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For the week of September 27 through October 3, 2000

Wood River socks it to Kimberly 31-8

Homecoming 2000 a happy night in Hailey


Finally, a strong start turned into a strong finish for the Wood River High School varsity football team—and the result was a 31-8 Homecoming football triumph over the Kimberly Bulldogs Friday night.

Wood River (2-2, 1-0 league) rolled out a 569-yard offensive effort and routed the defending Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference champions from Kimberly in the first SCIC league confrontation of 2000.

On a wet field, senior co-captains Cory Goicoechea and Max Paisley had particularly strong nights as Wood River scored in each quarter and built a 31-0 lead before Kimberly finally got on the board.

Of the 569 offensive yards, 299 came through the air, 153 via rushing and 117 on returns. The output steadied a Wood River squad that had never trailed in the first quarter this season—but had never led a game after three quarters.

Goicoechea completed 16-of-24 passes for 290 yards, while Paisley caught eight passes for 179 yards and added 117 more yards in return yardage. They connected for a 67-yard TD pass in the third quarter—longest TD score of the season—that virtually turned out the lights.

Paisley has now caught 31 passes for 563 yards (18.2 per catch) and six touchdowns.

Not only did Wood River snap a two-game losing streak, the Wolverines beat the Bulldogs for the first time since 1994 and erased memories of two bitter losses to Kimberly—the 34-6 road setback in last year’s league championship game and the 37-7 home loss on the Hailey gridiron in 1998.

The 22-game grid series between the two schools now stands dead even at 11-11.

Coach John Blackman was pleased that all the Wolverines played well on the big night.

He said, "We showed them the film of our lackluster effort at Glenns Ferry and then had a good week of practice. They picked up the pace. I told them to go out and play your best and the winner of the game will take care of itself.

"That’s what they did."

Christian Ayala (26 rushing yards) and Zac Broadie (a team-high 49 rushing yards) scored first-half touchdowns. Goicoechea added a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter for a 24-0 Wolverine lead, then junior Wes Powell tallied his first-ever varsity TD in the fourth.

Defensively, Wood River was a lot more aggressive, Blackman said. "We held Kimberly three times inside our own 20-yard-line," he said.

The Wolverine linebackers led the way as junior Evan Peebles and senior Tyler Nice had eight tackles apiece, while sophomore Kellen Chatterton and senior Joey Martinez added seven tackles each. Peebles and Martinez made quarterback sacks in key situations.

With the victory, Wood River took a big step toward its third consecutive state playoff bert—with the Declo Hornets standing in the way of a possible league championship. Wood River visits Declo (4-0, 37.8 points per game scoring average) Friday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.

About the upcoming Declo battle, Blackman said, "If we play with the emotion and fire we had last Friday against Kimberly, we’ll be fine."

 

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