The Little Snake River Rattlers’ 6-Man football team loaded into a small fleet of family and volunteer Suburbans on Thursday morning, headed to Canada for a first in the program’s history.
It’s an international preseason matchup with a fellow two-time champion in the Saskatoon area of Saskatchewan, made possible by an outpouring of community donations from the valley totaling more than $6,000.
The Rattlers are scheduled to face the Hafford Vikings at 8 p.m. Friday.
“It’s pretty insane what our little community of less than a thousand people can put together,” team member Timber Cozzens told Cowboy State Daily. “There’s 400 people in Baggs, and Savery and Dixon are ranchers of course, but I mean, less than a thousand people, and we still put together just as much money as some big programs do. We are truly blessed.”
The trip costs an estimated $7,000 to $8,000 for fuel, hotels, and meals for the players, coaches and immediate family who are helping with the drive.
To make it happen, players sold raffle tickets after some ranching families donated three firearms.
The community response was so immediate and overwhelming the fundraiser only needed two of the three rifles donated.
A Tight-Knit Sport
It’s the tight-knit nature of Wyoming’s 6-Man football that first surfaced the opportunity, Baggs Head Coach Jack Cobb told Cowboy State Daily.
The Rattlers, who routed Burlington 67-16 to win the state title last fall, were looking for a preseason opponent closer to home, but openings in Nebraska and Colorado weren’t materializing.
“A friend reached out, another coaching friend, who said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in playing a Canadian team that’s come down and played before?’” he said. “Their head coach also coaches in what they call the Can-Am game for 6-Man teams, where U.S. teams play Canadian teams. It’s the best of all 6-Man players.”
The Can-Am game is often played in Canada, but two of the last four games between U.S. and Canadian all-stars were played in Meeteetse.
“My assistant coach helps coaching it,” Cobb said. “So we kind of have a connection with them, and so we decided this year we’d take our boys up there and, hopefully, next year they return the favor and come down to Baggs.”
6-Man Has Its Virtues
The close nature of 6-Man football is something Cozzens likes about what he says is a fast-paced sport that's more fun than regular football, with its 11 players for each team and 22 on the field at once.
“It’s quicker-paced, the scores are higher, and it’s running-oriented,” Cozzens said. “There’s just something about it. I truly do love it.”
Cozzens has played both styles and said the smaller team size is also conducive to a better bonding experience.
“We’re small enough to where we consider all of our teammates family,” he said. “We’re all brothers playing on a football field.”
Jhett Thomas, one of the team’s other senior leaders, agreed.
“I feel like every guy on the team, from the freshmen to the seniors, there’s no, ‘I hate this guy, or whatever,’” he said, adding, “This game is going to be good for us to get a good brotherhood.”
That extends into other 6-Man teams as well, Cozzens said.
“You see a lot of the same kids when you go to county fairs and you see them across the state,” he said. “You’re friends with them online, you hang out with them in certain other sports or places.”
But when football season comes around, there’s a shift. It’s time to get down to business.
“You’ve still got feelings with them and you’re still buddies,” Cozzens said. “But it’s not the same out on the football field.”
New Rules For Canada
It’s not the first time Cozzens or Thomas have been to Canada, but the trip north will be a first for many on the team, Cobb told Cowboy State Daily.
“So far as I know, we’re only the second Wyoming 6-Man team that’s ever went to Canada,” he said. “Meeteetse did it last year, and that’s the only team I know that’s went to Canada and played. It’s pretty unique that we, a small town in southern Wyoming, get to go all the way to the Saskatoon area to play a 6-Man game.”
Canadian 6-Man does have a few different rules. It uses a 110-yard field and gives the offense three downs to gain 10 yards. In Wyoming 6-Man, teams play on an 80-yard field and have four downs to gain 15 yards.
Canadian receivers are also allowed to be in forward motion, which creates a new challenge for the Rattlers’ defensive backs.
The team did spend some time practicing with those differences, Cobb said. But not too much. It’s a single exhibition and Cobb doesn’t want to “mess” up the team’s fundamentals.
“It still comes down to basic football,” he said. “We’re going to mess up a few times with their rules, but next week we get back to playing Wyoming teams.”
The main thing, Thomas added, is just seeing what’s working for the team, which has a lot of up-and-coming talent. There are three returning seniors and two juniors. The rest are sophomores and freshmen.
“It’s going to be really important for our younger guys to get some experience, as well as learning who knows the plays and who’s going to play for us,” he said. “Because I’m the only offensive starter returning on the team this year. So we have a lot of new guys learning what they’re supposed to be doing.”
Team Feels Like Celebrities
Baggs has a long history of doing big projects.
When a public official told some of the town’s residents Baggs was too small for a community center, residents banded together to build one anyway — a huge one. They also recently built a $1.7 million agriculture school.
The Little Snake River Rattlers’ football team has been helped by the community, too. When the team needed newer helmets designed to offer better protection from concussions, Cozzens said there was a “huge outpour” from the community.
“We’ve got pretty fancy helmets now,” he said. “These really protect you. They’re a little bit more weight, but they do a good job of protecting the brain.”
Baggs is also a place that knows its players and shows up to cheer for its teams, which Thomas appreciates.
“It’s nice to see even all the really old people, and people I don’t even know from the community, coming to watch our games,” Thomas said. “They’re always cheering for us and they know our names and talk to us. It’s nice to know they’re supporting us and it’s good for the team.”
The Rattlers’ game with Canada won’t count in its standings when Wyoming’s real season starts. But for Little Snake River, the trip already counts as something more: proof that a small community can still give its young people a chance to go a long way.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
