High school football is all about momentum, which is what the Wood River High School football team was building after falling behind 21-0 in the first quarter to the Burley Bobcats Friday in Hailey.
Wood River righted the ship and scored eight points 14 seconds before halftime and then added another touchdown on a blocked punt three minutes into the third quarter. Burley's lead, once enormous, whittled all the way down to 21-14.
The Wolverine fans started to make plenty of noise and the players on the sideline chanted "DEE-FENSE," as Hailey pass defenders increasingly swatted down the passes of Burley's quarterback Jake Mills.
It looked good for coach Kevin Stilling's Wolverines.
But the momentum quickly shifted back to Burley as the Wolverines (5 turnovers, 17 penalties for 152 yards) made things easier for the 'Cats. And Burley won the Great Basin Conference showdown 35-14 behind the passing of Mills (26-of-44 for 271 yards, 3 TD).
Stilling said, "We came out flat and that determined the game. We just didn't have the same focus that we'd had the last few weeks. Burley didn't do anything differently than we had practiced for all week. Our linebackers and secondary just didn't react to the reads.
"And the frustrating thing is that we had more penalties than we'd had the first four games combined. On offense, we ran the ball well at times, but our offensive line has to step up and do a better job."
Wood River (1-4, 0-2 league) lost its third consecutive game but scored points in the first half for the first time all season. The Wolverines have been outscored 60-8 before intermission, and 134-36 in all.
Burley (2-3, 2-1) won on the road for only the second time in four seasons, a span when the 'Cats are 2-14 on the road. The Bobcats clinched a playoff berth for the second straight year after falling short in both the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
Star of the game for Wood River was senior Tyler Peters. He scored the first touchdown on a 16-yard pass-and-run from quarterback Juan Martinez. Then, Peters caught a desperation lateral from a penned-in Martinez on a play-action pass attempt and sprinted all the way across the field for a thrilling two-point conversion.
Peters (12 carries for 93 yards) led the Wood River rushing attack that out-gained Burley 145-64. He intercepted a Mills pass and returned it 29 yards, and led Wood River in tackles with 11. Peters also threw a surprise 16-yard pass completion to Martinez on Wood River's touchdown drive.
Stilling said, "Peters had a couple of outstanding individual efforts."
Wood River senior lineman Evan Puluti blocked a punt and recovered the bouncing ball in the end zone for his team's first defensive TD of 2009.
Dragging out the nearly three-hour game were 26 penalty flags between the two teams for a total 233 yards. But Burley's 297-57 advantage in passing yardage was the big difference between two teams that seemed evenly matched.
The 'Cats air attack turned out to be the decisive factor.
Burley's 6-2, 195-pound quarterback Mills, who has made frequent visits to the Wood River Valley with his umpire father Craig Mills since he was young, did his best Tom Brady imitation in the first quarter.
Mills was almost unstoppable spreading out his quick, accurate aerials to three or four receivers. In the first quarter he completed nine straight passes for 123 yards and three touchdowns. It wasn't until the second quarter that the Wood River secondary started figuring him out.
Still ahead 21-0, Mills had Burley on the move deep in Wolverine territory. But Peters knocked down two pass attempts including one that seemed destined for a touchdown. Braxton Parish dislodged a pass on a slant, Jimmy Williams sacked Mills and two incompletions gave the ball back to Wood River at its 18.
Late in the second quarter, Burley's passing game sputtered again—and the 'Cats foolishly went for it on fourth-and-four from their own 35-yard-line with 37 seconds left. Mills threw incomplete and Wood River took over. An unsportsmanlike conduct call moved the chains to the Burley 16.
On second down, Martinez swung a pass into the left flat to Peters. He caught it at the 12-yard-line and made a hard and determined run to paydirt.
On the conversion attempt, Wood River went for two points, with placekicker Haylee Thompson (micro-fractured knee) sidelined on crutches.
Martinez sprinted to the right, but ran out of running room and into a wall of Bobcats. He lateraled to Peters, who almost slipped and fell as he headed back to the left side of the field. He kept his feet and outran a bunch of Bobcats for one of the longest conversion runs you'll ever see.
The developments sent Wood River into the locker room with a head of steam. The players emerged on a roll, sending Peters up the middle for seven yards and Nathan Farrow (16 carries, 67 yards) through a huge hole for 27 more. But Peters fumbled when hit after a nice 19-yard gain to the Burley 10. Branson Handy recovered for the 'Cats.
Stilling said, "We built on our momentum after half. The fumble hurt, but the kids hung in there. Our pass defense was a lot better in the second half."
Backed up to its 13, Burley went four-and-out again when Nick Chase batted away a third-and-eight Mills pass.
This time, Burley elected to punt—and it didn't work out, either. Puluti blocked the punt and madly chased it down, pouncing on the ball in the end zone with a full-extension dive.
The Burley lead became 21-14 and Wood River sensed an opening. After his marvelous first quarter, Mills was only 7-for-21 for 63 yards since and seemed vulnerable. He came up big, though, with a clutch 28-yard aerial on third-and-10 to junior Alex Greener (7 catches, 66 yards, 3 TD). And the 'Cats punched it in for a 28-14 lead.
Check today's Express Web site for complete statistics from the Burley game.
Wood River (1-4, 0-2 league) continues its three-game homestand Friday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. against Jerome (2-3, 1-1).
Stilling said, "Jerome will throw the ball. They're a good spread passing team and run a 3-5-3 defense similar to Burley's. So we'll be coaching a lot of the same things this week as we did to prepare for Burley. And we'll keep trying to run the football against Jerome."
Jerome holds a 32-4 advantage in the long grid series and has won three straight since Wood River's 16-0 home win in 2005 that snapped a 24-game winless streak to the Tigers. The last time Jerome visited Hailey in the pouring rain of 2007, the Tigers won 48-7.
WRHS Line Score
Burley 35, Wood River 14
BURLEY 21 0 14 0 35
WOOD RIVER 0 8 6 0 14
SCORING
1st half
Burley—Christian Winmill, 26-yard pass from Jake Mills (Nestor Carmona kick); 7:16 1st (7-0 B)
Burley—Alex Greener, 3-yard pass from Jake Mills (Nestor Carmona kick); 3:52 1st (14-0 B)
Burley—Alex Greener, 6-yard pass from Jake Mills (Nestor Carmona kick); 0:47 1st (21-0 B)
Wood River—Tyler Peters, 16-yard pass from Juan Martinez (Tyler Peters run); 0:14 2nd (21-8 B)
2nd half
Wood River—Evan Puluti, recovery of his blocked punt in the end zone (run failed); 8:47 3rd (21-14 B)
Burley—Branson Handy, 3-yard run (Nestor Carmona kick); 4:14 3rd (28-14 B)
Burley—Alex Greener, 4-yard pass from Jake Mills (Nestor Carmona kick); 0:58 3rd (35-14 B)
KEY STATS BURLEY WOOD RIVER
Offensive plays 90 62
Time of possession 27:50 20:10
1st downs, rush 1 5
1st downs, pass 10 2
1st downs, penalty 3 1
1st downs, total 14 8
Rushes, yards 28-64 32-145
Yards per carry 2.3 4.5
Fumbles lost 3 2
Completions, passes 27-46 7-22
Completion percentage 59% 32%
Passing yards 297 57
Yards per completion 11.0 8.1
Intercepted by 3 1
Sacks by, yards 2-16 2-17
Returns, yards 6-60 5-114
Total yards gained 404 300
Penalties 9-81 17-152
Punts, yardage 1-13 4-113
Yards per punt 13.0 28.3
Blocked punts 0 1
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Wood River
Rushing—Tyler Peters 12-93, 4 1sts, 1 conv.; Nathan Farrow 16-67, 1 1st; Nick Chase 1-0; Alex Padilla 3, -15.
Passing—Juan Martinez 6-21, 41 yards, 1 1st, 1 TD, 3 interceptions; Tyler Peters 1-1, 16 yards, 1 1st.
Receiving—Tyler Peters 3-23, 1 TD; Juan Martinez 1-16, 1 1st; Alex Padilla 2-11, 1 1st; Jake Miczulski 1-7.
Fumble recoveries (3)—Evan Puluti 1 for a TD; Connor Braatz 1; Jose Patlan 1.
Interceptions (1)—Tyler Peters 1 with a 29-yard return.
Blocked punts (1)—Evan Puluti 1.
Sacks (2)—Jimmy Williams 1-9; Alex Thomas 1-8.
Kickoff returns—Nick Chase 2-35; Alex Padilla 1-26.
Punt returns—Alex Padilla 1-24.
Tackles (58)—Tyler Peters 11, Nick Chase 9, Nathan Farrow 6, Kasey Barker 5, Braxton Parish 5, Jose Patlan 4, Kevin Jensen 4, Evan Puluti 3, Connor Braatz 3, Alex Thomas 2, Conner Bennett 2, Jimmy Williams 1, Alex Padilla 1, Max Todd 1, Eric Santana 1.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS—Burley
Rushing leaders—Branson Handy 15-26, 1 TD; Jorden Garcia 4-22; Austin Tamez 1-22; Spencer Rice 1-3.
Passing—Jake Mills 26-44, 271 yards, 9 1sts; 4 TD, 1 interception.
Receiving—Alex Greener 7-66, 2 1sts; 3 TD; Bill Blauer 10-70, 4 1sts; Christian Winmill 6-78, 1st, 1 TD; Bo Hawker 3-66, 2 1sts.
Fumble recoveries (2)—Branson Handy 2.
Interceptions (3)—Skyler Tolman 2 with 20 yards in returns; Branson Handy 1.
Sacks (2)—Branson Handy 1-14; Bill Blauer 1-4.
Kickoff returns—Alex Carasco 1-17; Alex Mitton 1-1.
Punt returns—Bo Hawker 1-6.
Tackle leaders—Alex Mitton 7, Wesley Finch 6, Jaram Jones 6, Adrian Quiroz 5, Branson Handy 4, Scott Harris 4, Bill Blauer 4, Austin Tamez 4, Jason Pina 4, Nelson Geary 3.
Wood River senior quarterback Juan Martinez hands off to junior running back Nathan Farrow during Friday’s Great Basin Conference game won by Burley 35-14 on the Hailey gridiron. Farrow gained 67 of Wood River’s 145 yards in the rushing game, Tyler Peters adding 93 more. Photo by Willy Cook
