Green River dominates Outlaws 52-12

A packed house of mostly, the hometown, Green River Wolves supporters came out to be entertained by some good high school football and the Wolves did not disappoint with a dominating performance on both sides of the ball.

The Rawlins Outlaws started strong on their first series of downs with a good combination of accurate passing and strong running to score a touchdown and went to 6-0 after, the Wolves blocked the extra-point attempt.

Green River got the ball back after a nice 35 yard kickoff return by senior Kalen Kester, but Rawlins stopped Green River for a loss on a run play and then intercepted a pass to get the ball right back.

Green River’s defense who had some troubles in the second half of their first game last week, right way took control with senior defensive end Hunter Spartz sacking the quarterback for a 13-yard loss. Rawlins then got 6 yards on a run before sophomore Chase Stoeger came up with a big tackle and strip of the ball which was recovered by the Wolves senior lineman Malik Kalivas.

The Wolves offense took over and powered their way down the field with some excellent blocking from the offensive line and strong runs by Candon Croft and Drew Wilson and two excellent passes from quarterback Chance Hofer of 17 and 14 yards to junior Cole White, with Wilson taking the ball in for the touchdown Hofer kicked the extra point and the Wolves went up 7-6.

Rawlins came right back, again mixing the running and passing game culminating in a long, accurate, 48 yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Trey Young to senior Colter Garlington. Rawlins attempted a pass on the PAT, but failed and the Outlaws were up 12-7 and looked like they were going to make a game of it, but that was to be the end of their scoring.

Green Rivers offense came out with strong running by Croft, Wilson and Hofer to march down the field before Hofer let loose of a pass to senior receiver Taylor Thornton, who made a fine catch for a 36-yard touchdown reception. Hofer kicked the extra point with Green River regaining the lead and the route was on.

On the ensuing kickoff, Croft made a crushing tackle on the Rawlins returner on the 11 yard line to force the Outlaws to start their drive deep in their own territory. Rawlins completed a pass for 9 yards and then had a 9-yard run before the returning 3A Defensive Player of the Year, Green River’s middle linebacker, Blake Waite, stopped Rawlins for a 3 yard loss. A couple of plays later, Spartz dropped back in coverage and intercepted a pass, returning it for a touchdown to give the Wolves a 21-12 lead with the extra point kick.

Again Green River’s special teams stepped up as Kester and sophomore running back A.J. Vergara made the tackle on the kickoff at the 5-yard line forcing Rawlins to again start a drive deep in their own territory. In their next offense series, Rawlins was stopped by the Wolves defense with the big play being a 10-yard sack by junior Nick Boldt.

The Wolves marched down the field on their next offensive series which ended with a missed 37-yard field goal by Hofer.

The two teams traded interceptions on their next two series with Waite making an interception to stop a drive before Rawlins did the same with the half coming to an end with the Wolves leading 21-12.

The Wolves got the ball to start the second half and got some excellent blocking to power their way to the end zone in just seven plays as Wilson ran four times in the drive for gains of 12, 16 and 9 yards, followed by a 2-yard touchdown run, along with a 9-yard run from Hofer and a 15 yards from Croft.

Wolves increased their lead 28-12.

The Wolves stopped Rawlins on the next series, but unfortunately there was an injury to Rawlins Senior quarterback Trey Young which resulted in a 15-minute delay as they treated him, eventually transporting him by ambulance to the hospital.

After the delay the Wolves shut down Rawlins offense, with the big play coming from Hunter Spartz again as he had a 15-yard quarterback sack.

On the next offensive series for the Wolves soon Wilson carried the load again with 4 runs for a total of 37 yards and a pass reception for 6 along with a 6-yard run by Croft and a 9 yard reception by Thornton with Wilson scoring again and the Wolves going up 35-12 as the PAT kick was good.

Rawlins got the ball back on the kickoff but another fine special teams play, this time by Kyle Ivie, who popped the Rawlins returner, causing a fumble recovered by the Wolves.

The Wolves took immediate advantage of the turnover as Hofer found a new target when he connected with junior Devan Love with a 12 yard pass for a touchdown to make it 42-12.

The defense again stopped the Rawlins offense as they were simply dominating with Spartz continuing to pressure the quarterback and Stoeger breaking up a pass.

Both teams made wholesale substitutions with the young Wolves dominating their counterparts from Rawlins, as Vergara ripped off some big runs showing both speed and power as did his fellow sophomore running back Ivie who had two exceptional 33-yard runs on separate drives runs, resulting in two touchdowns and the final score of 56-12 and an overpowering performance by the Wolves.

The Wolves who started slow were dominating in the second half in all phases of the game with power running, accurate passing and good blocking by the line on offense and consistent pressure, solid tackling and good pass coverage on defense as well as some big plays by the special teams.

The offense was led by Wilson, who ran for 102 yards on 16 carries and had one pass reception and scored three touchdowns.

Also Hofer ran for 42 yards and completed 12 passes to six different receivers led by Cole White with three receptions.

The leaders on the defense were, Spartz, who had an outstanding night with five unassisted tackles, six assisted tackles, four of the tackles were for a loss with two sacks and an interception run back for a touchdown.

Waite had seven unassisted tackles and seven assisted tackles, including two tackles for losses followed by Wilson who had five unassisted and 10 assisted tackles.

“We are very pleased with our progress to this point of the season,” head coach Don Maggi said.

Maggi said he believes that they have shown growth each week which has led to the good start which was part of their goals going into the season.

The Wolves will be on the road next week to try to remain undefeated as they travel East to take on the Torrington Trailblazers.