Gridders Double Wildcats, Head To Wibaux Next

The Scobey varsity football team is scheduled to meet up with an old friend (or is that nemesis?) on Veterans Memorial Field in Wibaux.

The junior high teams get things started on Saturday, September 21, with a 10 a.m. kickoff while varsity squads begin at 1 p.m.

The Longhorns and Spartans began playing each other in Class C 8-man football in 1988, with Wibaux leading the series 20-9. In those 29 seasons (1988-2016, 2023) the Longhorns have outscored Scobey 937-468 (32.3-16.1 average). When breaking down their playoff contests the Spartans currently own a 5-4 advantage.

The two have met twice in the Class C state championship game. In 2001 on Scobey’s Plainsmen Field, the Longhorns defeated the host 42-30. The next season the two met again in the 8-man state championship contest, also played on Plainsmen Field, with Scobey winning 50-6.

That was the last time the Spartans outscored the Longhorns.

The two squads did not play each other in the 201722 seasons because Wibaux was moved down to Class 6-man due to declining enrollment numbers. In their six seasons in 6-man they qualified for the playoffs from 2017-21 but didn’t qualify in 2022 when posting a 2-6 record. During their first five seasons in 6-man the Longhorns went 9-2 in 2017, 12-0 in 2018 (state champs), 10-3 in 2019 (state runnersup) and 2-4 in 2020 (losing in first round of playoffs). Their overall record of six seasons in 6-man was 37-21 (.637).

Wibaux returned to the Class C 8-man classification last season. The Longhorns defeated the Spartans in Scobey 29-6 in the final game of the regular season and posted a 6-2 r...