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Mainly clear skies. Low 36F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..
Mainly clear skies. Low 36F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Serving Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue and Carey
Wood River junior running back Chase Hothem follows the block of teammate Daniel Servin during the first half of a 17-0 loss to Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2. He finished with 68 yards on 13 carries.
Wood River senior safety Zack Dilworth prepares to tackle Canyon Rudge running back Caleb Somers during the first quarter of a 17-0 loss at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
Wood River senior running back Jack Herlinger runs the ball during the first quarter of a 17-0 loss to Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2. He finished with 62 yards on 12 carries.
Wood River assistant football coach Jason Burton talks to members of the team during the first half of a 17-0 loss to Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
Wood River head football coach Shane Carden reacts during the first half of a 17-0 loss to Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
The Wood River student section in action during the game with Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
Wood River senior quarterback Sawyer Grafft goes back to pass during the first half of a 17-0 loss to Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
Wood River junior running back Chase Hothem follows the block of teammate Daniel Servin during the first half of a 17-0 loss to Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2. He finished with 68 yards on 13 carries.
Wood River senior running back Jack Herlinger runs the ball during the first quarter of a 17-0 loss to Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2. He finished with 62 yards on 12 carries.
Wood River head football coach Shane Carden reacts during the first half of a 17-0 loss to Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
Wood River senior quarterback Sawyer Grafft goes back to pass during the first half of a 17-0 loss to Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
It’s a start no one on the football team saw coming.
“I feel like the group of guys we have are so close knit and tight,” Wood River senior running back Jack Herlinger said. “I’ve literally been with these guys for four, five years—and been with these coaches since eighth grade when we did morning workouts.
“I know this group can persevere through anything. In reality, none of these games matter until we get to conference. We have to keep our heads up and find out what works for us.”
The Wolverines dropped to 0-3 after a 17-0 loss to visiting Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
“Defensively, we’re sound,” said Herlinger, who ran the ball 12 times for 62 yards. “I feel once we find our niche in the offensive scheme, we’re going to be a good team.”
Head coach Shane Carden and the coaching staff keep seeing those glimpses of a good team.
“There’s still so much that’s right there for us. But at some point, between myself and this offense, we gotta figure this thing out,” he said. “You see glimpses of it, and you think, ‘We can be so good.’ We’ll watch film again and be like, ‘Wow, look how good we look, until right here’ and all of a sudden, we get tight and can’t come over it.”
Wood River senior safety Zack Dilworth prepares to tackle Canyon Rudge running back Caleb Somers during the first quarter of a 17-0 loss at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
Canyon Ridge fumbled the second half kickoff, and Wood River recovered.
Carden went for it all on first down from the 29, but senior quarterback Sawyer Grafft was hit as he threw, and the pass was intercepted. Grafft was injured on the play and did not return.
“After that turnover it was, ‘Let’s take a shot,’” Carden said. “We had the perfect play for that distance, for that hash. That’s what I wanted, and we had it. I got news from a coach that we slipped off a block too soon. When I talked to Sawyer as I was checking him out, he said, ‘I had him. I had him. I had him.’
“We have to go pedal to the metal, as hard as we can go, and I feel like we have just a little bit more of that we can give.”
“I took a quick look at the iPad, and it was there. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. It’s really tough.”
Grafft will be out this week, and the team is pinpointing his return on Sept. 16 in the homecoming game against Filer.
“We’ll go back a little bit to the drawing board with Kyle (Ipsen),” Carden said. “He does some different things than Sawyer does. We’ll change it up and try to find his strengths.”
The Wolverines ran the ball 31 times for 114 yards but were only 6-for-19 for 31 yards and two picks through the air.
Wood River assistant football coach Jason Burton talks to members of the team during the first half of a 17-0 loss to Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
“It is frustrating,” Herlinger said of the Wolverines’ inconsistency on offense through three weeks. “I feel like the best way to do that (be more consistent) is to keep [each] other up and keep making sure that the person who makes the mistake knows that we all have his back as his brothers.”
Wood River junior Caleb Hothem ran the ball 13 times for 68 yards.
Canyon Ridge scored on its first possession, marching 86 yards in 13 plays. Four runs by junior running back Caleb Somers netted 60 yards, and junior quarterback Conner Willis went 5-for-8 for 41, including the 4-yard score to junior Alex Fierros with 4:34 left in the first quarter.
The Riverhawks took over with 3:17 left in the first half and drove from their 15 to Wood River’s 30 where they faced third-and-12. Senior Luis Martinez took a handoff on a draw and went to the 2. After an incomplete pass, senior Alex De La Torre booted a 20-yard field goal as time expired for a 10-0 halftime lead.
Canyon Ridge made it 17-0 with 6:47 left in the third period when Willis found senior wide receiver Tanner Eldredge for a 21-yard score.
Wood River’s next drive stalled at the Riverhawks’ 39 and the next possession finished in an incomplete pass in the end zone on fourth-and-9 from the 13.
The Wolverines head to Jackson Hole (1-1) on Sept. “We have to go pedal to the metal, as hard as we can go, and I feel like we have just a little bit more of that we can give,” Herlinger said.
The Wood River student section in action during the game with Canyon Ridge at Phil Homer Field on Sept. 2.
CR: Fierros 4 pass from Willis (De La Torre kick), 4:34
CR: FG 20 De La Torre, :00
CR: Eldredge 21 pass from Willis (De La Torre kick), 6:47
RUSHING: CR: 22-92. Somers 4-60, Martinez 13-53, Eldredge 1-2, Fierros 2-(-2), team 1-(-10), McEntire 1-(-12). WR: 31-114. Hothem 13-68, Herlinger 12-62, Edwards 1-3, Hernandez 1-2, Grafft 1-0, Ipsen 3-(-4), team 1-(-17).
PASSING: CR: Willis 16-33-0-2, 199 yards. WR: Grafft 4-12-2-0, 18 yards; Ipsen 2-7-0-0, 13 yards
RECEIVING: CR: Fierros 7-86, Eldredge 3-40, Robinson 2-39, McEntire 2-19, Martinez 1-12, Somers 1-3. WR: Hunter 3-26, Hothem 1-5, Dilworth 1-1, Holter 1-(-1).
PENALTIES: CR: 8-82. WR: 4-36.
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