Wolves play well but fall to Red Devils

The Green River Wolves Football team traveled west this past Friday to take on the Evanston Red Devils. They played in front of a big crowd in the conference opener for both teams, which was also homecoming night for Evanston.

Evanston returned most of their starters on both the offensive and defensive lines, according to Green River's Head Coach Blaine Christensen, as well as having the top rusher in the 3A conference.

Green River kicked to Evanston to start the game, and the Red Devils got a big return to the 47 yard line to start their drive. Despite two penalties against Evanston, they had strong running and some timely passes and gained a quick 7-0 lead.

Green River took over on their own 20 yard line. With a series of completed passes and solid running, the Wolves were inside Evanston's five yard line, but on fourth down the Wolves failed to get the ball into the end zone and Evanston took over.

Brayden Wallace, Evanston's top runner, broke loose on several long runs before Evanston scored again on a pass, giving them a 14-0 lead.

Once again, the Wolves mounted a long drive of their own and went for it on fourth down inside the five, but they were stopped by Evanston's defense and a second big opportunity was missed.

Evanston then took the ball on a long drive, but was stopped by the Wolves. The Red Devils were successful in kicking a 31-yard field goal and went into half time with a 17-0 lead, despite two fine first half drives by the Wolves.

The second half was much the same, with Evanston displaying a strong running game and the occasional pass, scoring two more touchdowns. The Wolves kept moving the ball, but they were unable to score until late in the game when Dax Taylor scored on an end around run. The game ended with the final score at 32-7.

Maddux Hintz had a good game with 110 yards rushing and 16-29 passing for 115 yards. Dax Taylor was the leading receiver with seven catches, while Evanston's leading ball carrier, Wallace, had a huge game with 197 yards.

In the post game interview, Coach Christensen expressed his frustration and disappointment knowing that his team played hard and had a lot of fine play but just wasn't able to finish in the red zone.

Christensen singled out Quarterback Maddux Hintz for a solid game on offense, along with noting Zach Dalton's fine play on defense. The Coach also felt that both the offense and defensive lines played well, but he feels his team needs to really focus on getting stronger in the weight room.

Green River will be at home this week on Friday for their next conference game against Jackson.