KAYCEE - Shawn Straub was one of the few Kaycee players in Buckaroos blue who had experienced the rush of a pregame football entrance.

Even Straub, though, couldn't prepare himself for what he felt taking the field on Friday.

As he jogged underneath the crow's nest of Kaycee's new stadium, he took a quick glance around - and saw hundreds of people, overflowing the stands and spilling out into a cacophony of camp chairs and umbrellas along the sidelines.

"We're not just playing this game for us," Straub said. "We're playing for the community that backed us."

Friday's game against Snake River was more than just opening day. It was Kaycee's first football game, and it was Snake River's first since 1958.

The game, played as a part of the Wyoming High School Activities Association's new Class 1A six-man division, was history in the making for the community of about 250 people in southern Johnson County.

Kaycee won its inaugural game 56-36, as Straub ran for four touchdowns, threw for two more and caught a touchdown pass in a fine example of the excitement that wide-open style of six-man football can produce. And, in celebration, Kaycee players doused coach Dustin Sipe with a barrel full of ice water after the game.

OK, so not everything about football was new to the Buckaroos.

Kaycee Activities Director Jason Humble said the final fruition of the combined efforts of school and community was "very, very satisfying" to see on Friday. "The electricity in the air, everyone you talk to, is just so pumped up," he said.

"It's just been football, football, football. Every time you run into someone, that's been the conversation."

The stands were full long before the opening kickoff, as the junior high squads from Kaycee and Snake River played the first official game on Kaycee's new field.

By opening kickoff of the high school game, the crowd had filled the school's small parking lot and took a seat in the stadium wherever it was available - which, for most people, meant along the sidelines. And those that couldn't sit in the stadium pulled their four-by-four trucks onto the small hill just east of the stadium and watched from tailgates or from the air-conditioned comfort of truck cabs.

"We had 40 people at practice, watching practices, so we knew they'd come out," Sipe said.

Even so, Kaycee residents couldn't remember the last time so many people came together in the small town for an event like this - in fact, the concession stand ran out of hamburgers and nachos well before the halftime rush.

"Homecoming, maybe," Straub said of the last time he saw so many people together in Kaycee for a sporting event. "This is just huge for the community. It's great to have everyone out here supporting us."

The game was typically small town - there was no marching band, no cheerleaders, no organized cheering and no halftime show. And the game had more feelings of curiosity than ferocity.

The players, too, showed more than just first-game jitters. Considering how few players have taken part in organized, full-contact football before - about half a dozen for Kaycee and less than that for Snake River - it only made sense that players were tentative with their steps and treated out-of-bounds and end zone lines with respect rarely seen among experienced players.

But the excitement was clearly palpable, both for Kaycee and for Snake River. The Rattlers brought several carloads of fans the 260 miles north, filling the visitors' bleachers with ease before taking up all the available space on the sidelines.

Snake River's first home game is next week, and AD Ann Wille is expecting a similar reception for the Rattlers in Baggs next week. In addition to being the first football game in Baggs in 52 years, it's also the Rattlers' homecoming.

"We've been anticipating this day for, how long now? And for it to be here… the day is here, it's just so exciting and so cool," Wille said.

The game was more than just the fusing of two communities. Fans from around the region showed up to watch the game, as license plates from Sheridan, Campbell and Natrona counties were seen in the parking lot.

Even WHSAA Commissioner Ron Laird made it up to attend the game.

Longtime Snake River AD and coach Ed Reed drove up from Wray, Colo., on Friday morning to watch the game. He said he was going to spend the next week camping in the Medicine Bow Mountains, then head over to Baggs next Friday to watch the Rattlers' home debut.

"It's very emotional," Reed said. "It's probably the greatest addition for the small schools since I've been involved with high school athletics.

"My 33 years at Snake River, I missed Friday football every Friday. It's just so neat."

Kaycee 56, Snake River 36

SR 6 22 0 8 - 36

Kay 18 12 20 6 - 56

FIRST QUARTER

Kay - Shawn Straub 50 run (pass failed), 8:57

Kay - James Caro 14 pass from Straub (run failed), 5:28

SR - Rex Stanley 59 pass from Chance Englehart (kick failed), 3:22

Kay - Straub 21 run (kick failed), 0:49

SECOND QUARTER

Kay - Paul Manning 24 pass from Caro (kick failed), 8:10

Kay - Straub 4 run (kick failed), 6:38

SR - Stanley 43 pass from Cody Filip (Sean Rietveld kick), 5:33

SR - Englehart 77 run (pass failed), 2:32

SR - Daniel Wille 50 pass from Englehart (Rietveld kick), 0:22

THIRD QUARTER

Kay - Straub 32 run (Straub run), 5:44

Kay - Chase Gosney 10 run (Manning pass from Caro), 5:00

Kay - Caro 9 pass from Straub (kick failed), 1:15

FOURTH QUARTER

SR - Wille 2 run (Rietveld kick), 8:35

Kay - Straub 31 run (run failed), 5:25

TEAM STATISTICS

SR Kay

First downs 11 11

Rushes-yards 26-109 28-253

Passing yards 267 128

Comp-att-int 13-22-2 11-18-1

Fumbles-lost 4-3 2-1

Penalties-yards 5-37 4-21

Total plays-yards 48-376 46-381

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: SR, Englehart 12-95, Manuel Quenteros 3-12, Wille 3-6, Rietveld 2-5, Conner Lee 1-3, Colton Orchard 4-(-6), Team 1-(-6). Kay, Straub 18-193, Gosney 5-35, Caro 2-23, Cody Wells 1-9, Team 2-(-7).

Passing: SR, Filip 10-19-2-146, Englehart 3-3-0-121. Kay, Caro 9-13-0-105, Straub 2-5-1-23.

Receiving: SR, Stanley 6-161, Wille 1-50, Englehart 3-22, Rietveld 2-22, Filip 1-12. Kay, Manning 3-36, Straub 4-29, Caro 2-23, Gosney 1-22, Cole Lompe 1-15, Jordan Largent 1-14.