championships. The Buffalos were upset in the semifinals by Cokeville, and ended the season 9-2.

Chadron State College commit Landon Solaas — a tight end, defensive end and kicker — was a large part of the Buffalos’ success, on both sides of the ball. An All-State selection following the 2024 season and a two-time 2A West All-Conference selection, Solaas had four catches for 39 yards, which included a long reception of 28 yards. Defensively, Solaas was third on the team with 70 tackles and second with 158 defensive points, including 41 solo stops, 15 tackles for loss and two sacks; he also recovered two fumbles, forced three fumbles, had one interception and three pass breakups. On special teams, Solaas averaged 57.6 yards per kickoff, with 23 touchbacks; he was 37-42 on extra points, and he punted 27 times for an average of 38.7 yards per punt.

The Evanston Red Devils went 3-7 in 2024, but returned to the 3A State Playoffs for the second straight season, losing in the first round to Douglas. Braunson Sims was the lone Red Devil selected to represent EHS at this year’s Shrine Bowl. The senior quarterback and defensive back — who just qualified for his second National High School Finals Rodeo last weekend, and will rodeo next year for Snow College — was a 3A All-State selection at defensive back following the 2024 season.

Playing for a cause

While all three Uinta County players will be playing for North-South bragging rights, Gray said the Shrine Bowl is about more than just a football game.

“We used to go to the Shriner’s Hospital, but it’s an outpatient clinic now, so there’s no guarantee you’re going to see kids,” Gray explained. “So on Monday, we’re bringing in some kids that have had treatment there to talk to the boys, give them a little perspective. Our boys are fortunate — they had four years of high school football, some of them have four more years coming up. Let’s go compete for these kids that don’t have a chance. It’s going to be eye-opening for the kids, just because they haven’t been in that environment before. I’m looking forward to seeing how they take on that challenge of competing for somebody else that can’t.”