Wood River High School senior Scott Bartlett is a running star on the track, but he's never had a night on grass inside the oval like Friday's 42-0 Wolverine football victory over the Filer Wildcats in Hailey.
Behind the crisp blocking of his offensive line, 6-2, 180-pound running back Bartlett rushed 25 times for 231 yards and four touchdowns as Wood River (1-0) wore down the Wildcats (0-1) with a 305-yard rushing attack in the season-opening game at Homer Field.
In the debut of first-year coach Mike Glenn, Wood River left its two-season, 14-game losing streak in the dust and looked rosily to the future. It was Wood River's game from the get-go as the Wolverines outclassed Filer in every area.
About his players, Glenn said, "They went out, executed and kept their mistakes to a minimum. The team spirit and raw excitement told the story."
Nearly filling the bleachers, long-suffering Wolverine fans had a great time yelling and screaming during the non-conference contest between 3A Filer and 4A Wood River.
They cheered the offensive line when the boys sat in chairs on the track and listened attentively to a chalkboard talk by line coach Pete Naumes while the defense was out on the field doing its thing. They cheered the hard-working defense, which had yielded 602 points (35.4 ppg) its last 17 games.
Wood River out-rushed Filer 305-79 and piled up 13 first downs to Filer's six. In total yardage the Wolverines had a 470-236 advantage. The offense did its job alertly, without too many infractions, and the special teams unit was very solid.
Scoring six touchdowns in 48 minutes, Wood River erased memories of the low total of 10 TDs it scored in nine games and 432 minutes last fall. Bartlett's production wasn't entirely expected—he scored the first Wolverine TD last fall, on a pass reception, and never tallied another score.
Bartlett seemed like a different player Friday. Glenn said, "We think Scott has real good vision and good tools. He's quick and can run. He took care of the football for us and didn't put it on the ground. When he saw a crack, he hit it. His line did a good job providing him with opportunities."
The Wolverine offense scored on its first four possessions—the first TD coming after a blocked punt, the fourth coming after a great 63-yard interception return by Carter Stewart. They out-rushed Filer 83-10 in the first quarter, 98-23 in the third. At half, it was 28-0.
Glenn said, "We couldn't give Filer an inch and felt we had to stay in control. We knew we'd have success running so that's what we did."
Defensively, coach John Rade's unit seemed to know what Filer was going to do before Filer did it. The 'Cats didn't move the sticks once until they were losing 21-0 and there was only 1:30 left in the half. Filer didn't get its first rushing first down until the game was 30 minutes old.
When Filer's last gasp—an apparent 42-yard TD scramble by QB Brandon Bartolo—was nullified by a holding penalty in the fourth, Wood River had its first shutout in 22 games dating to 2002 at Glenns Ferry.
It was also the first home shutout in seven seasons and 52 games dating to Gooding in 1998. Glenn said, "The defense made few mistakes and ran to the football."
But the big story was Bartlett, whose 231-yard outburst pushed him into third-place all-time on the Wood River single-game rushing list behind Boe Rushton (356 yards) and his brother Trent Rushton (303). Bartlett put a punctuation mark on his big effort with a 67-yard TD run down the sideline early in the fourth.
Filer, a 42-0 winner over Wood River the last time the teams met in Hailey in 2003, was on its heels from the get-go.
Danny Ward blocked Filer's first punt attempt and Wood River took over at the 'Cats 38. Bartlett got the call seven times between the tackles. The show-stopper was QB Tyler Jackson's 14-yard keeper around right end on fourth-and-five from the 20.
Jackson, following the blocks of center Chris Chapman and 275-pound left guard Corbin Miniard punched it over from the one-yard line for a 6-0 Hailey lead and senior placekicker Dima Springs drilled the first of his six extra point kicks.
Fired up, Springs rifled the ensuing kickoff off the hands of returner Bartolo and Filer was lucky to get it out to the 21. Huston Brashears made an excellent stop on Bartolo's left end keeper and Erik Jacobson knocked down a third-down Bartolo pass to get the ball back for the Wolverine offense.
The offense knew what to do with it—give it to Bartlett behind a line that, left to right, featured senior tackle Andrew Grimaldo, juniors Miniard and Chapman, senior Adrian Grimaldo and senior Casey Lane.
Bartlett rushed five times for 52 yards on the four-minute, eight-play TD drive. He wasn't the only threat. Jackson completed a seven-yard flat pass to Carl Browning on third down at the 12. On fourth down Browning ran an inside draw for four yards to the one.
A one-yard plunge got Bartlett his first TD and sent the fired-up offensive line to its chalkboard talk in front of the grandstand. By the way, Bartlett's four TDs equaled Kellen Chatterton's effort in 2002, two Max Paisley outbursts in 2000, and another four TD night by Cory Goicoechea in 1999.
Bartlett's second TD came on a 32-yard run after he spun off a piled-up offensive line and jetted forward. Fullback Browning did a lot of barely-noticed but very able blocking out of the backfield for Bartlett.
When Filer pieced together its best threat in the waning moments of the second quarter, Carter Stewart put an end to the hijinks by picking off a fourth-down pass and returning it 63 yards to the Wildcat five-yard-line. Bartlett did the rest, churning his legs and spinning off another logjam at the line for his third TD.
The Wolverines passed three times in the first half, and three times in the second. But they showed they could pass, if anyone like Hillcrest of Idaho Falls was watching.
Its first drive of the third was Wood River's longest—nine plays covering 67 yards and eating up five minutes On third down at the 'Cats 32, Jackson hit Browning for 17 yards in the left flat. The next play, Jackson lofted a perfect lead pass into the end zone. All Brashears had to do was take a chair and smother the 15-yard TD aerial while falling back.
Bartlett made back-up quarterback Danny Kramer look like a genius on Kramer's first varsity play, early in the fourth. Bartlett took the handoff, threw out a little straight-arm and rolled down the right sideline for 67 yards and the 42-0 final.
Athletic director Ron Martinez was impressed with the showing. He said, "The coaching staff was well prepared and their organization was impeccable." Glenn added, "We were as well prepared as we could be, but there's a lot of room for improvement."
With the win, Wood River takes a head of steam into Friday's 7 p.m. Labor Day weekend home game against the 4A Hillcrest Knights at Homer Field. Hillcrest handled Wood River 42-17 last September in Idaho Falls en route to a disappointing 3-6 grid campaign.
This is Hillcrest's first game of the season. A Wolverine victory would reverberate to Rupert, where Minico waits Wood River's arrival for the opening Great Basin Conference West contest Sept. 9. Minico (1-0) won 36-15 at Mountain Home last Friday and hosts Preston Friday.
Glenn said, "We had to have a baseline to operate from, and that was the Filer game, but our biggest growth spurts should come against Hillcrest and Minico. Hillcrest is traditionally a real physical team that takes pride in simplicity and emphasizes execution."
WOLVERINE NOTES—The football staff was dealing with heavy hearts last week. Coach Glenn's father-in-law passed away last Monday and there was a memorial service Sunday in Boise. In addition, junior varsity coach Joe Castle's father died of a heart attack at the Hailey airport last week, athletic director Martinez said....Bartlett's 231-yard game was the school's best since Boe Rushton rushed 36 times for a school-record 356 yards in a 54-20 loss at Middleton that capped an 0-8 season in 1997. Christian Ayala, helping with crowd control Friday, rushed 25 times for 216 yards in a 42-34 Homecoming victory over Glenns Ferry four years ago.
WRHS Line Score
Wood River 42, Filer 0
Filer. 0 0 0 0 0
Wood River 7 21 7 7 42
SCORING
1st half
WR—Tyler Jackson, 1-yard run (Dima Springs kick); 4:49 1st (7-0 WR)
WR—Scott Bartlett, 1-yard run (Springs kick); 10:26 2nd (14-0 WR)
WR—Bartlett, 32-yard run (Springs kick); 4:51 2nd (21-0 WR)
WR—Bartlett, 5-yard run (Springs kick); 0:16 2nd (28-0 WR)
2nd half
WR—Huston Brashears, 15-yard pass from Jackson (Springs kick); 7:09 3rd (35-0 WR)
WR—Bartlett, 67-yard run (Springs kick); 10:35 4th (42-0 WR)
KEY STATS FILER WRIVER
Offensive plays 57 57
Time of possession 21:48 26:12
1st downs, rush 4 10
1st downs, pass 2 2
1st downs, penalty 0 1
1st downs, total 6 13
Rushes, yards 26-79 43-305
Yards per carry 3.0 7.1
Fumbles lost 0 0
Completions, passes 6-17 4-7
Completion percentage 36% 58%
Passing yards 55 53
Yards per completion 9.2 13.3
Intercepted by 1 2
Sacks by, yards 0-0 0-0
Returns, yards 6-102 5-112
Total yards gained 236 470
Penalties 3-37 4-28
Punts, yardage 5-110 1-22
Yards per punt 22.0 22.0
Blocked punt 0 1
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Wood River
Rushing—Scott Bartlett 25-231 (9.2 per carry), 5 1st downs, 4 TD; Tyler Jackson 5-32, 2 1sts; Kenny Cardona 5-33, 2 1sts; Carl Browning 2-4, 1 1st; Chase Uhrig 6-5.
Passing—Tyler Jackson 4-7, 53 yards, 2 1sts, 1 TD, 1 interception.
Receiving—Carl Browning 2-24, 1 1st; Huston Brashears 1-15, 1 TD; Collin Hand 1-14, 1 1st.
Interceptions—Carter Stewart 1 with 63-yard return.
Kickoff returns—Danny Ward 1-15.
Punt returns—Kenny Cardona 2-25; Huston Brashears 1-9.
Tackles (42)—Carl Browning 10, Erik Jacobson 5, Danny Ward 4, Carter Stewart 3, Jeff Conover 3, Huston Brashears 3, Anthony Quarles 3, Kenny Cardona 2, Micah Floyd 1, Alex Burwell 1, Travis Beckman 1, Dusty Selner 1, Houston Shaw 1, Corbin Miniard 1, Andrew Grimaldo 1, Adrian Grimaldo 1.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Filer
Rushing—Tyler Marshall 6-31, 1 1st; Brandon Bartolo 8-27, 1 1st; Trent Garner 1-16, 1 1st; Jared Denton 2-13, 1 1st.
Passing—Brandon Bartolo 3-11, 29 yards, 1 1st, 1 interception; Trent Garner 3-6, 26 yards, 1 1st, 1 interception.
Receiving—Jared Denton 1-21, 1 1st; Dillon Anderson 1-20, 1 1st; Travis Wiersma 2-15.
Interceptions—Brandon Bartolo 1.
Tackle leaders (62)—Jared Denton 13, Tyler Marshall 8, Trent Garner 8, Josh Benedictus 6, Casey Dabney 4, Mike Sharp 3.
Tyler Jackson, Wood River senior quarterback, takes the snap from center and sets the Wolverine offense in motion. Photo by Willy Cook
