In mountain folklore, there are legends of nasty-spirited wolverines besting mighty grizzly bears.
True or not, "Wolverine Rage" will be put to the test on the football field tonight when Wood River High School plays host to the mighty Grizzlies from Fruitland.
The WRHS season opener against 3A powerhouse Fruitland (9-2 last year) will be a good test for head coach Mike Glenn's 4A Wolverines, now in the second year of a rebuilding program that Glenn started when he took on the job in 2005.
Glenn's goal this year is to "make it deep into the playoffs." The team finished 4-6 last year, a marked improvement over the 14-game losing skid the Wolverines brought into the 2005 season.
He said he considers the season opener as more of a preseason match "to help us get together as a team."
"Win or lose, this game will give us a benchmark of where we are and where we go from here," Glenn said. "All is not lost if we don't win—we've still got a long season ahead of us."
Nonetheless, Glenn has his sights set on winning. He said the Wolverines stand a good chance of pulling off a victory if they can control the football on offense, minimize mistakes and not commit turnovers.
After three weeks of practice, Glenn said the Wolverines still have some loose ends to tie up.
"We have the potential to be pretty good—the potential is there. We've just got to pull it together as a team."
Game time is 7 p.m. tonight at Phil Homer Field in Hailey.