The Green River Wolves took the long bus ride north Friday to take on the 1-0 Buffalo Bison.
Learning from their defeat in Lander, theWolves showed significant improvement from the previous week with 316 yards of total offense, 261 yards of which came through Green River’s passing game.
The Wolves had eight passes of more than 20 yards and picked up an additional 55 yards on the ground. The other significant improvement from week one was the Wolves took better care of the ball, having only one turnover throughout the night.
The Wolves won the coin toss, but deferred and kicked to Buffalo. The Bison started with an excellent return to the 43-yard line. The Bison moved the ball and lined up for a field goal which was blocked and recovered by the Wolves’ Gage Finley.
The two teams exchanged the ball several times in the quarter with nobody scoring until the Wolves’ junior quarterback Caleb Lake completed a pass to Dylan Taylor for 28 yards and a 6-0 lead. Again the two teams exchanged several offensive series but the defenses dominated until just before half when the Bison ran the ball in from 1-yard line and with the PAT kick, Bison took a 7-6 lead.
To start the second half, the Wolves had the ball and mounted a drive, but eventually had to punt. Just four plays later, the Bison got their second score of the game to extend the lead to 14-6.
The Wolves responded on the very next series on another Lake to Taylor pass, but the two-point conversion try failed with the Wolves closing the gap to 14-12.
The Wolves’ alert defense had Logan Allison recover a muffed punt and the Wolves took the ball in on a short run by Lake to take the lead back. With the following PAT good, the Wolves led 19-14
At the end of the third quarter, Buffalo mounted a long drive that took them into the fourth quarter which ended in them scoring on a pass play. Despite missing the two-point conversion try, Buffalo regained the lead 20-19 with just over 10 minutes left in the game.
The Wolves once again mounted a long drive, but with just over 6 minutes left the Wolves attempted a field goal which was wide left and the ball went back to the Bison.
The Wolves’ defense took over and stopped the Bison once more forcing them to punt. On the next possession the Wolves moved the ball but their drive was stopped on an intercepted pass. The Wolves’ defense once again stopped the Bison and the Wolves offense took over and moved the ball, but time ran out and the Wolves had lost their second game of the season.
Head football coach Kevin Cuthbertson commented after the game that it was a hard fought game on both sides of the ball.
Once again COVID-19 quarantines and injuries during the week prior to the game resulted in coaches having to fill in for players in practice since there were so many players out with injuries which resulted in a lot of junior varsity players having to step up to “the varsity level and playing their hearts out.” He also praised the team’s seniors, including Alex Atkinson, Jacob Schieve, Dylan Taylor and Hayden Roberts along with the fine play of juniors like Caleb Lake and Jack Mitchell. The coach was especially proud of the team’s leaders for the character and determination they showed as true role models. Cuthbertson concluded the Wolves will “soldier on, prepare for Worland and be ready to fight in our first home game of the year.”
The Wolves will be returning to the friendly confines of Wolves Stadium to take on the 0-2 Worland Warriors Friday night. The game will also be Hall of Fame Night for the Wolves, with inductees being honored at half time.
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