Riverton hands GR 1st loss

Despite a strong defense capable of holding off many of Riverton's scoring drives, the Green River Wolves Football team received their first loss of the season at Wolves Stadium Friday.

The game was delayed by an hour due to lightning, but head coach Don Maggi said that delay, nor the wet ball, was the cause of the Wolves loss. Maggi said the Riverton team had to deal with the same setbacks Green River faced.

During the first quarter, Riverton would score their first touchdown with 8:05 left in the quarter. A strong defensive push by the Wolves would limit the Wolverines several times in the quarter, resulting in the Wolves blocking a Wolverine field goal attempt. However, the Wolves offense struggled throughout the quarter and the night, with the Wolves throwing two pass interceptions during the first quarter.

The Wolverines scored their other 14 points during the second quarter. The Wolves' offense continued struggling against Riverton, nearly being pushed to their own goal line early in the quarter.

After the Green River High School Hall of Fame introductions, Green River's defense continued to play hard during the second half, stopping all of the Wolverines' scoring drives. During the third quarter, the Wolves blocked a punt attempt, setting the offense up for a run deep in the Wolverines' territory. During that play, Gage Hunt was injured and was helped off the field. The next play however resulted in a Green River fumble that was recovered by Riverton.

In the fourth quarter, Kalen Kester intercepted the ball during a Wolverines drive with 8:53 left in the quarter. The following drive took the Wolves up to the Wolverine's end zone, but multiple attempts to run the ball in were stopped short by the Riverton defense.

Maggi said the Wolves' defense played well enough to win the game, but the turnovers and mistakes by Green River kept them from setting up scoring opportunities.

Going into Friday's matchup against Rawlins High School, he said the film he watched shows the team heavily utilizing a passing game.

"They throw the ball about 70 percent of the time," Maggi said.

Maggi said the Green River offense is larger than the Rawlins defenders, saying he thinks they should be able to establish some runs against them.

"I think we match up well against Rawlins," Maggi said.