The winning formula was simple for the Wood River High School football team Friday.
Block like crazy and let Sean Bunce run the ball. Continue pursuing well and tackling with confidence on defense. And let quarterback Michale Brunker be the athlete he is.
It worked well in the first half, Wood River building a 31-0 halftime lead at Phil Homer Field and coasting to a 31-13 non-conference victory over the 3A Gooding Senators on a warm and muggy Hailey night.
The Wolverines posted their first victory of the season for fourth-year coach Mike Glenn (10-20, 7-7 at home). And, for the second straight week, the hard-hitting defense of coach Shawn Huntington surrendered only one touchdown, a meaningless score with just a minute left.
The 234-yard Wood River rushing attack was almost exclusively 6-2, 180-pound senior running back Bunce. He pounded straight ahead 39 times for 168 yards and scored Wood River's first touchdown with a four-yard plunge after a Kevin Cortez interception.
Doing most of the blocking was the offensive line of center Alex Thomas, guards Colton Seely and Eric Santana, tackles Kasey Barker and Cody Chandler, and end Luke McNees.
Indeed the Wolverines, buoyed by Rafael Barriga's booming kickoffs for touchbacks, enjoyed excellent field position and scored on all five of their first-half possessions, two of the scores coming after Gooding turnovers (4 in all).
With linebackers Clayton Jensen (a game-high 15 tackles) and Nathan Farrow (6 tackles) leading the way, Wood River's defense throttled the Senator offense. Gooding (1-2) managed 31 rushing yards in the first half and 85 yards for the game.
Playing defensive back, Bunce was a star with his spot-on coverage of Gooding's rangy 6-5 receiver Austin Basterrechea. The big Senator caught six passes but Bunce broke up several aerials to QB Tyler Rex's main target—and Basterrechea didn't score until 55 seconds remained on the clock.
And Brunker's hard-nosed effort was welcome, particularly with the ankle problems that have plagued the 5-10, 165-pound senior three-sport star.
Brunker showed no injury evidence when, on Wood River's second possession, he escaped the Senator blitz and took off around the right end on third-and-eight. Following a crack-back block by Oscar Fajardo—one of several nice blocks Fajardo made—Brunker cut back across the field for a thrilling 45-yard TD scamper.
That made it 14-0 when Barriga made the second of his five-for-five extra points.
On Gooding's next possession, Hailey defensive lineman Francisco Enriquez made a tough tackle that dislodged the ball from Senator runner Derek Christiansen, and Tyler Peters pounced on the fumble for Wood River. Brunker called Bunce's number five times, and then tossed a 10-yard TD pass in the right flat to McNees.
A shanked Senator punt gave Wood River excellent field position once again.
Brunker and Greg Wakefield then combined on the game's highlight-reel play, a down-and-in pass pattern on third-and-nine from midfield. Wakefield, all 6-2 of him, did a full-extension dive and held on to the pass after colliding with the ground for a 27-yard gainer.
That worked, so, on third-and-three from the Gooding seven, Brunker sent Wakefield into the left part of the end zone. Wakefield, with four inches of height advantage, slipped inside the defender and hauled down Brunker's second TD pass for a 28-0 Hailey lead.
By now totally flustered, Gooding gave Wood River great field position once again—backpedaling with penalties in its punt formation and then hitting an 18-yard punt. Brunker threw for 17 yards to Peters, and Barriga calmly made his second 27-yard field goal in as many weeks, Brunker holding.
The Wolverines have now won five of the last seven football meetings with Gooding and have outscored the Senators 183-32 in the four wins, but the Senators still own a 24-8 edge in the series dating to the 1960s.
Check the Express Web site for a complete game summary.
Kimberly is here Friday
More intensity is likely Friday, Sept. 26 when Wood River (1-2) entertains the Kimberly Bulldogs (1-2) for the 2008 Homecoming football game at Phil Homer Field. Opening kickoff is planned for 7 p.m.
Wood River started its season with losses to two 3A Sawtooth Central Idaho Conference teams—#3-ranked Buhl and #2-ranked Wendell. Kimberly probably isn't in the class of Buhl and Wendell this fall, but coach Kirby Bright's Bulldogs are the reigning SCIC champs.
Compared to what their players experienced against Gooding, Wood River coaches expect more of a line charge from the Bulldogs, who went 10-1 last fall and placed third in the State 3A football playoffs.
Running back Eric Marvin bedeviled the Wolverines last September in Kimberly's 41-13 home victory over Wood River. Marvin (4 TD) rushed 30 times for 165 yards and also caught five passes for 69 yards out of the backfield. The 'Dogs amassed 248 rushing yards and 243 through the air.
Marvin, now a senior, didn't play in Kimberly's first game, a 10-6 home loss to American Falls. But he has rushed for 300 yards total in his last two games and scored seven TDs—Kimberly squandering a 20-0 Homecoming lead and losing to Declo 26-20, then the Bulldogs smashing winless Valley 59-0.
Kimberly leads the 27-game series with Hailey 15-12, but the Wolverines prevailed 28-7 the last time the teams played in Hailey, in 2006, with Matt Libert rushing for 116 yards.
After the Kimberly game, Wood River will debut its Great Basin Conference West schedule on Friday, Oct. 3 with a 7 p.m. league contest at Burley.
Wood River senior quarterback Michale Brunker, shown here looking for a receiver during the Wendell home game Sept. 12, came to play last Friday night and tossed two TD passes in the 31-13 victory over Gooding. Brunker also made an assertive 45-yard scramble for the second TD of the game.
