The Wolves traveled to Worland to take on an excellent running quarterback and a spread offense different than their first two opponents.
Green River senior Seth White returned the opening kickoff to the 30-yard line to give the Wolves good field position to start their first drive.
On the first play from scrimmage, senior quarterback Jachob Fuss connected with fellow senior Gabe Burdette for 10 yards and a first down. James King got off a 6-yard run followed by Burdette for another 6 yards and the Wolves offense was on the move but the Worland defense stiffened and the Wolves had to punt.
Worland’s quarterback completed three passes, including a big gain for 27 yards, before taking the ball into the end zone on a 6-yard quarterback keeper and with the P.A.T. kick good, Worland owned a quick 7-0 lead.
The Wolves started their next drive on two short runs by Seniors Oran Watts and King before Fuss completed a first-down pass to junior Dylan Taylor. After an incomplete pass, Fuss kept the ball for a big 27-yard first-down run.
King then carried the ball twice for 8 yards with a 5 yard face mask penalty against Worland giving the Wolves another 1st down. Fuss then completed another pass to Taylor but two incomplete passes and a run that was just inches short ended a promising drive for the Wolves.
Worland went on a nine-play drive which ended in a pass for their second touchdown just after the start of the second quarter, giving the Warriors had a 14-0 lead.
The two teams traded series without any scoring despite two good runs, one of 17 yards by King and one of 14 yards by sophomore Bracken Miller.
The Warriors then went on a long drive of their own despite defense by Alex Atkinson, Jake Martinez, Canaan Eslick, Kolby Ivie and J.D. Renfro. Worland was taking the ball in for their third score when senior Trevor Brangham intercepted in the end zone to end their drive.
Fuss then hooked up on the first play of the drive for what appeared to be a 40-yard scoring pass to Dylan Taylor, but the play was called back due to an illegal block in the back. King then had two good runs before Fuss completed a 19-yard pass to Seth White before hooking up with Taylor for 6 yards and the Wolves first touchdown of the game. Watts made good on the P.A.T and the Wolves were down only one score 14-7.
The two teams once again had a series of drives with no scoring. Worland was moving the ball on the final drive of the first half, but tackles for losses by Burdette and King and three big sacks by junior Jacob Schieve kept the Warriors out of the end zone.
Worland got the ball to start the second half and a big 43-yard kickoff return gave the Warriors excellent field position to start their drive, but more good defense by Schieve, King, Derek Saldivar, Watts, Martinez among others stopped Worland.
The Wolves got the ball back, but the Warriors defense stopped the Wolves and got the ball right back to start a drive of their own and nine plays later the Warriors completed a pass for their third touchdown to take a 21-7 lead.
Eslick made a nice return to the 33-yard line to start the Wolves drive. Six plays later, including two completed passes from Fuss to Taylor, the Wolves had to punt the ball back to Worland.
Worland went on a nine-play drive with a mix of passes and runs ending with a big 35-yard pass play to start the fourth quarter and put Worland up 28-7.
The Wolves came right back with a quick scoring drive and a big 57-yard scoring pass from Fuss to Brangham and the Wolves closed the gap to 28-14.
Worland however was not to be denied and mounted an 8 play drive of their own coming right back to score on a pass play and taking a commanding 35-14 lead.
The two teams again exchanged drives without scoring, when late in the game, the Wolves inserted most of their younger players with sophomore Caleb Lake at quarterback, which resulted in a pass for a touchdown from Lake to junior Luis Batista for a touchdown with the same pair then connecting on another pass for a two point conversion and the Wolves battling to the end with the final score at 35-22.
“Worland was a frustrating game in that they had flashes of greatness, and then we had mistakes that we haven’t made since the 1st week of practice,”head football coach Kevin Cuthbertson said
He said that they need to get of the peaks and valleys and simply be more consistent, enjoy the game and not succumb to the pressure.
Cuthbertson concluded with regard to the Worland game that “we are changing and were changing for the better but we just have to be patient, and stay positive”.
With regard to there next opponent Evanston, the coach observed that they run the option which “we have not faced this year” and it will be a big week of preparation.
“I love this team, and I truly believe we are on the verge of greatness. It’s one or two small things that are tripping us up right now, and if we can fix those little things, this team can be something special,” Cuthberson said.
The Wolves will be on the road again this week with an early start to at Evanston Red Devils, 3 p.m. Friday.
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