Wendell turns lights out on Wood River
Top-ranked Trojans breeze 50-6 in
Hailey
The top-ranked Wendell Trojans had the
horses and they stampeded past Wood River’s Wolverines 50-6 in a non-conference
prep football game Friday at Phil Homer Field.
Wendell (2-0, averaging 55.0 ppg) spoiled
Wood River’s home opener and the debut of first-year Hailey coach Dale Martin
with a 356-yard rushing attack. 2A Wendell finished the evening with 574 yards
in total offense, outdistancing 3A Wood River’s total of 313.
Brandon
Silvia, Wood River senior quarterback, looks for a receiver against
Wendell’s tough defense. The Trojans had Silvia on the run all night. Express
photo by David N. Seelig
Leading Wendell was senior running back
Cody Howerton (14 rushes, 151 yards), sophomore RB Zac Davis (9 rushes, 123
yards) and senior quarterback Tyrel Davis (11-for-17 passing, 178 yards, 4 TD).
Coach Martin said, "We didn’t play well.
We just got beat by a better football team. Their skill people killed us. I
wouldn’t be surprised if they win state. Wendell is probably the best team we’ll
face."
It was 24-0 after the game was eight
minutes old and 37-0 at halftime. Amazingly, Wendell had four TDs nullified by
penalty during a flag-filled contest (302 yards penalties between the two
teams). Penalties were a big reason the game finished way past 10 p.m.
Another reason for the lengthy three-hour
contest was a 22-minute delay in the third quarter because the lights went out
at the Hailey field.
Playing Frank Sinatra songs only added to
the weirdness in the blackened bleachers and on the field, but Wendell’s scoring
machine restored order when the lights returned. The Trojans scored on the first
play after the blackout and led 44-0.
Wood River senior Matt Pruett broke up
Wendell’s shutout bid by scampering for a 37-yard touchdown midway through the
fourth quarter, after a fumble recovery by linebacker Tyson Reynoso.
But the Wolverine offense was ineffective
all night. Martin said, "They had their linebackers sitting five yards off the
line and were going everywhere we went. Wendell was ready for everything we
did."
Although they were handcuffed by a
well-prepared and talented team in their season debut, Wood River players
maintained a positive attitude, Martin said. But they will have to tackle better
in order to be competitive, he added.
"We missed 11 tackles on one of their
runs," Martin said. "We can certainly do things to improve on defense. And we’ll
spend a lot of time on tackling in practice this week."
The Wolverine special teams showed
promise, especially kickoff returner Matt Ward (90 yards, 5 returns). Martin
said, "Our kickoff team was one step away from breaking one."