Camels Football Schedule for 2013 Released

With the 5 State Championship games in football on the horizon, the Wyoming High School Activities Association released the schedules for all 5 classifications for 2013 season on Tuesday.

The last two seasons in 4A each school's schedules changes only by where each game was being played, but the order of teams hadn't changed. That has changed for 2013 where only one thing remains for each team and that is the fact that each school will make one road trip that they made in 2012. For the Gillette Camels that means a return to Cheyenne East, but this time instead of week 2 like in 2012, it will be to close out the regular season in week 8.

Another thing in the 2013 schedule that is the same for the Camels is that they will play 5 road games for the 2nd consecutive season. Gillette's road schedule looks like this; at Kelly Walsh in week zero, at Cheyenne Central in week 2, at Natrona in week 3 in a rematch of the 2012 4A state title game, at Rock Springs in week 6 and at East in week 8. Gillette's 4 home games are; vs Evanston in week 1, vs Cheyenne South in week 4, vs Sheridan for the 43rd annual Energy Bowl in week 5 and vs Laramie in week 7. Week 5 in 4A is now officially “Rivalry Week,” because on top of the Energy Bowl between the Broncs and the Camels. It also features the Oil Bowl with Natrona visiting Kelly Walsh for the 2nd consecutive season and the Capital Bowl with the Indians at the Thunderbirds.

Some key story lines to keep in mind for the Camels in 2013 is the fact that they haven't won a regular season game in Casper against Natrona County since 1997 when they beat the Mustangs 16-13. That is a string of 7 regular season games. The Camels have defeated Natrona a couple of times in the playoffs in Casper with their last win coming in the 2007 playoffs. Gillette will also be looking for their 1st win at Cheyenne Central since 2007 when the Camels took down the Indians 26-13.

Some trends that should continue in 2013 for the Camels include the facts that Laramie has lost 9 straight games to the Camels. The last time the Plainsmen beat the Camels was in 1996 in Gillette. The Camels haven't loss to Kelly Walsh since 2007, that was also the same year that Gillette last loss to Cheyenne East. The Camels are also riding a 10 game winning streak over Rock Springs. The last year the Tigers beat the Camels was in 2002. Gillette is 5-1 against Evanston since 2000 and the Camels have won both of their games by a combined score of 131-14. As for something that could change for 2013 is the fact that the home team hasn't won the annual Energy Bowl since 2008.

For more on the 2013 WHSAA football schedules go to http://wyoming-football.com/blog/