Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Wolverines shed Jerome football hex 17-14

Second-half defense preserves win

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By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

     Twenty times, Wood River High School varsity football teams had gone into Jerome during the 42-game grid rivalry—and 20 times, the Wolverines had trudged home on the short end of the final scores.

     All that changed Friday night when the new-look Wolverines beat Jerome for the first time ever on the Tiger gridiron by a 17-14 score in the season-opening Great Basin Conference 4A match-up.

     Junior quarterback Alec Nordsieck tossed 41-yard and 20-yard touchdown passes to junior Gunner Gibson and sophomore Owen Gifford in the first quarter for a 14-0 lead. After Jerome tied it 14-14, senior placekicker Kyle Weller kicked a 20-yard field goal.

     Wood River’s 17-14 halftime lead held up during the scoreless second half because of a Hailey defense that refused to concede any more points. Gifford’s ability to tighten down his coverage in the secondary was a big fourth-quarter factor in the victory.

     Head coach Kevin Stilling said, “Our defense made several stops in the second half to win the game for us. We spent a good deal of the second half on defense in our end. Fortunately we didn’t make any turnovers for the game.”

     Stilling said Wood River was focused on its task and executed its game plan efficiently in the first half against the Jerome 4-2-5 defense, similar to the Boise State Bronco defense.

     “We had some really good ideas on what to do. Usually we had a couple of guys open, while Champe (Kotara), Owen Gifford, Chris (Lentz) and Alec did some good running to put us in position,” said Stilling.

     The coach added, “Coming out of the gate and having the offense click like that early in the game was huge for us.”

     Down by two touchdowns, Jerome got back into the game by scoring from 80 yards out on a screen pass. And the Tigers switched up their defense to a 3-4 with two safeties perched high, which took away some of the success the Wolverines were having.

     Wood River managed to put together a strong 10-play drive late in the second quarter of a 14-14 game and got a first-and-goal inside the 10-yard-line. Weller, the Hailey soccer goalkeeper who booted a field goal last year, made a 20-yarder.

     The defense did the rest, as Wood River beat Jerome for the second time in four years. The Wolverines defeated the Tigers 35-22 in Hailey in 2011.

     Stilling said, “We started 10 sophomores—five on offense and five on defense. Having those young players rise to the occasion on defense was important.”

     Wood River (1-0, 1-0 league) tries to post another road win Friday, Sept. 5 on a visit to Filer for a 4A/3A non-conference game at 7 p.m. It will be Filer’s first game. The Wildcats were 2-7 last season and have a 6-27 football record since 2010.

      The teams last played during Wood River’s 4-5 state playoff season of 2006, with the Wolverines winning 13-7 in overtime on the Filer field. Wood River holds a 22-10-2 edge in the football rivalry and has won 17 of the last 23 meetings.

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