(Riverton, WY) – The Riverton Wolverines returned home Friday night after a three-game road swing and won their fourth game in a row in a 41-12 decision over Buffalo. The Wolverines are 4-1 on the season with a showdown coming next Friday in Lander against the 5-0 Tigers.
Wolverines take the field – h/t Randy Tucker
Football coaches have always disliked the distractions that Homecoming activities can bring to their teams. It wasn’t clear if it was Homecoming week or just a lake of mental focus for the Wolverines Friday evening, but whatever it was, they made many mental mistakes with frequent holding penalties, misalignments, and motion flags.
“We finished the game with 13 penalties, only two of those were pre-snap penalties. We were not very smart in terms of blocking people in the back, not making good hand placement,” Riverton head coach Mark Lenhardt said. “I thought we had a good week of practice, but this is high school and sometimes that happens.”
They started the game slowly against the 2-3 Bison, who are decimated by injuries.
Riverton punter Gage Treber hasn’t seen much action for most of the season, but he was called on twice in the opening period. His first punt was an arching beauty that pinned the Bison just inside their 10-yard line.
Buffalo picked up a first down, then punted back to the Wolverines.
Hunter Saltsgaver around left end – h/t Randy Tucker
Lenhardt went to the ground on the feet of talented senior running back Hunter Saltsgaver.
Saltsgaver picked up over 50 yards on three consecutive carries, darting off left tackle before juking and cutting around Bison defenders. Riverton stalled at the Buffalo 30 with a fourth and one.
Saltsgaver had a great night on the ground, averaging over 10 yards per carry. He finished the game with 197 yards on 19 carries.
Lenhardt went back to Saltsgaver, and he broke the short yardage mark with a 25-yard run into the Buffalo secondary, setting up a first and goal at the five-yard line.
Tight end Dane Cox found an open spot at the two-yard line, turned and faced quarterback Blake Gantenbein, who threw the ball high to the tall receiver. Cox whirled and rolled into the end zone untouched.
Touchdown Blake Gantenbein to Dane Cox – h/t Randy Tucker
The second period saw the Wolverines break the game open with three long scoring plays. The first came early in the quarter on a perfect call against the hard-charging Bison defense. As Buffalo’s defensive line and linebackers blitzed toward Gantenbein, the Riverton line fooled them on screen pass blocking. Saltsgaver delayed out of the backfield, set up behind the linebackers and took the middle screen to the house for an 86-yard touchdown. He might have been a little winded since he missed his first conversion kick of the season just seconds later.
A scant 1:37 later, Gantenbein connected with a wide-open Clay Sheets on a fly route down the east sideline for a 26-yard score.
Saltsgaver added the final score of the half on a 23-yard run. Riverton led 27-0 at intermission.
Eric Smith with the stiff arm – h/t Randy Tucker
The offense slowed a bit in the second half. The Wolverines ended two Buffalo drives with interceptions, the first by Eric Smith and the second by Sheets.
We had some good plays, there were some errors we have to fix,” Lenhardt said. “I don’t want to be an undisciplined football team.”
Buffalo found the end zone after converting a fourth-and-four play on a pass from Hayden Geis to James Ihnot that set up a first and goal at the three. Geis took it in from there but the Bison missed the conversion, closing the score to 27-6 with 6:14 remaining in the third.
Riverton mounted their best sustained drive of the game, overcoming a pair of penalties and running the clock down to :00 before Gantenbein crashed in from the one on a quarterback sneak as the horn sounded.
With a substantial 34-6 advantage, Lenhardt played his reserves for most of the final period. Sophomore running back Camden Heil made the most of the opportunity, breaking an off-tackle run for a 50-yard touchdown and a 41-6 Riverton lead with 4:06 left in the game.
Buffalo added a late score on a one-yard plunge by Cooper Jones.
Lander lost their leading rusher and one of their best defenders to a season-ending knee injury. Brayden Baker didn’t play against Douglas. The Tigers dominated the Bearcats 35-14 at Bill Bush Stadium on Friday.
“Lander in a lot of areas is better than we are,” Lenhardt said. “They’re really good up front.”
It should be a good one next Friday under the lights in Tigertown.
RIVERTON 7 20 7 7 – 41
BUFFALO 0 0 6 6 – 12
First Quarter
RIV – Dane Cox 4-pass from Blake Gantenbein (Hunter Saltsgaver kick) 2:31
Second Quarter
RIV – Saltsgaver 86-pass from Gantenbein (kick failed) 9:37
RIV – Clay Sheets 26-pass from Gantenbein (Saltsgaver kick) 8:00
RIV – Saltsgaver 23-run (Saltsgaver kick) 2:51
Third Quarter
BUF – Hayden Geis (kick failed) 6:14
RIV – Gantenbein 1-run (Saltsgaver kick) :00
Fourth Quarter
RIV – Camden Heil 50-run (Saltsgaver kick) 4:06
BUF – Cooper Jones 1-run (pass failed) 2:07
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