Wolves visit Riverton, leave with first win of the season

In pre-game comments head coach Don Maggi appeared to be spot on in his analysis of both his team and his opponents strengths and weaknesses.

Maggi said this might be his best offensive line since he has been at Green River, with all seniors including Hunter Spartz and Gabe Bunderman at tackles, center William Harvey, and Malik Kalivas and Blake Waite at guards. It's a unit which averages about 215 pounds per man.

The unit opened holes for the running backs, led by starters, Drew Wilson, Candon Croft and James Bunderman provide solid protection for quarterback Chance Hofer, who as Maggi stated, showed excellent athletic ability, sound judgment and strong passing. The receiving core was also solid as Maggi had predicted as seven different players caught a pass.

The team, looking to make its way to another state championship game in Laramie, came out hard against the Riverton Wolverines Friday evening, securing a 48-36 win in their first game of the season.

During the first quarter, Riverton scored first when they kicked a 27-yard field goal, which would be their only lead of the game. The Wolves came back with some big runs Croft and Wilson, but eventually had to punt the ball back to Riverton.

The ball exchanged hands without a score until junior Chance Anderson intercepted a pass to give the ball back to the Wolves and stop Riverton's scoring drive. The Wolves then went to work with junior Gavin Heiser catching a 20-yard pass followed by a 7-yard pass reception by junior Cole White. Wilson followed with a 9-yard run to make it first and goal for Green River. An 8-yard pass form Hofer to senior Taylor Thornton gave the Wolves the lead, 7-3.

On Riverton's next drive, the Wolves defense came up with another big play when senior James Bunderman intercepted a Riverton pass. The Wolves' offense took over with three straight runs by Drew Wilson, followed by an 11-yard screen play to Croft with an excellent block from Hunter Spartz. Another 12-yard reception by Croft, ended up with Croft running hard, resulting in Riverton's all-state receiver Kyren Higgs, who was attempting to tackle Croft, injuring his hip. The injury resulted in a 40-minute game delay as Riverton did not have an ambulance on site at the game and had to wait for one to come from Lander.

When the game resumed, Wilson again carried the ball twice for solid gains before Hofer scored on an 8-yard run to give Green River a 14-3 lead. The teams exchanged the ball with no scoring and a couple of good plays on defense for the Wolves, with Cole White making a tackle for a 4-yard loss and Chance Anderson knocking down a pass. The Wolves high-powered offense took over with Hofer breaking a big run for 43 yards followed by power running from Croft, who broke through five tackles on his way to the end zone.

Green River missed the extra point but took a 20-3 lead to half time with an impressive performance by both the offense and the defense.

Maggi's pre-game assessment of both teams proved accurate once more. Maggi said that Riverton had an excellent passing game and that Green River, while having strong starters lacked depth on both their offensive and defensive lines. Riverton's scrambling offense and constant passing attack seemed to wear down the Wolves in the second half as many of their players were playing both offense and defense.

However, Green River's depth at receiver and running back allowed the Wolves to display a potent offense again in the second half. Senior speedster James Bunderman, returning from injury in 2015, along with junior Devan Long and sophomore Kyle Ivie, among others, helped shoulder the load in the second half.

In the third quarter, Green River scored on a 21-yard run by James Bunderman to take a 27-3 lead. Riverton showed why they are ranked fourth in the 3A conference, as they scored on touchdowns to close the gap to 27-16. While in the process of trying for a two-point conversion, Wilson knocked down the ball on a good defensive play.

The Wolves, not to be out done, came right back starting with a 26-yard kickoff return. Croft then hauled in a 25-yard pass reception followed by a 10-yard run by Wilson. Ivie came in to give the starters a rest and showed the Wolves offensive depth by breaking free for a 36-yard touchdown run, to make the score 34-16.

Riverton's senior quarterback Brady Fullerton, who had an incredible game with 452 yards in total offense 373 yards passing and 179 yards running, connected on a 12-yard pass to close within 9 points at 34-23.

In the next series for Green River, Croft ran for 12 yards and Bunderman ran for 11 yards. Then, Bunderman broke free for an impressive 32-yard run to give the Wolves what seemed to be a solid lead 41-23.

Despite the Wolves moving down the field, Riverton stopped them without a score on the next series and scored on another pass by Fullerton.

The Wolverines then stopped Green River again with the same results as Fullerton threw for another touchdown to close the gap to an uncomfortably close 41-36.

Riverton then tried an on-side kick which went out of bounds, turning the ball back to the Wolves. Green River's high-powered offense got to work once more as Hofer completed a 39-yard pass to Croft. Then Wilson ran for a couple of yards before breaking free on the next play for a 10-yard touchdown run and a score of 48-36.

It was Riverton's turn, and the Wolverines got several big gains to move them down the field before Green River's Hofer, who excelled all night on both sides of the ball, came up with Green Rivers third and biggest interception of the game to stop the Wolverines and secure the victory for the Wolves.

In the end the offense was solid all game.

The defense played tough the first half and the players were solid in their assignments, according to defensive coach Mike Aimone.

"Ultimately big plays and missed assignments allowed Riverton back in the game, though conditioning also played a factor, as there were 84 snaps on defense," Aimone said. "We have to do a better job on first and second downs and not allow so many second and short opportunities for the offense."

"(It) was that the kids ultimately buckled down and finished the game when it counted," he concluded, which resulted in the victory and the first win of the season for the Wolves.