It's been an exciting start to the Wood River Youth Football season and more home games are coming up Saturday, Sept. 22, at Hailey's Phil Homer field.
The Wood River Seniors (0-2) face Outback at 10 a.m. Saturday and the local 12-year-olds will go against Rocky Mountain Saturday, Sept. 29, at 10 a.m. on the home gridiron.
Coming off their 28-6 win over Bayview HMS Sept. 15, the Wood River Juniors (1-1) host Pease Chiro Saturday at 11:30 a.m. The local 11-year-olds entertain Meridian Gold Saturday, Sept. 29, at 11:30 a.m.
Coach Andy Portillo's Wood River Sophomore 10-year-olds (0-2) came within five seconds and seven yards of beating the bigger and more physical Capital Paving squad from Meridian Sept. 15 in Hailey. Capital Paving held off WR 12-8.
Meridian led 12-0 at half, but Brandon Benson recovered a fumble on the third quarter kickoff and Wood River scored on a pass from Gage Jorgensen to Tristan Kulhanek. The home team was in striking distance for the go-ahead score with 18 seconds but Benson's cutback run fell just seven yards short.
Jorgensen was the Offensive Player of the Game and Hagen Barsch earned the Best Blocker game ball. Sam Burns took the Defensive Player game ball.
Among the blocking stars were Zack Swanson, Jake Jorgensen, Jackson Toothman and Anders Fortuin. Solid running by Austin Savaria, Hayden Thayer and Tristan Kulhanek also sparked the team.
The Wood River Sophomores host Blue Ridge Saturday, Sept. 22, at 1 p.m. and stay home against Maupin Sept. 29, also at 1 p.m.
On the practice field
Coach Ken Ward's Wood River Freshmen (1-1) have enjoyed a couple of very exciting games that started Sept. 8 at Mountain Home when Dylan Broman punched in a 50-yard TD dash on fourth down with 1.7 seconds remaining to beat C2 Construction by a 6-0 count.
Last Saturday the local nine-year-olds built a 16-14 halftime lead in Hailey over a tough Wolfe Ranches team—Nic Tidwell (12 yards) and Broman (20 yards) scoring touchdowns. But Wolfe Ranches tallied two unanswered TDs after the half to take home a 26-16 victory.
Playing on the high school practice field, the WR Freshmen host Eye Associates Saturday, Sept. 22, at 10 a.m. and go against Synthetic Turf next Saturday at 10 a.m. at home.
Meanwhile, the Wood River Flag Football 7-8 year-olds come home to play a pair of Mountain Home squads Saturday, Sept. 29, at 11:30 a.m. (WR White) and 1 p.m. (WR Green).
Doing a great job encouraging the boys are Wood River Youth Football cheerleaders coached by Stephanie Bjorkman, Martha Lichtenberg, Carrie Kotara and Julie Brown.
