Playing well and learning the fundamentals, Wood River Youth Football teams had another successful day on the Wood River Middle School gridiron on Saturday, Sept. 27.
Among writers contributing results were Jill Clark and Anne Gifford off the site woodriveryouthfootball.com.
Coming up Saturday, Oct. 4 at the middle school fields for the 9-12 age groups:
At 10 a.m., WR Seniors in a playoff game, and WR Freshman Green vs. Access Living; at 11:30 a.m., WR Freshman White vs. P.O.S. Warriors and WR Juniors vs. Commercial Tire; and at 1 p.m., WR Sophomores vs. Meridian Gold.
Results from last week:
WR Seniors: Won 16-8 over Meridian Gold.
With the halftime score 8-8, the game could have gone either way. Quinn Guthrie was on fire running and also threw some great passes. Cooper Bailey was all over, catching passes and making interceptions. The blocking and tackling were very aggressive.
WR Juniors: The 11-year-olds ran into a buzz saw called RST Fundraiser of Boise and lost 26-0 to a team that could challenge for the Optimist League championship.
The Wolverines turned the ball over three times during the contest (2 fumbles, 1 interception) to give RST a short field.
But there were positives. Middle linebacker Hagan Barsch delivered punishing hits. Cornerback Logan Portillo made a textbook tackle on a sweep play. Cornerback Jack Rizzo had a near-interception. Sam Burns had excellent crack back blocks on the other team's linebacker.
Cornerback Tristan Kulhanek showed discipline by staying home and stopping sweeps. Hayes Gilman debuted as punter. Wingback Cole Mauldin made a great catch on a perfectly thrown fade route from Gage Jorgensen. Zac Swanson and Hayden Thayer shared duties at fullback, running over would-be tacklers.
WR Sophomores: Won 8-0 over Synthetic Turf.
WR Freshman White: Won 18-6 over Mountain States Roofing (Eagle).
Unshaken by the opening kickoff return TD by the Cardinals, Wood River roared back to play an outstanding game. The tenacious defensive line gelled—Cade Schott, Tor Dalzell, Logan Smith, Jett Erickson, Cade Street and Colby Castle making tackles.
Cade Schott scored the first TD on a QB sneak. Jett Erickson broke through the Cardinals defense and sprinted hard to score the second TD. Tor Dalzell scored the third TD, thanks to a long run by Jacob Bulotti. Doing excellent running were Jett Erickson, Jacob Bulotti and Evan Hesselbacher.
WR Freshman Green: Lost 18-8 to P.O.S. Lions.
Lions took advantage of a turnover to score in the first quarter. Jeron Peavey made a memorable interception keeping the halftime score 6-0. P.O.S. scored two more TDs in the third. Finally, as the game wound down, Wood River got on the board with Owen Gifford running for a touchdown. A mighty push by Travis Swanson secured the extra point.
